I believe it's about the right time to write my review of the 2007 Transformers Movie by Michael Bay since I'm guessing that most of you have already seen the film over the 1st weekend. Just in case you have not seen the flick yet, do come back to read this after watching the film and share your raves and rants about it on this site. All you need to know from me is that this is a must-see movie if you're into Sci/Fi & Action/Adventure films. It may not have the best plot but at least the film makers succeeded in making people without any background on Transformers understand the story line. For the over-analytic movie-goer, this film would leave you questioning the veracity of some scenes especially those that involved the response of the military to an impending threat to humanity. However, despite the unbelievable scenarios, the Transformers movie still succeeded in making me believe that all the robots in disguise were interacting with human actors for real...the CGI used is definitely superb and a must-see for everyone. If you do not want to read any spoilers, stop reading now!

I have been a fan of the Transformers since it aired in Philippine Television in the 80's. I'm basically a purist by heart and I will always consider the G1 Transformers as the definitive measure of the film's faithfulness and accuracy. I do not claim to be an expert on the various incarnations of the Transformers, but I do know enough to appreciate any cool homage or abomination made to the Generation 1 series. I guess this is the main reason why I felt short-changed when I first saw the concept designs of the robots for the movie. However, I do understand that a new look for the characters was necessary since it would translate to millions of dollars of revenue on new merchandise, so I decided to give that to the producers who spent a lot of big bucks to make this film. Surprisingly, I learned to appreciate the coolness of the robot designs after more character design photos were released on the web. From a graphic artist’s perspective, all the intricate detailing and realistic CG rendering was definitely eye-candy. From then on, I started loving the way these robots looked, and my excitement and anticipation for the film just kept on growing until I saw the film on June 28th. Unfortunately after seeing the film, I cannot say that it was totally awesome. Wanna know why?....Read On....



• Unparalleled CGI. This film is another milestone for Computer Animation. ILM definitely raised the bar with this movie. The rendering of the robots made me think that they were made from practical effects rather than CG. I just could not tell where real props end and where CGI takes over. The complexity of the robot designs definitely helped add realism to the movements. The seamless CG is definitely “more than meets the eye”!

• Bumblebee Rocks. The design of Bumblebee and his characterization in the film was perfect. He could kick any Decepticon-butt single handedly making him uber-cool in my book. How I wish they gave Optimus the same screen time and character development in this film.

• Perfect Casting. Thumbs up for letting Peter Cullen be the voice of Optimus Prime. Fanboys definitely dig casting the original voice talent of Prime for the movie. Shia LaBeouf did a great job acting as the perfect underdog that would save humanity from an intergalactic war. Megan Fox was definitely testosterone friendly, a few more acting workshops would help boost this hot-chick’s career. Bernie Mac and Jon Voight simply showed that they were truly seasoned actors.

• Nice Touch of Faithfulness to the Animated Series. The All-Spark seemed to be an amalgam of energon cubes and the Autobot matrix. I loved the way they made it as a significant element that lead to the war between the Autobots and Decepticons. Although not every transformation sequence used the G1 Transformation score, you’d still hear it in several occasions as a homage too the cartoon series.


• Underdeveloped Characterization of Autobots & Decepticons. Given the many robot characters involved in the film, not all of them were given the appropriate attention to show their true characters. It would have been sweet if Starscream’s character played a bigger role in the beginning rather than Frenzy. Barricade also lost some screen time in the final battle while other Decepticons such as Brawl (Devastator?) and Bonecrusher seemed to be mindless drones that were just added in the end. The first 45 minutes could have been spent better with some scenes showing Decepticons interacting and planning so that we could see more of their personalities. As for the Autobots, there was at least a short introduction scene of each one when they first met Sam and Mikaela. I would have loved more Robot-to-Robot interaction but I guess it would have been too expensive to have any more CGI scenes.

• Transformations from Robot to Vehicle Mode (Vice-Versa) defied the laws of physics. A lot of people may not notice it, but the film-makers definitely cheated the audience by making sure that you cannot tell how each part got to where it is after transformation. Most of the transformation sequences, particularly that of Optimus Prime’s, was always shot at close-range with a lot of different parts moving, therefore complicating the entire scene. I would have appreciated it better had the transformations been simpler and more logical. As a toy collector, I simply hated the idea that the complexity of the movie transformations rendered the toy merchandise less movie accurate. Furthermore, I didn’t dig the way they showed how Bumblebee transformed from a Junk Camaro into a 2008 Model. If assuming a different form was a simple as that then there would be no reason to mechanically transform from robot to vehicle mode. They could have at least made it look like it took some time to re-configure from one form to the other.

• Unrealistic Scenarios and Reactions. In real life, the military would always bring any combat scenario as far away from the city to prevent civilian casualties and property damage. Why then would they even attempt to bring the All-Spark to the city when they were already in the desert? Furthermore, the All-Spark would have been better safe guarded by an Autobot who has the necessary weaponry and battle experience than Sam Witwicky. It should have been Optimus safeguarding the All-Spark! That way, more robot-to-robot fight scenes would ensue since Megatron would be after Prime and not Sam.

• Anti-Climactic Ending. Any Transformers fan would love to see Optimus kick Megatron’s butt. The movie failed in this aspect. Simply put, Optimus did not look like he was in his Prime form when he battled Megatron. Instead of Optimus defeating Megatron in battle, it was Sam Witwicky who delivers the final blow. The way Megatron died just didn’t feel right.

• Insignificant Death of Jazz. I would have accepted the fact that Jazz dies in the movie. However, the way he died was pretty lame. They could have at least given him a cool scene wherein he sacrifices his life for a human or a comrade rather than just being split in two shamelessly by Megatron.




If you don’t mind inconsistencies and loopholes in the story then you’ll probably rate this film with five stars for the seamless CG I rendering. Some people would probably say that I’m being too critical with all the rants I’ve mentioned, but that’s just my way of pointing out where possible improvements could be made especially if a sequel is in the works. My nit-picky brother, who seems to share the same sentiments as I, told me that viewing the film the 2nd time around gave made him appreciate the movie more. I plan to watch it again to see if my pricky fanboy mentality would dissipate after my second viewing. Kudos to the filmmakers of Transformers for the larger-than-life visceral experience. I just hope that the sequel would at have a more epic story line to tell. I do have a couple of rants about it, so I’m giving it only Four Bottlecaps.