Transformers
We went to see Transformers today. We went to the theater without seeing a schedule and letting fate decide. It turns out we got there way too early for most films, and a little late for Transformers, so we went to see it hoping that we only missed the commercials. The timing worked out pretty well. I gather we missed maybe a minute of the opening.
This film has me a bit torn. I was a die hard Transformers kid. I loved it. I knew everything about it. I probably saw every episode of the original TV series, and a good chunk of the crap that came later. It’s been so many years, though, and my memory of all those little details has faded. So my wish was that Hollywood wouldn’t screw this one up. Well, they didn’t. Sure, they changed things around a bit. Some for legal reasons, some just because it’s Hollywood. I’m not so sure I like Michael Bay’s execution. It certainly wasn’t the crap that was Pearl Harbor, but here he seemed to be trying too hard to make it fast paced, edgy, gritty, etc. He made a common mistake of Hollywood directors trying to zoom in on the closest details of a fight such that you lose sight of the big picture. That single detail is what really got to me. It made it hard to follow everything, and maybe that’s by design, but just not quite right for me. Stepping back from that, the story was good. Naturally, it’s a big Hollywood summer blockbuster, so it’s got big noise, explosions, weapons, the latest military gadgets, the whole spectrum of cliched government characters from spooks to grunts. The dialog was a little less than believable at times. That could be just acting, but I think the dialog hurt it. I love the throwbacks and comedy. The comedy helps with the comic book feel. The throwbacks grab us original fans. Number one on the list is “the sound”. That sound the Transformers made when transforming. The other is Optimus Prime’s voice. They went and dug up Peter Cullen. Amazing that he’s still alive. Oh, and that nice car purchasing scene where Bumblebee smacks the VW Bug. That was cool.
In short, I recommend this, especially if you loved the Transformers as a kid.
