What can I say about this? It’s one of my favorite movies of all time! Yeah, not every day on the internet that you see someone who doesn’t hate the live action Transformers movies and doesn’t think they ruined cinema forever.
If you don’t know already, I am a HUGE Transformers fan. I’ve been a fan for 7 years, and this movie is what introduced me to it. You can think whatever you want about these movies. You can say they suck, they’re the worst, whatever. I’m going to stand by my opinion on this, so if you’re looking for a deeply objective, critical review, then you’re in the wrong place. I am going to let my inner fanboy review this. I know these aren’t the best films, I know that a lot of people out there absolutely hate them, I know what ratings they got on Rotten Tomatoes, and I don’t care. They’re still good movies.
In case you don’t know the concept of Transformers, it’s about alien robots fighting a civil war. One way or another, their war gets to planet Earth, and they disguise themselves as Earth vehicles so they don’t draw attention to themselves. There have been several different TV shows and comics and continuities, the movie series is just ONE of them. Instead of taking story arcs from previous shows or comics, like the Marvel movies do, they made a completely new and original thing.
There are constants throughout the franchise, though. Optimus Prime and Megatron are usually the leaders of their armies, there’s always something to do with energon, the ‘life blood’ of the robots, and there’s almost always a toyline to go with it. The movies are no different, however there are a lot of changes that make it stand out from the other continuities.
This time, the robots are fighting over something called the Allspark, a super powerful cube that can create life from machinery. It’s what created their homeworld of Cybertron, as well as their entire species. The Allspark was used in the TV shows that came after the first movie, Transformers Animated and Transformers Prime.
Since we’re only looking at the live action continuity, I’ll give background information only concerning the movie. I don’t claim to be an expert on anything, but I am probably one of the most knowledgeable fans ever of this continuity. I know pretty much everything, not that I’m bragging about it. Anyway, I’m going to leave out some details, because the sequels keep adding things to the history of the movies, and it can get confusing.
Planet Cybertron was a peaceful empire, but the defense force leader, Megatron, decided to be a big jerk one day, formed the evil Decepticons, and started a war over the Allspark cube. after a thousand years or so of fighting, the planet was a desolate wasteland. In a last attempt to end the conflict, the heroic Autobot leader, Optimus Prime, sent the cube into space, to hide it away forever, to a place out of Megatron’s reach. Unfortunately, there were 2 things wrong with Optimus’s plan.
1. The Allspark was what kept the planet ‘alive’, and produced energon, giving life to the inhabitants. Without it, the planet REALLY started to die.
2. Optimus must have forgotten his arch-enemy’s interstellar jet mode, because Megatron uses it to chase after the cube.
So, due to Optimus’s bad decision making skills, the Autobots had only one choice: chase after the Allspark and bring it back to Cybertron. For a few thousand years, it was a race to see who would find it first. After a while, everybody kinda gave up hope. Luckily, there was the discovery of Earth, which looked promising to both sides of the war. Starscream, Megatron’s second in command, led a team of Decepticons to the planet to check it out, while Optimus did the most logical thing… and sent the smallest, weakest scout by himself to search for the Allspark. Now we have our movie.
I know I left out details like The Fallen, Sentinel, and a few others, but as I said before, it gets a little confusing, even for hardcore fans.
As for the movie itself, I could literally do commentary over the whole thing. I’ll just make a short list of nitpicks at the end of the review. Read it if you want.
This is a really fun and engrossing film. The story, though simple, is one of the most interesting concepts I’ve ever seen in a movie. Robot civil war, super-cube of power, disguises as vehicles, are all things that grab the imagination. The movie may not focus directly on the Transformers themselves, and I can understand that. They needed to keep it relatable to audiences, since this was the first attempt at making a Transformers movie that appeals to more than just the kids. But in past cartoons of the franchise, the human character was always some stupid little kid that everyone, including fans, just wanted to murder. This time, it’s Shia Labeouf playing Sam Witwicky, an awkward teenager. I know that everyone wanted him dead in the sequels, but he’s not bad here. In fact, none of the humans are necessarily bad characters.
