Michael Bay's TRANSFORMERS (2007) Spoiler-Free Review

Michael Bay's TRANSFORMERS (2007) Spoiler-Free Review

The FIFTH installment in Michael Bay's blockbuster "Transformers" franchise hits theaters today, so let's take a look back at the film that started it all!

Review Opinion
By theandrewahern - Jun 21, 2017 08:06 AM EST
Filed Under: Transformers

With today’s release of the fifth installment in the extremely profitable yet critically maligned Transformers franchise – Transformers: The Last Knight – let’s take a road trip to July 2007 and examine the film that began the worldwide phenomenon.  Titled simply Transformers, the first film in director Michael Bay’s loud and fast franchise suffers from a lot of the same issues that plague the later movies in the series, but at least manages to breathe life into a beloved cartoon franchise in a unique way.

Chief among the issues that plague Michael Bay’s Transformers movies is the amount of time spent focusing on the human characters instead of the titular robots, and the first film in the franchise does not escape this issue.  Instead of using the entirety of the films screen time to highlight the story of the massive metal monsters, the audience is “treated” to a story revolving around a set of human characters with the Transformers taking something of a backseat in their own movie.  While the human element provides characters that the audience can relate to, most fans and critics alike agreed that the movie would have benefited from far less human screen time and far more Transformer time.  The fact is that moviegoers paid money to see Transformers transform and fight – not humans running around.

There is something of a “saving grace” in regard to the humans, however, in the form of Shia LaBeouf’s Sam Witwicky.  LaBeouf delivers his lines in exactly the type of way you would expect a quick-thinking high school junior would, and his timing and expressions inject an over-the-top yet surprising genuine sense of humor and wittiness into the film.  The films other human lead, Megan Fox’s Mikayla Banes, does a fine job in her role as well, although it is obvious that her occasionally over-sexualized character is just there to draw in an audience.  The rest of the human cast – Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Rachael Taylor, Anthony Anderson, and Jon Voight, among others, all do fine but don’t offer anything particularly substantial or fresh to the movie.

 As for the Transformers featured in the film, a few stand out while the others all blend together into a pile of metal in the background.  Peter Cullen – voice of Optimus Prime in the original cartoon series – lends his voice to the same character here, and does so in spectacular fashion.  Prime is easily the most recognizable Transformer in the movie – part of the reason being Cullen’s deep and commanding voice that fits the character so well.  Opposite Cullen’s Optimus Prime is Hugo Weaving’s Megatron as the primary antagonist, and while we don’t get to spend too much time with him, Weaving makes him feel menacing and iconic.  Bumblebee is the other Transformer that stands out, acting as Sam Witwicky’s guardian throughout the movie, and although he doesn’t technically speak, he’s the emotional core of the Transformers team – evident through his expressions and softer facial design.

Speaking of character design, this iteration of Transformers is vastly different from every other version seen to-date.  Whereas the classic and modern cartoons and toys have typically featured robots made up of simpler geometric shapes, Bay and his team of mad scientists have come up with far more complex designs for their versions of these characters.  While the idea is sound – if cars, trucks, and planes had the ability to transform into giant robots, they’d have millions of individual parts to consider and showcase – it may not have been the best idea to make this concept a reality.  Due to the extremely complicated design of the characters it is often difficult to tell exactly who or what you’re looking at, and near impossible during all the action sequences in the film.  It tends to just look like a lot of scrap metal flying around aimlessly while characters make stupid jokes.  Transformers is not driven by plot or character development, but instead the desire to put cool action sequences on film.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t even do that very well.

At the very least, Bay’s Transformers and its many sequels offer fans of these characters a unique version of the franchise to watch and more toys to buy.  Ultimately, however, that fact doesn’t transform this movie into anything more than the pile of scrap metal that it is.  ★★  2/5

 

BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE Remains At The Top Of Domestic Box Office As TRANSFORMERS ONE Underperforms
Related:

BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE Remains At The Top Of Domestic Box Office As TRANSFORMERS ONE Underperforms

TRANSFORMERS ONE Ending And Post-Credits Scenes Explained (Including How They Set Up A Sequel) - SPOILERS
Recommended For You:

TRANSFORMERS ONE Ending And Post-Credits Scenes Explained (Including How They Set Up A Sequel) - SPOILERS

DISCLAIMER: As a user generated site and platform, ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions.

