Shiny Shiny Robots!

[RJ]

I just saw the new Transformers movie.

*melts into a puddle of goo*

Okaies, review time!

I actually went to the movie at 9.30 in the morning so I was still a little out of it when I walked into the cinema and sat down. Luckily the pre-movie music was AC/DC so I did a little air-guitar until other people started to walk in. It didn't fill up very much though, and there was enough room to have your own little personal bubble so you could enjoy the movie (or in my case talk to my dad without getting hushed... what? We like to pick out where we've seen actors from before).

The opening scene of the movie is a great introduction with Optimus Prime's smexy smexy voice telling us about the All Spark and how it operates. From there, the scene is set as we are brought to a desert military base in Qatar to see our first glimpses of the kind of devastation we are going to be in for. We are introduced to William Lennox and his team as they make their escape into the desert and away from their base destroyed by an unknown creature. However, one of the team has managed to capture a photo of it, and whatever it is doesn't want them to share.

Suddenly, seemingly far away from any danger, we are placed into the world of a young man named Sam, who is going to buy his first car with his father, after having given a presentation to his class about his explorer grandfather. Despite being an innocent-looking scene, we are given a lot of information and given our first look at popular girl Mikaela, our protagonist's crush. Sam buys his first car, an old-looking Camaro with a "custom faded" paintjob (I found the trinkets hanging from the rear view mirror such a nice touch, including the bumblebee air freshener with the word 'Beee-otch' on it).

Things slow down for a short while as we follow Sam around and see his situation - unpopular, embarrassing parents, and his new car is just a little on the weird side, leading him to have a unwanted Herbie the Love Bug type of moment with Mikaela as he tries to give her a lift home. But it's not too long until we finally catch back up again, and find ourselves in the Pentagon where the military is trying to work out which country is behind the attack, and bringing in analysts from all over to try and decode a mysterious signal. Soon after, we're back with Lennox and his team who have suddenly come under attack by their assailant, a giant mechanical scorpion who doesn't want them to phone home.

This is where the movie takes a sharp-right and we're back in the action again. Guns are shooting, bombs are exploding, and a call center in India is asking for a credit card number so Lennox can make a call to the Pentagon... This fight scene pretty much sums up the entire movie, mixing in devastation with hilarious little moments so we can still see elements of the old cartoon. The in-jokes are a treat to any fans of the series (especially the 'more than meets the eye' jokes and even a little bit of breakdancing from one of the Autobots – perhaps an homage to the animated movie?). And the 'Yay' moments only get better when the Autobots finally crash onto the scene.

Strangely, there is very little which can be said about Transformers - if only because for the majority of the movie your mouth with be hanging too far open to actually say anything at all. The movie is slick, shiny, and moves at a million miles an hour. Though, that may be one of the few downfalls of the movie. Action scenes are presented in a rapid-fire collection of shots. It can get somewhat confusing as to what is happening sometimes - who's the good guy? Who the hell is that? Why did they go into the city without evacuating it first?

At one point I was questioning the plot, but it strangely makes sense after you realise this is the US Government we're talking about.

What I loved most was the fact that it wasn't all focussed on the action and the Autobots like the cartoon series was. The Autobots are treated like a kind of fanservice and eye-candy so you really connect to them despite how late their arrival time is. Their personalities are well-defined and although they may know the language, they are still clueless to the ways of humans and the concept of "Hide, my parents are coming!". The human actors are magnificent, it's amazing how well they are able to interact with the Autobots and with each other. Everyone gets their own moment, even Sam's Chihuahua, Mojo who decides to take a rest stop on one of the Autobot's legs.

The movie switches between entertainingly dysfunctional and mind-blowingly awesome, with many stops in-between. And there's no way you can be disappointed. Every detail is right there in front of you, in both plot points, character development and in the mechanical designs of the Transformers themselves. They're not generic copies of each other – they're individuals with personality and likes and dislikes. Throughout the movie we find out things that really make them stand out that way – we know that Bumblebee is sensitive about his appearance, and that Megatron is one ugly robot who likes to flick people out of the way.

