Transformers

The toy-driven cartoon of the 1980s, Transformers makes it to the big screen with an earth-shattering force. I haven't been wowed this much in years, and Optimus and pals are the key to the mayhem.

The plot: "Before time began, there was... the cube. We know not where it comes from, only that it holds the power to create worlds and fill them... with life. That is how our race was born. For a time we had lived in harmony, but like all great power, some wanted it for good..." Thus narrateth Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen - from the original TV series).

It turns out that teenager Sam Witwicky's (Shia LeBeouf) grandfather strayed across the cube in the Arctic and had the coordinates scratched in Transformer code on his spectacles. Sam's now trying to sell them on eBay so that he can afford to buy a car (who turns out to be the Autobot Bumblebee).

Skipping on a bit, the Transformers also surf the web and eBay and it's a race between the Autobots and Decepticons to get to Sam as well as hack into the US Defense Department to locate Project Iceman (code for where the US has Megatron on ice). There's a fantastic desert battle scene with a Decepticon scorpion that is very cool.

Oh, by the way Sam has a hot love interest (Megan Fox) who loves cool cars.

Through various chases and battles the Autobots end up teaming up with the US military in battle against the Decepticons and a thawed Megatron.

The good guys win and Sam gets the girl and the car.

In summary: While the plot is pretty thin, the movie is long and filled with lots of great tranforming robots and battling. The computer graphics are amazing - the best I've yet seen - and are the core of the movie. The characters, including a dorky agent played by John Turturro, are mostly good, but nothing special as you'd expect from a movie like this.

The rating: 8 out of 10. This film has truly broad appeal, catching the older (35-40) from their 1980s memories and younger tweens/teens/preteens who also grew up with Optimus & Co. As an advertisement for GM, it's a 10.

The Casablanca comparison: Other than both having scenes in the desert (well, supposedly in the desert) there's not much of a comparison here, other than hot leading actresses.


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