The humans are actually pretty entertaining. I don’t really hate any of them. Shia Labeouf does an okay job. I’m not his biggest fan, but this definitely isn’t his worst role. There’s a certain thing about him that’s enjoyable in this movie. It’s completely gone in the sequel, but I’ll get to that when the time comes. Megan Fox is not too bad here, either. This is the only movie she’s done that I tolerate her in. I do not care for her anywhere else at all, and she is CERTAINLY NOT April O'neil.
The supporting cast is memorable, to me, at least. But the characters that everyone likes to see are the Transformers themselves. There’s not much screentime or lines of dialogue for the Decepticons, but they’re still fun to see. The Autobots here are the best they’ll ever be in the series, since they actually take the time to establish personalities other than “the guy with the swords” or something. You get to know these characters a lot better than the other 2.
I think the main reason for that is because there isn’t too many of them. Common moviegoers that aren’t familiar with Transformers have difficulty keeping track of all the characters, even when there are as few as 13, like in this movie. In the sequels, there are a lot more robot characters, but so much time is given to the human cast and not the robots, so we never really got to know who they were. This causes people to think they’re just fighting robots and not actual characters, which leads to nobody caring about them. I, however, read the tie-in comicbooks and played the video games, so I have more knowledge of who these robots are. And they are pretty darn cool, and I love them.
Of course, we have Optimus Prime, voiced by Peter Cullen, the original voice for Prime in the 1980’s TV show. He’s no longer a flat nose truck, no longer has a trailer, and has a flaming paint job. Apparently this ticked off a lot of older fans. In fact, the designs for ALL the robots made most fans unhappy. I guess updating it for modern viewers, making it look more realistic and intricate instead of looking like the simple, cartoonish designs is a crime. It’s not like Godzilla 1998 where it’s changed so much to the point of being unrecognizable. It still has the essence of Transformers, and the filmmakers did a good job in adapting it into something new for the general public. After a few years, I’ve seen other fans get over it, and actually like a few of the changes. It’s nice to see some people getting used to change, instead of whining all day.
Anyway, Prime’s design is awesome. He’s more agile and combat ready than some other incarnations. His personality is similar to his G1 counterpart, but I do notice some differences. First off, the G1 Optimus was energetic and outgoing, but always kept his authority. Kinda like John Wayne. The live action Optimus is quieter, feels much more authoritative, and is not as outgoing. More like a Robo-Jesus, or something. But as for being energetic? Only when he’s beating the crap out of his enemies!
This Optimus doesn’t hold back at all! G1 Prime always hesitated to pull the trigger, but this one knows that if the war is going to end, some suckas need to die! He’s almost as ruthless as Megatron, and that trait of his personality is explained in the tie-in comics made by IDW. It’s only when it’s time to fight does he lose his cool, the rest of the time, he’s a pretty deep character. He gets some good emotions flowing every time he talks. This is probably my 2nd favorite version of him. I’ll leave a link to the movie’s page on the Tfwiki, in case you want to know more about him and other characters. Don’t worry, this is one of the most accurate wiki sites in history. It’s trustworthy.
The other Autobots include Jazz, the Pontiac Solstice, Ratchet, the medical officer, Bumblebee, the overrated merchandising tool, and Ironhide, the big GMC Topkick with the huge cannons! Ironhide is my favorite character from the movie series. I absolutely love him. Just look at him!
The Decepticons consist of Megatron, the evil overlord, Starscream, who is actually kinda cool in this movie, for once, Blackout, Barricade, Bonecrusher, Frenzy, and Scorponok. Not much in the way of character development for these guys, but they do stand out. If you go to that wiki page, I’m sure you can eventually find your way to each of them.
Megatron’s new look is another thing older fans were whining about. Sure, he might not resemble the original too much, but he still looks great! I like the Cybertronian style they had for him. In G1, he turned into a gun small enough for the other Decepticons to hold and shoot with. I’ll admit, that’s a little dumb. In the movies, he’s a Cybertronian jet. A lot more threatening than a gun that needs someone else to hold him.
This incarnation of Megatron started out as a rather terrifying monster. In the second and third film, he turned out to be a big wimp. I’ll get to that when I review those films.