I can't wait to get this on DVD so I just see the behind the scenes documentaries. The animation of the Transformers is so perfectly amazing that you'll be sure to see it again just to look in awe at every bolt and scratch in paint. And the explosions. Gotta love them too.

[Zedd]

Im not too hapy WHAT bumblebee is...Even Kenji will agree on this...

[RJ]

A Camaro?

Yeah, I think the VW Beetle would have been cuter, but he had to appeal to Sam's character.

The only thing I'm only really disappointed at personally is I wished there had been more Autobots, but that would have wrecked the movie and changed the focus.

[Brunhidden]

Yeah, I think the VW Beetle would have been cuter, but he had to appeal to Sam's character.

Giant robots are not supposed to be cute, they are supposed to be spiky and on fire and have more warning labels then a Twinkie factory. If you make a giant robot cute you may as well put shag upholstery and some pink fuzzy dice on it.... actually the fuzzy dice sound cool.

i have not seen it yet, but the wife is a huge transformers freak and we wanna see it together when we have time. The mechanics of a transformer amazes me, because if they fold and unfold like they do when they are in robot form they must be almost entirely hollow.

my viewpoint on the transformers can be seen in this short video.
http://www.bandwidththeater.com/morethan.html

Insanity is hereditary; you get it from your children.

[King Of Hearts]

Good movie. a bit campy. strong human characters if a bit too much focus on them.

Childhood status: Satisfied


spoiler


Boo at Prime leaving Bumblebee to die because he doesnt want to hurt the humans who were attacking Bumblebee.

And why the hell does Prime know so much about humans their potential and whatnot? He only landed a day prior and I doubt the internet would have been the best source of things good about humanity.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

And why the hell does Prime know so much about humans their potential and whatnot? He only landed a day prior and I doubt the internet would have been the best source of things good about humanity.

Er, that depends entirely upon your link to the internet, and just -how- much of it you can suck down in a day.

Multi-gigabit links, perhaps you can draw down large chunks, but even google takes a month to update everything... On the other hand, if you can hack into the backbone, you can monitor a -heck- of a lot of traffic - particularly if you can monitor it at multiple places.

And given enough CPU power, that's not totally unreasonable...

[Janus Whitefurr]

I pretty much approve of what RJ said. I went to the 9:30am showing down here, and I was entertained mightily the entire time. The wavy plot, the action scenes, the humorous moments, it is all love.

"Bumblebee, stop lubricating the man."

[RJ]

I pretty much approve of what RJ said. I went to the 9:30am showing down here, and I was entertained mightily the entire time. The wavy plot, the action scenes, the humorous moments, it is all love.

"Bumblebee, stop lubricating the man."

I loved that.

[King Of Hearts]

And why the hell does Prime know so much about humans their potential and whatnot? He only landed a day prior and I doubt the internet would have been the best source of things good about humanity.

Er, that depends entirely upon your link to the internet, and just -how- much of it you can suck down in a day.

Multi-gigabit links, perhaps you can draw down large chunks, but even google takes a month to update everything... On the other hand, if you can hack into the backbone, you can monitor a -heck- of a lot of traffic - particularly if you can monitor it at multiple places.

And given enough CPU power, that's not totally unreasonable...

I suppose... Black Out [?] and Frenzy was able to silt quickly trough heavily fire walled Top Secret records.

But still... Prime finding the good of humans trough the internet... *snicker* I guess he didnt find 4chan.

[Janus Whitefurr]

And why the hell does Prime know so much about humans their potential and whatnot? He only landed a day prior and I doubt the internet would have been the best source of things good about humanity.

Er, that depends entirely upon your link to the internet, and just -how- much of it you can suck down in a day.

Multi-gigabit links, perhaps you can draw down large chunks, but even google takes a month to update everything... On the other hand, if you can hack into the backbone, you can monitor a -heck- of a lot of traffic - particularly if you can monitor it at multiple places.

And given enough CPU power, that's not totally unreasonable...

I suppose... Black Out [?] and Frenzy was able to silt quickly trough heavily fire walled Top Secret records.

But still... Prime finding the good of humans trough the internet... *snicker* I guess he didnt find 4chan.

