Until yesterday, I’d never been to a movie where the audience cheered during the movie and applauded at the end. Transformers, despite certain hiccups, was certainly worth that treatment. The major reasons: incredible special-effects, really good story line, and adherence to the traditional story-telling rules regarding building of tension, a strong climax, and short but necessary anti-climax. There were no epic battle scenes - only a handful of robots per side made each individual conflict matter to the story, and it certainly didn’t hurt to have the original voice of Optimus Prime return to the role. It had its downfalls - cliches abound and the humor is, at times, very adult (watch out, theater jam-packed with kids…) The acting is usually just fine, but certain aspects (Jon Voight, I’m looking at you) was rough, flat, or just not good.
I’m also sick of the handsome-teen-actor-being-portrayed-as-total-loser-but-getting-with-the-uncomfortably-attractive-actress-who’s-obviously-in-her-mid-20s schtick. Word to the not-so-wise directors of the world: you obviously can get away with casting not-supermodel men with good acting abilities, and whether you want to believe it or not, movies would be more enjoyable if you didn’t feel the need to populate your entire fictional worlds with men that run the whole gamut (skinny, fat, attractive, not-so-attractive, etc.), yet all the women look like they’ve just come from a Victoria’s Secret catalogue. This leads to a serious interruption of the suspension of disbelief. Find an occasional normal lady (heck, I think I’ll just settle for run-of-the-mill attractive. It’d be a step in the right direction).
But all this comes after long reflection, because for the first hour after you walk out of the theater, you’ll be stumbling around going, WOW. It’s not perfect, and it’s not for everyone, but it is definitely worth the six bucks.