As for this film, the robots were done well, not only in the character department, but in the CG and action as well. The effects are amazing! I almost crapped my pants when I first saw this. Never before this movie have CGI robots been done so well. I bet if not for this, some films we have today wouldn’t exist. I guarantee it.
The designs of the robots are a lot more complex and intricate than past incarnations. They aren’t blocky and simple. There are so many moving parts on each of them, and each has their own unique design and transformation, it’s awesome that the animators did so well.
The fight scenes are the big highlights of the film. Nobody watches Transformers for the romantic teenager love story, the battles are what we want, and this movie delivers some great action sequences. The film does have to take time to go through the plot, introduce characters, and things like that, so there isn’t as much action as the next two. But when the robots start blasting each other apart, it is SO worth it. If there are two things that everyone has to agree on with the Transformers movies, it’s that the soundtrack and action are spectacular.
Some people say the action is hard to see. I have no clue what they’re talking about. It’s clear as day. Some shots are a bit tricky, but you can still tell what’s going on. People blow everything out of proportion, so don’t pay much attention to them.
What better to accompany an exhilarating Cybertronian death battle than a beautifully composed soundtrack? Steve Jablonsky did a great job with the score, it’s one of the best I’ve ever heard. The arrival to Earth scene and the Scorponok desert battle scene are the best in the movie, largely due to the music that goes with them. It felt like Spielberg directed the arrival to Earth part. If you watch it, it doesn’t feel like Michael Bay at all. It’s full of Spielberg-ish moments. He was the producer, so it shouldn’t be that surprising.
The story of this movie isn’t Shakespeare. It’s Transformers, the stories are always simpler. As simple as this story may be, it’s well written, well executed, and engaging. Yeah, I typed that. First time in history anyone has said that about the live action series. I don’t see why every film has to have a story that makes you contemplate over life, or have some deeper meaning or moral message in order to be considered good. Just because a movie, like Transformers, doesn’t get political or deep or anything, doesn’t make it bad! It knows it needs to be a fun, action packed movie, and that’s what we got… along with Shia Labeouf and his girl problems.
Even then, the romance isn’t annoying and stupid as it is in the sequel. It’s actually a kinda cute and nice bonus. I don’t have a problem with it here. Just wait for my review for Revenge of the Fallen! I’ll let you know how much I love that romance plot!
Even with it’s flaws, this is still my favorite Transformers movie, and one of my favorite movies of all time. It’s fun, action packed, and worth buying on blu-ray or DVD. Don’t listen to the critics that bash on it relentlessly, or the other entitled jerks whining about it. They don’t know what a good movie this is. They mostly criticise the director more than the actual film. While I don’t think Michael Bay is the best director ever, he did a good job with this one. It’s fantastic!
I don’t see it as a movie you go into and you just turn off your brain and watch the explosions, robot fights, eat your popcorn, and have a nice day. I don’t see any of the movies like that. I see this movie for WAY more than what other people do, and probably more than what the filmmakers ever intended. I am always fully invested in the story, no matter how poorly written it can get. That goes for most other movies I watch, too. I know this is childish, I know it’s a feature length toy and car commercial, and I don’t care.
I still love it, and it’s still as great as the first time I saw it.
FINAL RATING: 48 / 50
STORY: 4 / 5
ACTING: 4 / 5
CHARACTERS: 5 / 5
CG/EFFECTS: 5 / 5
ACTION: 5 / 5
SOUNDTRACK: 5 / 5
TONE: 5 / 5
ENJOYABILITY: 5 / 5
REWATCH VALUE: 5 / 5
OWNING VALUE: 5 / 5
This movie does mean a lot to me. I want to know what you think about it. I don’t care if you hate this movie to the core, I want to know your opinion.
As promised, here’s the link to the movie’s wiki page.
Also, the list of nitpicks I have with it. There are spoilers in this list, so if you haven’t seen it, then you won’t get it.
1. Megatron imprinted the cube’s coordinates onto Sam’s great-grandfather’s glasses in 1897. It’s a good thing that nobody, for 110 years, pitched the glasses or replaced the lenses, or else the movie would be screwed.
