Thursday, January 19, 2023

Road to Transformers: Rise of the Beasts - Transformers Review

 


Alright, we've got a brand new Road to. Not only will this be fun because I'll be talking about Transformers, which will lead up to me reviewing Rise of the Beasts (hopefully), but it'll also give more an excuse to talk about Michael Bay.




Also, yes. I'm fully aware of the animated 1986 film, but I primarily want to focus on the live-action films. So sorry if some of you were hoping that would've gotten some attention.





Transformers is a sci-fi action film based on the toy line of the same name. It also serves as the first installment of the film series. The movie was produced by Hasbro, DreamWorks Pictures, and Di Bonaventura Pictures and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Transformers was written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman and directed by Michael Bay.





The story is a long war between the Autobots and Decepticons has found its way to Earth. Leader of the Autobots Optimus Prime, has asked for Sam Witwicky's help in finding the Allspark, an item that can change the tide of their war. Can the Autobots find it first, or will humanity bow down to the Decepticons?








  • Negatives

I've got nothing here. Just scroll to the next part.








  • Mix

One slight issue with the movie was how the stories were structured. While each storyline is good in its own right, it did feel odd to go to the soldiers fighting for their lives, to then seeing Sam try romance his love interest. Essentially you go to a war flick, then transition to a teen romance, then sandwich in-between is the government story. Like I said, good stories, just weird placements.



Then we have the characters. While I do remember Sam, Mikaela, Lennox, Simmons, Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, and Megatron, I don't remember the others. A lot of them could've used more character to them. I guess maybe the writers did this on purpose because the movie had enough going it for with the storylines. Still, some could've had just a bit more to them.








  • Positives

One positive thing is the action. While some scenes the camera was just a bit too close, for 95% of the movie I liked it. Whether it was Transformer vs. Transformer, humans vs. Transformers, or a chase scene, the action is good popcorn fun.



What I also enjoyed was the humor. Did all of it worked? No, but for most of the movie I was having a lot of good laughs.



Now whether you liked the movie or not, one thing I think we can all agree on, is the special effects are fantastic. One thing that I forgot to mentioned in my Why I'm a Michael Bay Fan post is how Bay does something that I wish most directors would do, and that's blend both practical and CGI effects. And this film did an incredible job doing just that. It's also amazing (and a little sad) how the CG in this fifteen year old movie holds up better today, than some of the movies that we get now.








While this isn't by any means a perfect film, I still enjoyed it for what it was. Maybe I'm just being too nice considering this was what got me into Transformers. But yet again I did also mention my slight issues, so maybe you can say I wasn't playing favorites, or not, choice is yours. Either way I dug this flick, and I look forward to reviewing the sequels.








My final rating is, Good.








So that's going to do it for me. Come back on Thursday, Feb 2nd, where I'll review a movie that everyone can agree is great. That film being Raiders of the Lost Ark. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

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