Transformers'

Runtime: 143min 15secs
Tagline: Their war. Our world.
Directed by: Michael Bay
Screenplay by: Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman

Plot Outline:
A long time ago, far away on the planet of Cybertron, a war was being waged between the noble Autobots (led by the wise Optimus Prime) and the devious Decepticons (commanded by the dreaded Megatron) for control over the Allspark, a mystical talisman that would grant unlimited power to whoever possessed it.

The Autobots managed to smuggle the Allspark off the planet, but Megatron blasted off in search of it. He eventually tracked it to the planet of Earth (circa 1850), but his reckless desire for power sent him right into the Arctic Ocean, and the sheer cold forced him into a paralyzed state. His body was later found by Captain Archibald Witwicky, and before going into a comatose state Megatron used the last of his energy to engrave a map, showing the location of the Allspark, into the Captain's glasses, and send a transmission to Cybertron.

He is then carted away by the Captain's ship. A century later, Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf), nicknamed Spike by his friends, buys his first car. To his shock, he discovers it to be Bumblebee, an Autobot in disguise who is to protect Spike, as he bears the Captain's glasses and the map carved on them. But Bumblebee is not the only Transformer to have arrived on Earth.

In the desert of Qatar, the Decepticons Blackout and Scorponok attack a U.S. military base, causing the Pentagon to send their special Sector Seven agents to capture all "specimens of this alien race," and Spike and his girlfriend Mikaela (Megan Fox) find themselves in the middle of a grand battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons, stretching from Hoover Dam all the way to Los Angeles. Meanwhile, within the depths of Hoover Dam, the cryogenically stored form of Megatron awakens..

Overall Impressions:
I have a memory of these robots in disuise being the most spoken of cartoon when I was at school. I didn't have TV back then so all this talk just got on my nerves. In fact, big colourful robots really don't appeal to me, all the above said, I did appreciate the film for what it was. The robots looked amazing. At no point did I think, "that looks fake". This point alone makes the film worth viewing at the cinemas. What we know Michael Bay does well in his films certainly holds for this one: big shiny things & huge explosions. In addition there is an underlying sense of humour through the film that I also enjoyed.

Shia (after Disturbia which the UK still hasn't seen released) is definitely earning a reputation for having a pleasant on-screen presence. He reminds me a little of Zach Braff which only adds to his credential. It's fair to say his character is probably the most central. Having Megan Fox around allowed the humour to be maintained, (plus she is warm).

Moving on to the robots, Bumblebee (The yellow car) gets the most screen time & character development, I also liked the fact that he didn't speak, his communicating through the car radio was believable. As boy meets car turned robot, it was good to see the roundup of the full Autobots team when Sam gets the gaps filled in my Optimus Prime. It showed much potential for the characters (which leaves scope for sequels I'm sure). It was little dubious how Sam believed everyting Prime told him though, maybe mommy never told him not to talk to strangers as a kid.

For me, this was probably also the point where it started to go downhill. The viewers expectations would rise to a certain high with the team assembled, unfortunately, what follows doesn't really didn't deliver, or does it? My point here is the pre-climax got a lot of robot battling action out there, which is amazing to watch, but I'm really not sure what happened. I couldn't always tell who was fighting or even why on earth they decided to take the cube to a civilian area. Partly this is due to the lack of character given to each robot (with the exception of Bumblebee & Prime), on the Decepticon side, I couldn't tell you any way of distinguising between them except when they were named.

All said & done, it's worth seeing but with an aeye for the amazing effects rather than the characterisation. With inevitable sequels lines up, I see hope for this series yet.

Possible moral of the story:
If we as a planet get attacked by big fricking robots, learn to distinguish between the good & evil ones. The ones with vivid colours that children can access in the form of wax crayons are the good ones, the others are the evil ones. Once we have this clear we'll know which side to take in the war. I am making the assumption that the bad robots won't come in disguise.

I've also been informed that if they show up in two dimensions and look as though they've been drawn then distinguisihing between them may be a little harder. If you require the techinicalities, comment & a response shall be given (probably by Demon).

Worth watching for the extremely believable effects. If you like the idea of robots fighting & transorming into vehicles, you're onto a total winner. Just don't go expecting the characterisation of the robots that the cartoons boast of.