The Ü™
Permabanned
- Joined
- May 26, 2007
- Messages
- 11,910
- MBTI Type
- INTJ
- Enneagram
- 5w6
- Instinctual Variant
- sp/sx
It's been two days since I saw Transformers, but today, I was in a reviewing mood.
Michael Bay, known for a long partnership with Jerry Bruckheimer, and director of various long and bloated, though sometimes fun, Bruckheimer-produced action flicks such as Bad Boys 1 and 2, The Rock, Armageddon, and Pearl Harbor.
In recent years, however, Bay has partnered up with executive producer Steven Spielberg, at the helm of The Island, a rather underrated 2005 sci-fi flick, and now, Transformers.
True to Bay's style, Transformers is long, loud, and massively bloated with awe-inspiring CG effects and larger-than-life action sequences. Once again, Bay proves that he is a visionary capable of imagining and creating, and often getting carried away with, skillful action-packed set pieces.
The difference between Bruckheimer and Spielberg, though, is like a difference between narcissism and hedonism. Where Bay's collaboration with Bruckheimer produced a series of impressive blockbuster films that were ultimately too vain and stuck-up to consider itself as mere summer entertainment, Bay collaboration with Spielberg produces that same imposing personality, but which refuses to take itself seriously and enjoys every minute of it.
Transformers stars Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky, your typical geekish, shy, and socially awkward 11th grader saving up to buy his first car. Sam's father (Kevin Dunn) buys Sam an old beat-up yellow Chevy Camaro with racing stripes, with which he uses to pick up Mikeala Banes (Megan Fox), the typical girl who broke up with her insensitive jock boyfriend.
This Camaro soon reveals a personality of its own -- it drives by itself, it seems very protective of its owner, and yes, it's a Transformer called Bumblebee. Transformers, a race of alien beings from the planet Cybertron divided into the gracious Autobots, led by the mystical Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) and evil Decepticons, led by the dreaded Megatron (voiced by Hugo Weaving), continue their age-long war for the Allspark cube here on earth.
The Transformers have the ability to disguise themselves not just as vehicles, but everyday appliances, and I feel that is what makes the film so creative and witty. Transformers can become stereos, cell phones, and even Xbox 360s, transforming convincingly into deadly fighting machines.
The effects and CGI animation were handled primarily by Industrial Light and Magic under the supervision of veteran Scott Farrar. And needless to say, the special effects are state-of-the-art. The animation is absolutely flawless and the computer technology used to create these cybernetic beings is unbelievable. What once started out as toys are now living, mechanical beings with soulful, demonic, and sometimes humorously mischievous personalities.
I'm not that much interested in Saturday morning cartoons and I only have a vague knowledge about them. But when I see the Transformers interact with each other, it is very much like the corny voice work in those superhero cartoons. And I felt this sort of corniness helped add to the fun. It was simply a live action version of these cartoons where machines fight and humans are stuck in the middle.
Transformers is the ideal summer action movie. It's never too proud and it's never too serious. It's a long, action-packed popcorn movie that allows itself to spread its wings and takes us on a light-hearted adventure far away from the mundane. The storyline hasn't much depth, but who but a stuck-up snob would look for such a thing in this sort of movie? I am proud to admit that I like mainstream entertainment just as much as the next person.
People into the "artsy" films seem to hate movies that are overblown with innovative special effects, but I feel light-hearted fun and acknowledgment of such innovations are how creativity is born.
Michael Bay, known for a long partnership with Jerry Bruckheimer, and director of various long and bloated, though sometimes fun, Bruckheimer-produced action flicks such as Bad Boys 1 and 2, The Rock, Armageddon, and Pearl Harbor.
In recent years, however, Bay has partnered up with executive producer Steven Spielberg, at the helm of The Island, a rather underrated 2005 sci-fi flick, and now, Transformers.
True to Bay's style, Transformers is long, loud, and massively bloated with awe-inspiring CG effects and larger-than-life action sequences. Once again, Bay proves that he is a visionary capable of imagining and creating, and often getting carried away with, skillful action-packed set pieces.
The difference between Bruckheimer and Spielberg, though, is like a difference between narcissism and hedonism. Where Bay's collaboration with Bruckheimer produced a series of impressive blockbuster films that were ultimately too vain and stuck-up to consider itself as mere summer entertainment, Bay collaboration with Spielberg produces that same imposing personality, but which refuses to take itself seriously and enjoys every minute of it.
Transformers stars Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky, your typical geekish, shy, and socially awkward 11th grader saving up to buy his first car. Sam's father (Kevin Dunn) buys Sam an old beat-up yellow Chevy Camaro with racing stripes, with which he uses to pick up Mikeala Banes (Megan Fox), the typical girl who broke up with her insensitive jock boyfriend.
This Camaro soon reveals a personality of its own -- it drives by itself, it seems very protective of its owner, and yes, it's a Transformer called Bumblebee. Transformers, a race of alien beings from the planet Cybertron divided into the gracious Autobots, led by the mystical Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) and evil Decepticons, led by the dreaded Megatron (voiced by Hugo Weaving), continue their age-long war for the Allspark cube here on earth.
The Transformers have the ability to disguise themselves not just as vehicles, but everyday appliances, and I feel that is what makes the film so creative and witty. Transformers can become stereos, cell phones, and even Xbox 360s, transforming convincingly into deadly fighting machines.
The effects and CGI animation were handled primarily by Industrial Light and Magic under the supervision of veteran Scott Farrar. And needless to say, the special effects are state-of-the-art. The animation is absolutely flawless and the computer technology used to create these cybernetic beings is unbelievable. What once started out as toys are now living, mechanical beings with soulful, demonic, and sometimes humorously mischievous personalities.
I'm not that much interested in Saturday morning cartoons and I only have a vague knowledge about them. But when I see the Transformers interact with each other, it is very much like the corny voice work in those superhero cartoons. And I felt this sort of corniness helped add to the fun. It was simply a live action version of these cartoons where machines fight and humans are stuck in the middle.
Transformers is the ideal summer action movie. It's never too proud and it's never too serious. It's a long, action-packed popcorn movie that allows itself to spread its wings and takes us on a light-hearted adventure far away from the mundane. The storyline hasn't much depth, but who but a stuck-up snob would look for such a thing in this sort of movie? I am proud to admit that I like mainstream entertainment just as much as the next person.
People into the "artsy" films seem to hate movies that are overblown with innovative special effects, but I feel light-hearted fun and acknowledgment of such innovations are how creativity is born.