I’ll admit, I spent more time playing with Legos than with Transformers, and saw more commercials for Transformers during Voltron than I actually spent watching the show. But I didn’t go to this movie to see the toys coming to life.
I went to Transformers to see a fun summer movie. The film did not disappoint. Replete with special effects, it was a fun romp in the celluloid. The battle scenes were intense and exciting, if a little choppy. For example, it was very difficult to see how the transformations occurred in all but Bumblebee. It would have been nice to have one of those in slow motion for dramatic effect. The slow-motion desert scorpion was very well executed and added an element of “realism” to the CGI.
The jokes in the film weren’t very clever (like the leaky “lubricant” running joke, starting with the family dog), and the dialogue was hokey. I didn’t mind when Optimus Prime had a few diatribes about honor and duty and all; it was in keeping with the original show. But this movie didn’t know which audience to please: the thirtysomethings who wanted a throwback that included adult humor and adult language, or the younger kids who might buy the merchandise that’s freshly available. There was too much adult content for me to want to take a child, but the movie was too childish for adults.
If you want to be entertained by a simple movie with blockbuster special effects, have fun with this one!
[rate 2.5]