Monday, October 29, 2007

Free Topic

This weekend I finally saw Transformers for the second time, and, even though the DVD doesn't provide the entertainment experience of a movie cinema, Transformers was still as awesome as the first time I watched it. For me, this movie was the culmination of years of hoping and praying that one day I would finally be able to see the autobots and decepticons that I love so much battle it out in a live action movie. As far back as I can remember Transformers have always been my favorite characters. I had numerous transformers toys, especially Optimus Prime (THE man...if such a term applies to a robot), and even owned The Transformers Movie (the original 1986 animated movie of course) on VHS. I couldn't even begin to count the number of times I watched it, and of course was traumatized every time I saw Optimus Prime die. That was the single most stupid and cruel thing to ever do to a kid. It still gets to me now when I watch the 20th Anniversary Edition DVD that I'm fortunate enough to own.

The purpose of all of this is to explain how much I love Transformers, and how much I would have been devastated had the movie turned out unsatisfactory in some way. I came into this movie originally with especially high hopes, and typically that leaves me ultimately disappointed in a movie. Usually when I have very high expectations for a movie, it fails to live up to what I had hoped. Considering the nature of my love for the characters in this movie, it was probably the most excited I've ever been for a movie. Frankly, I would rather they never do a live action Transformers movie rather than go through the years of subsequent therapy after seeing it ruined.

This, fortunately, was not the case at all. The movie, directed by Michael Bay (most likely the greatest action director around with movies like Bad Boys 1 and 2, The Rock, Pearl Harbor, and The Island to his name), was nothing but enjoyable. There was even a stand-off scene in which the camera circled the characters during the shoot-out. Very reminiscent of Bad Boys 2. It was full of comedy, the action as I already mentioned was heart-pounding, the storyline was solid, and most importantly of all, the special effects were utterly amazing. The cast was loaded with star actors such as John Turturro and Tyrese Gibson (a surprisingly good actor for a musical artist) as well. There were also references to the first movie such as "One shall stand, one shall fall;" a quote from Optimus (major Badass), to Megatron (Uber villian) in the original movie. Even Peter Cullen who voiced Prime in the animated movie was brought back to do the voice in this one. It was the fulfillment of a dream to see my lifelong favorite characters battling it out in computer generated renderings so real you could practically see your own reflection in the shining, painted metal. A lesser man would have cried. All I can do now is continue to enjoy a true cinematic triumph, and wait, ever so anxiously, until Transformers 2 (projected to release in 2009...though I'll certainly enjoy Iron Man in the mean time). This is a movie I would recommend to anyone, especially the youth of today (I've seen the crap they watch on tv now). If you haven't seen it yet, it would behoove you to do so immediately.

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