TRANSFORMERS (2007) Review

Transformers (2007)

 It is no secret amongst my family and friends that I am a Transformers brand enthusiast; television series, toys, books, video games, the simple story of good versus evil, I enjoy the brand. However, it wasn’t always this way and the medium that initially interested me in this series was the live-action movie “Transformers” in 2007.  The story of a civil war between two factions of an alien shape-shifting robot race, originally created to sell toys in the 80’s, encapsulated my then early-teen mind the same way the original cartoon would have for children back in the day.

“Transformers”, from acclaimed action director Michael Bay and written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, centres on Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), a high school student who buys his first car and attempts to attract the eye of classmate Mikaela (Megan Fox).  It becomes apparent, however, that his car is “more than meets the eye” and the pair becomes swept up in a war between the heroic Autobots and the tyrannical Decepticons.  This story has a certain charm to it which when coupled with the excitement and noise of the action set pieces makes for a fun time, one where you can care about the characters and their motivations.

The score composed by Steve Jablonsky is simply beautiful and certainly suits the film, capturing the tone of not only the fast paced action sequences but also the more quiet moments, each track compliments each scene.  The overall sound design is also incredible. The noise of the transformations and the alien weaponry audibly immerses you into this sci-fi world.  

The visual effects are spectacular, making the robots look like they could actually seamlessly transform into the assortment of vehicles featured in the film, from big rigs and sports cars to tanks and jets.

Our heroes, the Autobots, are given personalities which makes them more than just CGI marvels, instead making them characters  – Optimus Prime is wise and noble, Bumblebee is a young but capable warrior and Ironhide an experienced war veteran itching for a fight.  Ratchet isn’t as developed as the others however and Jazz, as explained in a behind the scenes featurette by the film’s producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, is just “a cool guy”.

Our villains, the Decepticons, have next to no personality.  Relationships such as Starscream and Megatron’s are barely hinted at and though they are visually striking with their humanoid-insect-like designs, Brawl, Barricade, Bonecrusher and Blackout may as well be known as “bad robots A through B” for a casual audience.  

Another negative is the wooden performance of Megan Fox in one of her earliest acting roles.  Her line delivery is often unnatural and sometimes cringe inducing.  Whilst she is given a few things to do throughout the film, for the most part her character is an achievement for Sam to attain by the finale and objectified by the camera, supporting media theorist Laura Mulvey’s “Male Gaze” theory.

As a Michael Bay film, Michael Bay includes much Michael Bay humour that, for the most part, only Michael Bay typically finds funny.  Whether it is awkward humour or a joke that carries on for too long, more of his style of humour fails rather than succeeds. Personally, I find most of it funny in this film, whereas I don’t in some of his others. However, it clearly doesn’t play to the sense of humour of everyone in the audience, but then again, what actually does or can appeal to all audiences? 

Overall, I love this film.  It came out during such a transitional period in my life that it made such a lasting impact on me, giving me another franchise to be a fan of.  Since this came out back in 2007, four sequels have been cinematically released, “Revenge of the Fallen”, “Dark of the Moon”, “Age of Extinction” and “The Last Knight”, all directed by Michael Bay.  Now, you may be thinking, “if he loves this film, then he will probably love its sequels too, right?"  Well, I’ll just save that for another review.