Transformers has great potential and some moments that show you it could've been so much more than it turned out to be and yet it disappoints by what it mostly is. There truly is more than meets the eye to this film but I don't really like what I see.



Transformers falls victim to being another typical Hollywood project that's chock full of the standard thoughts and beliefs of a humanistic, secular and liberal society. Michael bay and company stuffed this film with so much Hollywood fluff that the story about the Transformers broke under the weight of it. There are so many places where this movie goes wrong.



First, it focuses waaaaay too much on everyone else in the film except the actual Transformers. The movie is called Transformers isn't it? We're not given much of any story, background or character on the Transformers themselves. There's almost no connection to the old 80's cartoon and the most history we get to see is in the form of a short flashback. They give us a hint of the conflict between Starscream and Megatron but couldn't give anymore because the movie ran so long on human stories. There's just so much time wasted on the human characters that we're not here to see. If you take out Megan Fox and her character altogether, the movie becomes instantly better. I didn't put down my money to see how hot the director thinks she is with the close up shots of her or to see another movie about teenage romance. About them getting to know each other, getting past their differences and falling in love. I really don't want to see it as I really don't care. Sam's parents are annoying and also get more time on screen than they have a right to. Even the soldiers are on for too long. I think there was so much confusion here as to how to build the humans around the robots that they ended up building the robots around the humans. As a kid, I was a huge fan of the cartoon in the 80's and the show did well enough with very little human interaction.



Second, it's obvious that the writers and director here are very leftist liberals who are bent on preaching their secular humanism. Here are a few of the things I picked up on. Sam's mother asks if he was masturbating in his room because he had it locked. She then proceed's to tell him that "it's ok" if he was. His parents then discover that a girl was hiding in his room and congratulate him for it. So it's ok for a teenage boy to have a girl alone with him in his bedroom with the door locked? Okay? Then there's a few instances that reflect an anti-government, anti-authority attitude, but then they still remain pro-military as is popular today. Plus a little knock at President Bush, (yeah we know who the voice is supposed to sound like), and it's always popular to mock and insult him. Add to that the fact that the only person wearing a cross is the most unlikable character in the movie and it's readily apparent where the people behind this movie are coming from. Before you tell me "it's only a movie", don't deceive yourself into thinking that the media doesn't promote it's own ideas through it's mediums. Hollywood tells you exactly where it's coming from through t.v. and movies. I also didn't care for the cussing. They could've removed it altogether and it would'nt have changed a thing. The people involved in this movie know darn well that the audience will be a largely younger one. But I guess filthy language and sexuality are also some of our promoted and accepted traits in this country, so here they are.



Third, they want to bring the Transformers into our world today but make alot of the people and situations unbelievable. I'd like to never see another movie where "joe nobody's" are suddenly allowed to be involved in a military resistance or are suddenly allowed to see and be included in the plans of top secret, underground, government agencies. Megan Fox's character isn't scared when she first sees a giant Decepticon coming right for her and Sam. She doesn't scream or freak out or anything. Not only that but when she and Sam are being chased by the smaller one, she immediately looks for a weapon to fight it, then does. Come on, are we really supposed to believe this? It's not only her though as it seems everyone wants to be the hero here and has no problem fighting with these giant alien robots that no one knows about. Everyone seems to just jump right into action. Like the earth is populated with superheroes. And they make Optimus Prime our biggest cheerleader. He's full of comments of how great we are and how they need us and couldn't achieve victory without us. Since when did the Autobots ever need us?



Fourth, They only got one of the original voice actors for the Transformers themselves. You could pull it off without most of them I guess but they should've got the originals or at least sound-a-likes for Megatron or Starscream, as they had classic and recognizable voices. I'm glad that they got Peter Cullen to reprise his role as the voice of Optimus but he should've been able to also do Ironhide as he used to.



Fifth, the product placement went to a new level of shameless with the cars and just about everything you see in the film. They could've used some clips of the movie for commercials.



Sixth, there are some moments here that just feel juvenile. The teen moments in school, at the park, with the parents, and the rock music on two of the action chases feel made for a teenage audience. Even as a young adult, I found them hard to sit through. And don't even get me started on the lame dialog. There's not a smart or insightful spoken word throughout.



The things I do like here are pretty obvious. I like the action, the graphics and the Transformers themselves. When they're on screen, the movie is alot more interesting and it makes you just want to see and learn more about them. Why didn't they just start the film with their war on their world, instead of just a flashback? It would've bee so much more interesting. This really should've been a straight up, sci fi action film. I accept the new look of the robots and the transforming animations are incredible.



Which brings me to the disc itself. I have seen both the standard and HD DVD versions and there's a pretty noticeble difference between them when comparing them. They're both very good though and your gonna be fine with either one you choose. The standard disc still looks and sounds very impressive. On a good t.v. and home theater, you won't feel like your missing out if you don't have the HD version. If you want the HD DVD version, which will be the same when it's released it on Blu-Ray, you'll want to have a very good HDTV and sound sysytem to make you happy you paid the extra money. It looks and sounds great to be sure but not so much that it makes the SD version look and sound bad. The 2 are actually pretty close and will equally satisfy.



I really wanted to like Transformers more than I do. But the things that bug me, really bug me. So much, that I find myself skipping through the slow, human story parts to get to the better stuff. That's not good. I don't own many, if any movies, where I have to do that. Those parts just bog the film down, make it longer and make it feel alot longer than it is. I hope they do better with the upcoming sequel, I don't think they will but here's to hoping. I give this one 2 stars for the effects studio who provided the excellent graphics and battle sequences, without those, it gets no stars. If you want a movie about uninteresting, stereotypical people (spineless loser guy, losers "cool" parents, ex thief/mechanic super girl, hip teen hackers, soft hearted military heroes, "evil" government) in unbelievable situations, sprinkled with some sci fi action in the form of robots, then you'll be happy. If you want sci fi action, something like the cartoons you may remember, and a smart and challenging film then your gonna struggle here. If your not a lefty liberal, looking for another celebration of secular humanism, your gonna struggle even more. If those things are a concern, rent before you buy.