Transformers is today’s adolescent generation’s The Last Starfighter. For unknown reasons, adolescent males seem prone to (among other things) a curious desire to be befriended by alien life with its accompanying technology, high speed travel, and ability to guarantee successful romancing of attractive teen females. With its fantasy-stroking power, this formula is a recipe for commercial success no matter what the cinematic merits the final film happen to possess. Despite the obvious exploitation of formulaic protocols, Michael Bay’s 2007 movie adaptation of the 1980’s Transformers animated series/toy phenomenon, the film impresses me more than I had imagined that it would. The film is non-stop entertainment with a heart-pounding, high-action finish that will leave you catching your breath, though the movie disappointingly takes a few too many pit stops into corny-land that are unnecessary and do disservice to what would otherwise have been a phenomenal action/adventure/science-fiction film deserving of solid praise.

The plot, for those who aren’t familiar, revolves around a race of alien robots who come to Earth in search of a mythic source of power for their dying planet, which ultimately culminates in a classic good-versus-evil fight to the finish. Along the way their quest for “the cube” of power involves the life of young teen boy Sam Witwicky, expertly played by Shia LaBeouf, and the female object of his desire, Mikaela Banes, performed by the stunning Megan Fox. The film’s strengths, other than the obvious criteria of visually pounding action sequences and seamlessly integrated CGI effects, are its outstanding acting talents that really propel the movie’s plot into the realm of an emotionally engaging story. Shia’s performance goes beyond acting as he becomes the very essence of Sam Witwicky; this young actor has a gift for depicting a young teen male brimming with erotic desire, nervous insecurity, and eager passion that come together in a way that’s both comedic and believable at the same time. Megan’s performance is also sharply tuned as her character forms the perfect compliment to Sam Witwicky’s personality, energy, and adolescent sexual desire. Sam’s parents are also an admirable addition to the cast and provoke more than one moment of heartfelt laughter.

With all it has going for it, it’s a shame that Director Bay couldn’t have resisted the urge to throw in a few cheap gags that needlessly pull the film down. The film’s weaknesses begin about an hour into the film, with the first words uttered by the Transformer robots. With that inaugural robot conversation, the film seems to shift bizarrely from a heretofore respectable action/adventure into some sort of silly comedy with a target audience of kids under 12. And then, as quickly as it diverges into this off-shoot of unwelcome farce, it bounces back and reassumes the genre of a more serious sci-fi/action film intent on earning the viewer’s respect. This back/forth flip-flopping happens over and over until the film’s culmination, and while some viewers might not be bothered or might even enjoy this change of style, I found it disappointingly distracting and destructive to the film’s otherwise outstanding qualities.

With all its faults, however, the film is still easily enjoyed for the entertaining vehicle that it most certainly is. Dan’s thoughts on the film (from his review 15 Oct review of the HD DVD versus DVD):

“Based on one of the many factoids found in the supplements, I’m apparently among the 25% of American males who haven’t had the Transformers experience as a child or adolescent.  I was unaware of the animated television series, I never played with Transformers toys as a child... all I knew was that Hasbro had marketed a toy line of robots that could be bent and folded into other things.  So the prospect of a film based on a bunch of toys that was purported to be a prolonged commercial for General Motors did not fill me with glee.  But wait a minute.  Michael Bay directs, Steven Spielberg is an executive producer, ILM is doing the special effects, and the budget is a staggering $148 million dollars.  Hmmm, maybe I should take this venture more seriously.  Bay and Spielberg spent their production budget well; they delivered a prototypical popcorn movie that earned an impressive $478 million worldwide.

“The film opens with some exposition that orients the uninitiated 25%.  A peaceful world of cybernetic creatures that achieved sentience was wracked by war as evil and good battled for dominance.  During the conflict, the source of life, the Allspark, was lost and it drifted away into interstellar space.  Ever since, both the forces of evil in the form of Decpticons and the forces of good in the form of Autobots have been searching for the Allspark to recover it.

“By no small coincidence, the Allspark made its way to earth to become this film’s Macguffin.  The key to its location is now in the hands of an awkward teenager with raging hormones: Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf).  He lusts after the beautiful and sexy Mikaela Banes (the impossibly foxy Megan Fox), and is desperate to sell some of his grandfather’s possessions that survived his years as an explorer and adventurer.  Little does he know that among them is the information that will either save the Earth or destroy it.

“Never underestimate the power of the Web.  Sam is trying to sell those artifacts on eBay to earn his share of the money required to take his father up on an offer to buy his first car, a car he hopes to use to impress the delicious Mikaela.  Both Autobots and Decepticons have come to Earth, and through the power of the information superhighway, have tracked down the hapless teen (how they know that one of his grandfather’s artifacts is important is not clear).  And when Sam is sought out by the robots, his life will also be transformed in ways he couldn’t hope for or imagine.

“Not surprisingly, the military are also on the case.  The Decepticons have made their destructive presence felt in none too subtle ways, perhaps as a diversion as they try to hack military servers to steal the information they believe might lead them to the Allspark.  The devastation is impressive (and strictly gratuitous).  The military also discover Sam’s involvement, so we have the Air Force, the Army, Defense Secretary John Keller (Jon Voight), and Section 7 Agent Simmons (John Turturro) of a shadowy, secret organization reminiscent of Men in Black, all after the teenager.

“This is beauty and the geek submerged in an absolutely kickass, special effects laden, action-intensive sci-fi flick punctuated by humor; it’s simply a lot of fun.  Bay has put together an intense, quickly paced film that’s so involving that you don’t have a chance to think long enough to appreciate the plot holes or be bothered by how utterly silly it all is.  I found myself amused by a screenplay laced with humor that is entirely contextual and not at all gratuitous.  Shia LaBeouf is charming and funny, the perfect archetype horny teen.  Megan Fox is appealing and delightful as the girl who’s always attracted to the wrong kind of guy.  Jon Voight is persuasively take-charge.  The reliable John Turturro is credibly creepy.  And the supporting cast is uniformly effective.  But the real stars of the show are created within the confines of a vast network of computers.  I was terribly impressed with the quality of the CGI and the complexity of each robot.  The transformations are a wonder to behold. 

“So Transformers has earned a top spot on my list of guilty pleasures.  It’s eye candy and ear candy.  It’s fun.  It’s entertaining.  And it is pure silliness, but I liked it anyway."