Couldn't remember the actual number, but...

"ARE YOU EBAY USER LADIESMAN OH TWO SEVEN FIVE!?""

[Valynth]

And why the hell does Prime know so much about humans their potential and whatnot? He only landed a day prior and I doubt the internet would have been the best source of things good about humanity.

Er, that depends entirely upon your link to the internet, and just -how- much of it you can suck down in a day.

Multi-gigabit links, perhaps you can draw down large chunks, but even google takes a month to update everything... On the other hand, if you can hack into the backbone, you can monitor a -heck- of a lot of traffic - particularly if you can monitor it at multiple places.

And given enough CPU power, that's not totally unreasonable...

I suppose... Black Out [?] and Frenzy was able to silt quickly trough heavily fire walled Top Secret records.

But still... Prime finding the good of humans trough the internet... *snicker* I guess he didnt find 4chan.

Considering average human hackers can do the same thing without much effort.  The "top secret" files are kept in the equivalent of a fortified building with paper windows.

If anyone of any reasonable destructive power found 4chan, we'd all be doomed.  For the love of all that is good, DON'T TELL BUSH!

[Eowyn]

What Eowyn types- asofduhnnnnnnnnnnn
What Eowyn says- Where'd he go? pime pime, whereareyoucomeback!
What Eowyn means- I have the old animated transformers movie, I cried when optimus died.

[King Of Hearts]

And why the hell does Prime know so much about humans their potential and whatnot? He only landed a day prior and I doubt the internet would have been the best source of things good about humanity.

Er, that depends entirely upon your link to the internet, and just -how- much of it you can suck down in a day.

Multi-gigabit links, perhaps you can draw down large chunks, but even google takes a month to update everything... On the other hand, if you can hack into the backbone, you can monitor a -heck- of a lot of traffic - particularly if you can monitor it at multiple places.

And given enough CPU power, that's not totally unreasonable...

I suppose... Black Out [?] and Frenzy was able to silt quickly trough heavily fire walled Top Secret records.

But still... Prime finding the good of humans trough the internet... *snicker* I guess he didnt find 4chan.

Considering average human hackers can do the same thing without much effort.  The "top secret" files are kept in the equivalent of a fortified building with paper windows.

If anyone of any reasonable destructive power found 4chan, we'd all be doomed.  For the love of all that is good, DON'T TELL BUSH!

To be fair, In the movie, the firewalls was supposed to be neigh impenetrable for a week or so by human assailants the defense guys claimed.

hmm... I wonder if the TFs built their personalities around 4chan memes?

[ITOS]

What Eowyn types- asofduhnnnnnnnnnnn
What Eowyn says- Where'd he go? pime pime, whereareyoucomeback!
What Eowyn means- I have the old animated transformers movie, I cried when optimus died.

You should watch something more friendly.

Like Big Ass Badgers.

[KarlOmega1]

Speaking of the movie...there are companies using it as a promo for their products...one of which is from Burger King. In it, Optimus Prime goes through the Drive-thru in bot mode and begins to order a Whopper. The guy in the drive-thru says "Sir, this is a Drive-thru...You'll need a vehicle" ...so Optimus Prime transforms into his Semi form, the drive-thru guy says "you'll need a driver, also" ...in which Prime responds with " Oh come on!"

I thought it was funny...

[Caswin]

That ruled.  That is all.

Speaking of the movie...there are companies using it as a promo for their products...one of which is from Burger King. In it, Optimus Prime goes through the Drive-thru in bot mode and begins to order a Whopper. The guy in the drive-thru says "Sir, this is a Drive-thru...You'll need a vehicle" ...so Optimus Prime transforms into his Semi form, the drive-thru guy says "you'll need a driver, also" ...in which Prime responds with " Oh come on!"

I thought it was funny...

Okay, I want to see this commercial now.

[GabrielsThoughts]

Other than the last ten minutes I thought the movie rocked!!!

the theater was too crowded, and I had to sit next to a speaker = LOUD.

[Caswin]

Other than the last ten minutes I thought the movie rocked!!!

