DotTheEyes
Movie Fan
View the trailer...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSp_rNrBnG4
Directed by Michael Bay, Transformers is an extravagant action film short on character development and plot, but long on VFX and pyrotechnics. Would... nay, could you expect more from a film based on a toy line?
What there is of a plot is vague and not worth discussing. The main attraction is the action, especially the knockdown-dragout robot-vs.-robot (excuse me, Autobot-vs.-Decepticon) battles. Rendered with flawless CGI, the Autobots and Decepticons are cinematic spectacles you must see to believe.
I must say, though, I was disappointed they weren't fleshed out (no pun intended) as specific characters. In fact, I was hard pressed to differentiate between them during the climactic melee. But, on a purely visual level, they were jaw-dropping creations. ILM (Industrial Light & Magic) should be proud.
The human cast fares worse. Shia LaBeouf is charming and energetic as the protagonist, an in-over-his-head student whose recently-purchased Camaro is a robot-in-disguise, but Megan Fox is a bore as his love interest. The camera objectifies her and her beauty, but she fails to create an interesting character worth rooting for. Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson blend together and into the scenery as soldiers who play a (all in all, fairly minor) role in the action. And the less said about a slumming Jon Voight and an annoying... deeply, deeply annoying Anthony Anderson, the better.
If the movie succeeds, it's because of Michael Bay. A music video veteran, his aggressive style, which encompasses sun-dappled, hand-held cinematography and rapid-fire editing, fits the material perfectly. You become so involved in the explosion and crunched metal-heavy action he orchestrates you cease to care if the acting's nothing special or the plot's thin and contrived.
Overall, Transformers suffers in the acting, dialogue (Shia LaBeouf's character is told "You're a soldier now!" in a completely-earnest, almost-weepy scene), and storytelling departments, but I'll recommend it because the big, big, BIG action is badass and diverting and the visual effects employed to bring the Transformers to cinematic life are mind-blowingly spectacular.
Directed by Michael Bay, Transformers is an extravagant action film short on character development and plot, but long on VFX and pyrotechnics. Would... nay, could you expect more from a film based on a toy line?
What there is of a plot is vague and not worth discussing. The main attraction is the action, especially the knockdown-dragout robot-vs.-robot (excuse me, Autobot-vs.-Decepticon) battles. Rendered with flawless CGI, the Autobots and Decepticons are cinematic spectacles you must see to believe.
I must say, though, I was disappointed they weren't fleshed out (no pun intended) as specific characters. In fact, I was hard pressed to differentiate between them during the climactic melee. But, on a purely visual level, they were jaw-dropping creations. ILM (Industrial Light & Magic) should be proud.
The human cast fares worse. Shia LaBeouf is charming and energetic as the protagonist, an in-over-his-head student whose recently-purchased Camaro is a robot-in-disguise, but Megan Fox is a bore as his love interest. The camera objectifies her and her beauty, but she fails to create an interesting character worth rooting for. Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson blend together and into the scenery as soldiers who play a (all in all, fairly minor) role in the action. And the less said about a slumming Jon Voight and an annoying... deeply, deeply annoying Anthony Anderson, the better.
If the movie succeeds, it's because of Michael Bay. A music video veteran, his aggressive style, which encompasses sun-dappled, hand-held cinematography and rapid-fire editing, fits the material perfectly. You become so involved in the explosion and crunched metal-heavy action he orchestrates you cease to care if the acting's nothing special or the plot's thin and contrived.
Overall, Transformers suffers in the acting, dialogue (Shia LaBeouf's character is told "You're a soldier now!" in a completely-earnest, almost-weepy scene), and storytelling departments, but I'll recommend it because the big, big, BIG action is badass and diverting and the visual effects employed to bring the Transformers to cinematic life are mind-blowingly spectacular.
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