'Transformers': Good movie incarnation with some minor faults

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sun, 07/01/2007 10:33 AM | Life

Lutfi Makarim, Contributor, Jakarta

(Science fiction/adventure, 135 mins) Starring Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Jon Voight, Peter Cullen, Hugo Weaving, Rachel Taylor. Directed by Michael Bay. Produced by Paramount Pictures.

So, at last, after all the teasers, trailers, toys, star interviews and fan hype, Transformers, the movie by Michael Bay, is on general release here.

Even before it came out, every little detail of the movie that had been seen in trailers and teasers was widely discussed by fans with the intensity of Star Trek aficionados.

I remember all the discussion the message boards had when they released a picture of Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots (the good guys) and he was purple.

This caused such a stir among fans who remember Optimus in his G1 (generation 1, for those of you non-Trans fans out there) form as a red semi-truck.

Anyway, back to the movie. As this from Bay, you cannot really expect deep character development. From the start, we are introduced to some gung-ho American soldiers stationed in Qatar.

Shortly after they return to their base, they are attacked by Blackout, a Decepticon who is transformed into a military helicopter.

Even this early in the movie, you can tell this is Bay at work for carnage ensues as Blackout destroys everything in the base, with the humans not doing much.

After this, we return to the United States and are introduced to Sam Witwicky (La Beouf). If you are any kind of fan of the original G1 Transformers, then you will recognize that name as one of the humans that the Autobots befriend during their stay on Earth.

However, Sparkplug, Sam's father in the series, is nowhere to be found in this new incarnation.

Sparkplug's replacement is one of the weak spots in the movie. He and Sam's mother are just cannon fodder for all those teenagers-hiding-from-their-parents jokes that you have seen a million times if you've ever watched a teen movie.

The hiding scene with the Autobots seems just ridiculous and out of place in this kind of movie.

The real stars are the robots. The Autobots are predictable, as they all become cars in the movie.

We are introduced to five: Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Ratchet, Bumblebee and Jazz.

My favorite character is Jazz, the fun robot who transforms into a Pontiac Solstice. As for the Decepticons, we are also introduced to a further five: Megatron, Starscream, Frenzy, Barricade and Blackout.

Of these, my favorite is Barricade, who transforms into a police car with the words ""to punish and enslave"" painted on the side. I thought, Frenzy, the robot that became a tape recorder, was really unnecessary. Do we really need an ADD (attention deficit disorder) robot in this move?

As a fan of the original Transformers, I would say I enjoyed this movie incarnation, except for some minor details.

Now, bring on part 2, where I heard they will bring Shockwave and Soundwave into the mix, two of my favorite Decepticons. (*** out of *****)

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