...it was giant robots and military men blasting the heck out of each other and the surrounding area with missiles and stuff.  How does that not rock? O_o

[rabid_fox]

Hmm. Sounds like I'm waiting for this one to hit the bargin DVD section of the local grocery store.

[GabrielsThoughts]

Other than the last ten minutes I thought the movie rocked!!!

...it was giant robots and military men blasting the heck out of each other and the surrounding area with missiles and stuff.  How does that not rock? O_o

that wasn't what I was complaining about otherwise we would be talking the last 20 minutes,  it just got stupid repetitive and childish towards the end... also I'm trying to place the final battle were they in  Arizona? it didn't look like Boulder City or Kingman, and no city is actually that close to the Hoover Dam I know I live here.

[Shadrok]

Just saw the movie and it was good. Have to say when I first saw Frenzy I thought "Johnny five's  alive!". XD

I think the bots didn't get enough time though, after all it was suppose to be about their war.

Over all, I liked it and I'm going to buy it when it comes out on DVD.

It had a lot of scenes that made me laugh. One of which was the "Bee Ouch" air freshener Bumble bee had.

I don't know if I was seeing things but some the scratches on Optimus'  paint in the end battle looked like the Transformer language.

[LigerJet]

ALL HAIL FRENZY, THE SPAZ-BOT!

[Janus Whitefurr]

That ruled.  That is all.

Speaking of the movie...there are companies using it as a promo for their products...one of which is from Burger King. In it, Optimus Prime goes through the Drive-thru in bot mode and begins to order a Whopper. The guy in the drive-thru says "Sir, this is a Drive-thru...You'll need a vehicle" ...so Optimus Prime transforms into his Semi form, the drive-thru guy says "you'll need a driver, also" ...in which Prime responds with " Oh come on!"

I thought it was funny...

Okay, I want to see this commercial now.

And Youtube to the rescue!

[Brunhidden]

Now that i have seen it with my wife and only actual friend (see him two or three times a year) i have a statement to say

I had NO idea i would laugh so much.

the little touches do so much, and now i sit and think about when the cube was dropped and made the Mt. Dew machine go apeshit.

idea 1- why is it automatically evil? weren't the good guys created the same way?

idea 2- could it be a recurring character? "FLESHY HUMANS, I HAVE COME TO DESTROY YOUR THIRST" *foont foont*

idea 3- didn't this happen right next to a furby truck? the last thing we need is five thousand heavily armed satanic furbies enslaving mankind.

Historians are like deaf people who go on answering questions that no one has asked them.

[GabrielsThoughts]

I'm fairly certain the vending machine was evil before the cube was dropped as you can see here.

[LigerJet]

I think all the newborn Transformers lashed out because they were acting out of instinct.  They were in an unfamiliar environment, on their own, or in the Nokiabot's case, trapped.  It could also be because these bots' chips were reverse-engineered from Megatron...the microchips may have his personality imprinted on 'em, or something.

[techmaster-glitch]

I finally just watched the movie with my family and then some. But I haven't seen any tranformers show since I was a kid, so I can't really remember crap the only characters I recognized were Optimus, of course, Megatron, of course, and Starscream. I remember Starscream cuz he was always trying to overthrow Megatron...I think. The small spazzy guy...You called him Frenzy?... I belive he was a Minicon. I liked how he chopped his own head in half at the end with an audible "oh shit!"

And that is all I can relate to
I must go make a wish in the Arena.

[RJ]

One tiny detail that bugged me was how come when Frenzy touched the AllSpark he got repaired, but when Bumblebee had it for that time, how come he didn't use it to heal?

[Llewelyn]

Maybe it can't do that when it's in "travel mode"?  It didn't take much energy from it before to bring the phone to life, so that's more doable, but rebuilding a giant robot's legs may take a lot more output that's not feasible in the smaller form.

[Brunhidden]

and here i thought touching the cube was what restored his speech ability.

with the robots being evil, i would have had the theory that the last bot to touch the cube more or less 'attunes' it, so if optimus used it on some gizmos they would be good and if jazz used it they would be 'urban'....


HOLY SHIATSU! TF is a horror movie! the black dude died first.

That old saw about the early bird just proves that the worm should have stayed in bed.