In my continuing aspiration to be the best Geek I can be, my family and I went to see Transformers tonight.
First off--let me say that when it comes to Transformers I'm all thumbs. I am terrible at transforming the toys from disguise form to robot form. And I was never that big of a fan of them in their hey day of the 80's. At that time, I was more into matchbox cars and the like. However, my husband is a HUGE fan of Transformers; has been since he was a kid. As I sit here in our office, if I look to my right, I can see his collection of new generation Transformers toys..Everything from the 20 inch StarScream, to the 24 + inch Unicron. He's even got some of the StarWars cross over Transformers including the Millenium Falcon. I suppose in the 80's they were more of a boy's toy than a girl's toy. Not that gender traditions ever stopped me...but I digress.
Back to the movie--
Secondly--I am not a Michael Bay fan. Several of the movies his name has been attached to were AWFUL in my opinion (Armageddon anyone??). So when it was revealed he'd be directing this film, I was needless to say reluctant to go see it.
That being said...THIS MOVIE KICKS IT HARD!
The action is very good, the story is very good and you don't have to be a Transformers fan to enjoy the film. The fight sequences are great...and let me just say that for his 30 minutes of on screen time John Turturro steals every scene he's in. There are some leaps of faith you have to make but we are talking about a movie about 50 foot talking Alien Robotic lifeforms...so it sorta goes with the territory.
For those G1 Fans out there, the original voice over actor returns as the voice of Optimus Prime. This was cool but it would have been nice to have the original Megatron too. Unfortunately, they chose to use Hugo Weaving instead and in my estimate seriously underused his voice talent. Perhaps he'll make a go in the sequel (oh yes there will be one)
To sum up though, If you want a good exciting high action summer blockbuster to keep you cool in the next few weeks--This one definitely qualifies. Its thrilling, funny and thoroughly enjoyable.
<goes back to pacing for the arrival of Harry Potter>