2. During Blackout’s attack on the military base, a few soldiers escape with an image of the robot in hand. Blackout sends his pet Scorponok to deal with them… if dealing with them means to follow them in the desert for a few days so they could find a means of communication and possibly expose the Decepticons’ presence on Earth, and then attack… then yeah, I’d say he did his job well.
3. On that note, why didn’t Blackout just wipe them out when he had the chance?
4. Before Blackout attacked, he shut down all forms of communications to and from the base, so how exactly was he able to access the US defense network?
5. Scorponok’s sound effect is the only lead they have at what attacked the base. What about the satellites orbiting over the base? I don’t know if Blackout is able to deactivate those, and Frenzy hasn’t uploaded the shut-down virus at this point in the film, so they should have seen him.
6. How did Frenzy sneak aboard Airforce 1 if his alt mode is a radio?
7. Scorponok kills the bully with yellow eyes from A Christmas Story.
8. Maggie decides to take a copy of Frenzy’s shut-down code to the one hacker in the world who can break it… and does not tell her superiors about him at all… just takes the most complicated code ever on a 2GB card and sneaks away…. she is so blonde.
9. Tom Banachek from Sector-7 shows the secretary of defense the photo of the Cybertronian from Mars, and compares it to the one the military guys got from Qatar. The photo is just a close up of the one he says is from the military base. Let’s not forget that the base picture was taken at night, but in the Mars picture, it’s clearly daytime.
10. Also, who’s the dumb@$$ that decided to keep the evil robots secret from the secretary of defense?!?!
11. Optimus says the only way to end the war is to destroy the Allspark. You know, the one thing that can restore their planet and give them new life? I guess it’s valiant if it’s for the good of the universe, but still.
12. I know that Sector-7 had no clue as to what they were dealing with, but putting the Harbinger of Death in the room right next to the universe’s most powerful object is morbidly hilarious to me.
13. Nobody notices Frenzy sneaking around the Hoover Dam, even though there are hundreds of employees. Ugh.
14. Why did Sector-7 even have a thaw button for Megatron in the first place?
15. Identity Crisis #1: Brawl, the tank, is wrongly named ‘Devastator’ in the movie. His name is Brawl in the video games, toys, and all other forms of media, and Devastator is the name of the Constructicon combiner in nearly every other continuity, including the sequel.
16. Apparently, in the movie, the city closest to the Hoover Dam is Los Angeles, even though it’s technically not. They fix this error by calling it ‘Mission City’, but it’s still obviously L.A.. It fooled no one.
17. Speaking of which, why did Lennox think that getting the cube into a heavily populated area would be a good idea? Use the civilians and buildings for cover? that’s nice. But we all know the real reason. Just like Ken Watanabe from Godzilla, he just wants to see them fight… because it looks really, really cool. Who can blame him?
18. Lennox, the highly experienced military captain, literally puts the fate of the world in the hands of a teenager. Why? Sam must prove to others and himself that he is more than a horny, socially awkward kid with girl problems, and he is capable of heroic deeds, and can face impossible odds, so he can finally get the girl of his creepy, perverted dreams that he’ll only have for one more movie because the actress turned out to be a total b*tch!
That’s why.
19. Ratchet and Ironhide completely forgot about their alt modes that could get Sam to the building a lot faster.
20. Ratchet, the medical officer, does nothing to help Bumblebee after his legs are blown up. In fact, he doesn’t do anything medical in the entire trilogy… ever.
21. Barricade is nowhere to be found in the final battle. He is either:
A: hiding like a big wuss
B: forgotten by the writers, just like Skyfire from G1
C: smoking a joint
22. The Laurentian Abyss is indeed not the deepest place on our planet.
23. Optimus basically doomed his entire race by letting the Allspark get destroyed… and this won’t be the last time that happens.
I really like this movie! It's what got me into the vast (and rather confusing) universe of the Transformers and I love it. It's just one of those things that I like but almost no one else does, kind of like Sonic Riders or RE5. Looking forward to the RotF and DotM reviews!
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