Transformers (2007): A war re-erupts on Earth between two robotic clans, the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons, leaving the fate of mankind hanging in the balance.
The more I think about this movie the more I hate it. It started out fine, focusing on the earth characters (the soldiers and the Witwicky thread), spreading out the robot appearances thinly, so that we are not overloaded at the beginning of the movie.
Then the plot starts to get complicated, sometimes just confusing (due to poor writing or editing). Also there are too many threads to follow: the soldiers (who disappear after a while), the goverment/s-seven/hackers thread, the Witwicky thread and the Autobots/Decepticons.
The jokes in this movie are also very lame. They are not funny nor amusing and the biggest problem is that they undermine the serious scenes (for example, the credit card joke in the middle of a battle). The general tone of this movie does not work, it is trying to be a serious alien invasion/war epic, but at the same time it destroys that seriousness with stupid jokes or remarks. The John Turturro character is another example. He is supposed to be this badass super secret agent, but he comes off as a comedian.
But of course you’re gonna say that this is just a fun action summer blockbuster. Well, that’s another problem. I should be able to just enjoy the action scenes, but I can’t because they are also confusing. In the final battle in NY, I could hardly tell which robot was good or bad. Also the action itself was confusing, due to shaky camera and probably poor editing. I just had a very hard time following the action.
Not remembering much about the original Transformers cartoon, I also couldn’t distinguish the voices, so when they’re fighting and talking at the same time I had no idea who was saying what.
The robot design was also disappointing. I was hoping for a better transformation, where we could see more clearly where each piece would go. As it is, I just see millions of pieces moving around, sometimes it felt like they were moving just for effect, not for real transformation.
Apart from Bumblebee, Optimus Prime and Megatron, I had no idea who the other robots were. I didn’t know their names, nor what they transformed into, or their personality. This was not a movie about the Transformers, because I hardly knew them at all. They were more like weapons than characters.
And I hated the small decepticon, he was almost as bad as Jar Jar. And why was Bumblebee suddenly talking at the end of the movie? And who cares about the soldier who at the end goes back to his wife and daughter, when we’ve only seen them once in a video? And how cliche’ that the geeky teenager steals the hot girl from the jock boyfriend?
As you can see, I had a lot of problems with this movie, both in the details and the big picture. I better stop thinking about this movie, or it will become my most hated movie of all time.
Rating: 2 Stars