Transformers = Fun

While not a huge fan of the Transformers as a kid (I was more into Hot Wheels and Lego), I figured the new Transformers movie looked like fun, based on the previews I'd seen. Sure, there's the looming specter of Michael Bay cheese factor, but there was also the Spielberg factor that would hopefully balance out the Bay-ness.

My good friend Kate managed to score some tickets to see the 8:05 screening last night at The Bridge. I was a little surprised to see that there weren't any crowds waiting in long lines to get in, but was a bit disappointed to see the theater almost full when we got in. We ended up in the 3rd row, sorta off to the right.

The movie was a whole lot of fun. I won't give anything away, but I will say that the usual Michael Bay suckitude didn't rear its ugly head much at all. Sure, the "love interest" scenes between the two main human characters were cheesy, but the scenes were short and sandwiched between long, intense scenes of frenetically paced action and ridiculously cool visual effects, so the "acting" portions served as a nice opportunity to take a breather. My only other real beef with the film was the heavy-handed product placement, but I forgot about that once shit started gettin' blowed up, yo!

And the shit gettin' blowed up, yo! effects are incredible. Not one pixel of bad CGI, anywhere. The soundtrack was loud as all hell, but it fit the movie and added to the fun factor. In one scene, a C-130 gunship fires its 105mm cannon at a Transformer, and I'm thinkin' theater had the volume up a little extra loud, because the sound was punishing. After we left the theater, my friend Mark mentioned that Michael Bay was actually in the audience with us. Might be why the sound was turned up to 11.

All in all, Transformers is a fun, fun movie. Definitely not cerebral, but if you go in expecting Shakespeare, you're a fool. Manage those expectations, and you just might like it.