Transformers

FLICK Hey, wanna come out and play? That’s what Michael Bay must have asked the cast and crew when he signed them up to make the summer action film Transformers, about good aliens, Autobots, fighting against the evil Decepticons. Since movies these days are conceived from anything that’s popular, like rides at Disneyland, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the inspiration for this film is based on a line of Hasbro toy robots that shape-shift into cars. In the film, the brothers from another planet have transferred their battle to Earth looking for the Cube, and it seems they get the most mileage out of turning into motor vehicles. Looking slightly older than the 11th grade teen he’s playing, Shia LeBeouf stars as dorky Sam, whose father buys him a used yellow Camaro that becomes his protector, the towering good robot, Bumblebee. John Turturro is a government agent with a bizarre gaze in his eyes, looking as if he’s about to turn into a freak from outer space in the film Men in Black. And Josh Duhamel leads a group of soldiers in Qatar who, and I never know why they bother, fire their little guns at the metallic automatons that are the size of tall buildings and virtually indestructible.
Though the set pieces and CGI toys look very cool when they crouch and hide and morph into assorted shapes and sizes, director Bay gets carried away with images of non-stop action combined with non-stop camera movement that many times creates UFO swirls of color onscreen. The spin-art affect is particularly noticeable in the last 25 minutes. Overall it’s a simple story of good versus evil with even simpler dialogue. There isn’t time to develop characters so the writers use many cliches and visual shortcuts. And you can count on the music to substitute for human emotions, particularly for the overly affected moments imposed on a dented and banged up Bumblebee. But, of course, it’s based on toys and the extraterrestrial machines are meant to be the focus, with people just getting in the way.
The target audience was certainly won over as there was much applause at my screening whenever Autobot leader Optimus Prime appeared. With all of the attention Transformers is getting, it’s likely there will be a new amusement park ride created and perhaps a sequel inspired by the sentimental favorite returning home, titled "Flight of the Bumblebee." (2007, 144 minutes) My Score: 6 out of 10.