Hi, I just go back from the Transformers Premiere, and had a decent walk back home. It is as of now 7:02 in the p.m., and I have just got back to my relaxing chair, and pulled up my laptop to settle down from the walk. Anyhow, let's not dive any further into my walk, rather to the review of Transformers: the movie.
Okay, first things first: this movie is based off the comics from Marvel/Anime/Hasbro toys. The characters were almost exact to what the common fan would expect: Star Scream was the Mach Jet, Blackout, a Black Hawk Helicopter (and first bot seen in the film). Barricade was a Police car, although in the original series he was technically a race car. On the Autobots side, there are: Optimus Prime, a Semi (naturally) Bumble Bee (Corvette, orignally a VW Bug) Ironhide, being a GMC Dropkick, Ratchet, (normally an ambulance, is an H2 Hummer) and Jazz ( Pontiac Solstice in the film, normally a Cybertronian car).
The movie itself was of a decent quality, and did have its rough moments, but nevertheless, it was rather lacking in some areas. Micheal Bay has directed a movie that rossed over 24 million dollars alone in one day, making it the highest grossing box office film for a Tuesday release. It was even a very nice day overall throughout the country. Transfore vers as many fans know are "robots in disguise" and the transforming would be key in the film, which it is,a nd done well in that Micheal Bay style. The chracters have reflection that seems to be realistic, the transformation even make the classic sounds that accompany the switching from vehicle to robot. The movie adaptation to the tranformers universe is also very much exact to the classic cartoon we grew up with. One translation that did not go over was the exclusion of Soundwave, and replaced with the Decepticon Frenzy. Frenzy, instead of turning into a cassette player, like he di in the early and mid eighties, now turns into a "boom-box" in the film. Another change was that of Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons changing into a giant lazer gun. Unfortunately in the film, he only changes into a jet, similar to that of Star Scream, who is of course, his right-hand man...er bot.
image from http://www.canmag.com/images/front/transformers/barricade.jpg. This is what Barricade, the police car in the film, looks like as a robot form. Quite an impressive bot that you meet about an hour or so into the film. STORYLINE: WARNING MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!
The movie's storyline sticks very close to that of the old cartoon, in that it deals with the use of young eath teens discovering the bots, via the boy Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) purchasing his first car. As many of the commercial have shown, the boy assumes he's going to get a Porsche, but instead is brought to a used car dealership, to buy a banged-up old Corvette. The car starts acting weird, and decides to drive off on its own accord. Sam follows it to a junnkyard, where he discovers his car is "more than meets the eye". Sam learns that his car is an alien machine from the planet Cybertron, and that he has disguised himself as an automobile. He sends a message to other robots, called the "autobots" for short, and the premise is to find a cube of pure energy called the All Spark. The Autobots have traced it to Earth, via Witicky's great great grandfather, whom had discovered a frozen "Ice man" in the Antartic. The Autobots have fought an enemy known as Decpiticons for eons, and have traced the All Spark to Earth. They want to use it to end the war, and finally bring peace and justice to their race. Little do they know that the "Ice Man" is actually Megatron, who had been frozen and kept in a cryogenic state. OPnce the other Decepticons discover the whereabouts of their leader, they soon see it fit to release him from his frozen prison, just bringing about war, terror, and destruction upon the Earth. Will the Autobots defeat the Decepiticons, in what may be their final battle? Or will the Decepticons wreak carnage on earth, and use the All Spark for world domination? You'll have to check out this film in theaters now for the answer.
Image fromhttp://graysmatter.codivation.com/content/binary/megatron_movie.jpg This is what Megatron's robot form is in the film. He is pretty badass, and has a manical sense of humor to top it all off.Despite many reasons one may find this film lacking, let's be real: it has giant fighting robots, demolishing and destroying everything in their paths (Although the bullet time was a little overdone, in my opinion, the fight scenes are what summer movies are truly all-about. They are nothing short of magnificant). On top of it all, the film runs about two and a half hours, and you may need to stretch your legs out, but Transformers leaves you wanting to see a sequel be done. I fror one would see a sequel if Micheal Bay will again direct, since he has done an amazing job, and has stuck to the plot better than most of these transistion films do, even topping the Spiderman film storyline transistions. If you are into Transformers, or a fan of anything Japan, this film is most definetly up your alley, I just say that for being a long-time fan, I truly was not that disappointed with the minor changes. Megatron as an aircraft sort of sucked, but Starscream was done very well. I recommend this film as a film to see this summer, because the director does not let you down! I don't want to give much more away, but the actors do a swell job, the humor, although rather short and blatant does make those who know the series well get a minor chuckle, and the attitudes of the Autobots are dead-on to their characteristics and personas. Enjoy this film, as I did, because it is defiently worth the ticket. I also recommend, like I do for most films like this one, to see it in an IMAX theater if possible, I had not had the pleasure to see it in an IMAX theater yet, but if the occasion rises up, I very well just might see it again.
image taken from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2a/000493904527.jpg This is my favorite Transformer of the Decepticons, and that is General Starscream. Starscream is a fighter jet in the film, and is perhaps one of the most popular Transformers on the Decepticon's side. The fans were outraged with his new look, but they failed to notice that most of the characters only resembeled the true look of the Eighties cartoon characters, and have gone through many transistions over the past 25-30 years. I honestly thought Starscream was decent-looking in the film, and his update into the 2000's was better than most.Stay in touch for another update on Malacast Editorial, when I review the 2006 New York TImes Bestseller "Water For Elephants" by Sara Gruen. A mighty fine read, and although it's an older book, a rather under-the-radar work. I just noticed how it is recently getting more press towards the end of 2007 than it has when it was released in mid 2006. Perhaps the outwaying of books like "A Thousand Splendid Suns" and "The Secret Life of Bees" has made it seem not as important of a novel, but I assure you; you will not want to miss my overview of this great book.
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