Movie Review: Transformers (2007)

TRANSFORMERS

BY CHRISTOPHER HASKELL
JULY 24, 2013

Bringing to life a story of epic stature, “Transformers” is everything I wanted it to be and so much more. Michael Bay understands the anatomy of a science fiction action film and runs with that knowing full force. Despite some heavy-handed attempts at stereotyped humor, Bay handles the comedic portion of the movie with an expert hand, weaving it in and out of the explosive backdrop as much as possible. Whether it’s the endearing and hilarious performance from lead Shia LeBeouf as Sam Witwicky, or the telephone operator trying to sell a “premium package” amid a war, Bay delivers an action film based on Hasbro toys that absolutely every one of any age can enjoy.

Visual effects and sound design are crucial to this film, and these teams never upset. With brilliant colors and animations as the vehicles change seamlessly into their massive counterparts, they succeed in bringing every kid’s dreams to life, as they once made the same sounds as Rubix cubed their toys back and forth between car and Autobot. With plenty of human counterpart story arcs to fill the blockbuster quota and delving headfirst into the Transformers’ lore, the entire screenplay is tight-knit. On top of that, Bay wastes no time jumping into the action, and once that action ends, the film reaches its conclusion wonderfully.

I can not stress enough how expertly handled the action sequences are in this film, with the epic battles remaining some of the best I’ve ever witnessed, all while Sam Witwicky runs below, trying to save the All Spark. Although some humor gets lost on me, and Jon Turturro’s character is often a caricature of itself, enough is going for this movie to drown out any exceptionally wasted portions. Michael Bay may get tons of grief for his blockbuster endeavors, but “Transformers” is by far one of my favorite films of all-time, capturing everything I loved about these toys when I was a child to everything I love about action films as an adult.

RELEASE DATE
July 3, 2007

DIRECTOR
Michael Bay

WRITTEN BY
Roberto Orci
Alex Kurtzman
John Rogers (story by)

BASED ON
“Transformers”
by Hasbro

STUDIO
Paramount Pictures

PG-13
(for intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, brief sexual humor, and language)

ACTION
ADVENTURE
SCI-FI
144 minutes