August 8, 2007
There is only one word for this movie, and that word is AWESOME (pronounced aaahsome). It's a movie that must be seen on a big, wide screen to have full impact. The story is deliciously silly, but the concept - that a boy's first car transforms itself into a gigantic, friendly alien robot which will protect him from vicious enemy alien robots - pierces to the heart any male's relationship with his car. Sheer genius.
The boy, Shia LeBoeuf, is absolutely delightful as a normal kid pitched into a very weird situation; Megan Fox as his ever-so-slightly trashy crush, was also impressive. They hold their own quite well, thanks to a sharp, literate, thoughtful script, against the real stars of this show - massive, powerful, clanking Transformers both good and bad. Movies featuring gigantic creatures that could squish you like a bug if they wanted to, but luckily for you sometimes they don't, appeal to the inner child in a lot of people - this one contains numerous homage moments to Jurassic Park and King Kong as well as being faithful to the peculiar innocence of the original comic strip.
It's also very funny, with a wonderful turn from John Turturro as a venomous government agent from "Sector 7", one of those secret and unaccountable agencies that movie writers love and audiences love to hate. The tv cartoon was certainly aimed at younger children than this movie - I wouldn't take a very young child to see it because it is quite overwhelmingly loud and violent - but the production team have successfully written a much meatier, older, and more satisfying movie than expected. It won't be the same on a small screen though, so go see it now!
The boy, Shia LeBoeuf, is absolutely delightful as a normal kid pitched into a very weird situation; Megan Fox as his ever-so-slightly trashy crush, was also impressive. They hold their own quite well, thanks to a sharp, literate, thoughtful script, against the real stars of this show - massive, powerful, clanking Transformers both good and bad. Movies featuring gigantic creatures that could squish you like a bug if they wanted to, but luckily for you sometimes they don't, appeal to the inner child in a lot of people - this one contains numerous homage moments to Jurassic Park and King Kong as well as being faithful to the peculiar innocence of the original comic strip.
It's also very funny, with a wonderful turn from John Turturro as a venomous government agent from "Sector 7", one of those secret and unaccountable agencies that movie writers love and audiences love to hate. The tv cartoon was certainly aimed at younger children than this movie - I wouldn't take a very young child to see it because it is quite overwhelmingly loud and violent - but the production team have successfully written a much meatier, older, and more satisfying movie than expected. It won't be the same on a small screen though, so go see it now!