This post was submitted by a user who has agreed to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. ComicBookMovie.com will disable users who knowingly commit plagiarism, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement. Please CONTACT US for expeditious removal of copyrighted/trademarked content. CLICK HERE to learn more about our copyright and trademark policies.

Note that ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.

knocturnalzen10
knocturnalzen10 - 6/21/2017, 8:39 AM
solid rating :)
Lobo89
Lobo89 - 6/21/2017, 9:42 AM
Schmoes knows gave it a 1.
WYLEEJAY
WYLEEJAY - 6/21/2017, 1:31 PM
These movies. Each of them have SOMETHING I want. But none of them have been really fulfilling.

Upon first viewing, the first film made me feel the best. But upon following views, the human element was incredibly boring. And the Transformers action scenes were badly done.

The second film, the plot was horrible. Mostly just the way the story tried so hard to keep Sam relevant. And the characterizations, and creative decisions sucked. Literally the interesting Transformers get put in the background, and the horribly depicted ones get to be part of the main story. But this film has the best action sequences of the entire franchise. So it's easier to rewatch.

The third film may have had the best story, besides once again trying to keep Sam relevant. Action sequences were a step down from the previous film. Optimus is turned into a psychotic killer, and Megatron turned into a bitch. Too long, hard to rewatch.

And the fourth? Story wasn't great. Human villains weren't very good. Not knowing what happened to some of the more interesting Transformers from the previous film is really disappointing, and the action scenes once again a letdown. I think Hounds last stand was the only time I felt like I was on the edge of my seat. Dinobots were treated badly. Not surprised one bit. The only thing the movie did right in my opinion was the interactions between the title card characters felt much better written. They felt like characters. Not just background pieces. But I have no interest in rewatching.

And my own personal complaint, growing up Optimus, Bee, Jazz and Sideswipe were my favorite Auto Bots. Just loved the characters and their designs the most in the G1 cartoon. So to see most of them be treated so disrespectfully makes me mad. Jazz was ripped in half. Above the waist. Optimus has the Matrix that can revive Cybertronians, but nobody thought to put him back together and bring him back? But Megatron gets revived how many times? Barricade survived what happened to him in DOTM? And we don't even know if Sideswipe is alive or not still. I don't care what a collector card says, if they don't tell or show in the movie it didn't happen.

Overall the franchise is a disappointment to this huge fan.
theandrewahern
theandrewahern - 6/22/2017, 3:32 AM
@WYLEEJAY - Well put. I thought I remembered the first movie being decent as well, but upon my re-watch yesterday I realized it's just as bad as the others. Maybe even worse that DOTM.
WYLEEJAY
WYLEEJAY - 6/22/2017, 9:17 AM
@theandrewahern - Yeah lots of potential, but missed the mark.
BadLobo012
BadLobo012 - 6/22/2017, 7:11 AM
I saw the movie yesterday, hoping to have a decent good time. Instead i found myself sleeping in the middle of the movie. What the hell, was that garbage. AOE is more entertaining than this mess. The movie doesn't make any sense at all. Even the final credits look bad.
theandrewahern
theandrewahern - 6/22/2017, 7:16 AM
@BadLobo012 - Unpopular opinion time but I just finished watching AOE and it's actually my favorite of the first 4 lol. At this point I just feel like it's an obligation to watch the fifth.
BadLobo012
BadLobo012 - 6/22/2017, 9:28 AM
@theandrewahern - you have to watch it to see what everybody is complaining about. It's so boring and sad really. 2.30 hours for what.... only 20 mins of robots, that's it. This one had so much potential.
View Recorder