Transformers
It’s been too many years since my initial experience with Hasbro’s alien robots- either in their toy form or the animated series (and movie) that increased their popularity- to make any direct comparisons between Michael Bay’s epic film and the previous incarnations. Probably for the best; I might not have enjoyed the film so much if I had.
That doesn’t let it completely off the hook, though. Make no mistake- when Bay’s on his game (you’ll know, because it’s usually when some hard-core action’s taking place or Shia LaBouf is interacting with the autobots or hard-core hottie Megan Fox), the film is a prime piece of summer escapism. But screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (the “Alias” vets who cowrote Bay’s underrated “The Island”) also allow Bay a little too much freedom to indulge that penchant for cheesy silliness that made “Armageddon” unwatchable, “Pearl Harbor” a slap in the face to history, and “Bad Boys II” such an uninspired bore. A skilled rewrite by a fresh screenwriting mind- or at least some cut-throat editing- would’ve tightened the film both in focus and running time, and maybe even made for a summer blockbuster worthy of comparison to executive producer Steven Spielberg’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark” or “Jurassic Park.” Allow me to pose a couple of ideas…
**Plot Spoilers to Follow**
1) After you have Sam’s father take him to get the car- a rusted up camaro that becomes Autobot protector Bumblebee (who takes on a sleeker look later)- there’s really no need to show the parents again. The story should be completely about Sam’s initiation into this bigger world, this bigger conflict, that he becomes swept up in, and I can’t think of a single scene later in the movie with his parents- who, in typical Bay fashion, are ridiculously clueless and solely for comic effect (and one too broad for this story, no less)- that would be necessary in telling this story.
2) Streamline the storytelling. As with the parents, there’s no story reason for the actual arrest that occurs when he first sees Bumblebee transformed; instead, have Barricade and Frenzy (the radio Decepticon that was, incorrectly, considered Soundwave by a friend when we watched it- plans are for Soundwave to appear proper in the sequel) accost Sam at this moment (which is what I was expecting to happen), have Bumblebee jump in to protect him at this moment. Keep the story moving, and keep it on Sam. Leave his clumsy passes (with Bumblebee’s assistance) on Fox’s Mikaela- which allow LaBouf some entertaining moments- and get them to hook up again after the initial attack as happens in the movie, but there’s too much “plot clutter”- you could say- for a movie that’s, first and foremost, an adventure flick.
3) Rethink the idea of Section 7- which acts like Area 51 did in “Independence Day”- and the John Turturro character in particular. I enjoy Turturro as an actor (I can’t get enough of Jesus in “The Big Lebowski”), and his performance is great as its’ own thing, but again, in context of the movie, it’s too broad of humor for the more dramatic tone that seems to follow the film. Actually, I wouldn’t rethink anything else in regards to Section 7 except Turturro’s character. Otherwise, it works.
4) The military material that runs parallel to Sam’s story is sketchy. Most of it works- the Decepticon attacks in Qatar (though they didn’t fully utilize Scorponok’s burrowing nearly enough in the second one), Jon Voight as the Secretary of Defense, the computer geeks that try to crack the code, the soldiers who survive the Qatar attacks- but a quick jab at George W. (spoofed as wanting Ding Dongs while kicking back on Air Force One) and the idea of recruiting the world’s best hacker (an entertaining Anthony Anderson in an otherwise useless role) just helps muddle the film’s focus. True, they’re more a movie screenwriting team now (besides this and “The Island,” they’ve also done “The Legend of Zorro” and “M:i-III”), but have Kurtzman and Orci lost the knack for fast and tight storytelling they honed on “Alias” and “Lost” for J.J. Abrams so quickly?
**End Spoilers and Criticisms**
Don’t make more of these critiques than you should, just because each one has its’ own paragraph. These are the criticism of a critic and screenwriter who knows first hand how tricky it is to find the most effective way of getting the point across, whether it’s writing a movie review or writing a script. If you buy into the premise, it’s hard not to be entertained by the end. There are just a few larger-than-usual bumps in the road than you’d like in getting to- what one might call- a level of cinematic bliss.
There’s not really much more than I’ve gone into already to the story. The Decepticons- led by Megatron (with “V for Vendetta’s” Hugo Weaving doing vocal duty over original Megatron Frank Welker), who crashlanded here thousands of years ago- have made their way to Earth in search of the Allspark, which acts as the film’s MacGuffin. Sam- an heirloom of his great great grandfather, to be exact- holds the key to its’ location. With Bumblebee as his protector, he’s taken in by the Autobots and their leader Optimus Prime (voiced- as always- by Peter Cullen), as both teams try to find the location of the Allspark, leading- eventually- to a no-holds-barred battle between the Autobots and Decepticons in the streets of downtown L.A.
Were it not for the criticisms listed above, “Transformers” has the material that could’ve made it Bay’s best film since “The Rock” and “Bad Boys” outright. It still kind of is, actually, as- has been mentioned before- what’s good in this film is really damn good. Shia LaBouf continues his deserving rise to stardom (after “Disturbia” and “Surf’s Up” earlier this year) by making a solid human center in the midst of all the special effects chaos; I can’t wait to see him next year as Indy’s kid in “Indiana Jones IV.”
But while LaBouf helps in making the audience buy into the plot, the visual effects are the real center of attention in this film, and they don’t disappoint. Designed by Industrial Light & Magic, admittedly once the sparks fly in the battle scenes a lot of the impressive detail in the robots is lost (helped by Bay’s quick-cut aesthetic that continues to wear out its’ welcome), but the transformations and the detail in the machines themselves are a standard-raiser, and some of the year’s best visual effects. There’s a lot of slo-motion used in capturing the changes, but unlike many movies- **coughs “300”**- the blatent gratuity of the technique that’s so often prevalent disappears, and feels like the way to do it to increase the visual pow of what we’re seeing. And Bay lays out terrific action sequences for the ‘bots to do battle in, even if it’s sometimes difficult- as it often is in Bay films- who’s doing what where in what relation to the other compantants. Couldn’t Spielberg, a master of the old-school action sequence, have given him a few pointers in cleaning up his technique some?
No matter; while it’s hardly “more than meets the eye”- a line used not once but twice in the film (my opinion; the first use is better)- Michael Bay’s “Transformers” is a sight for sore eyes for this child of the ’80s…even if it doesn’t quite live up to what came before it in my memory.
