 Let's face it, this particular series of live-action adaptations doesn't exactly go over well with the critics, and a gigantic chunk of the fan base hasn't entirely been impressed with the way things have gone. Spoiler alert for further reviews, but I'm not really an exception to all of this, but I will tend to be more forgiving. In the long run, I was never really a heavy-duty 'Transformers' guy, growing up, so one can count me as an outsider of sorts, a.k.a. the audience these movies are trying to appeal to as well as the old-school fans.
The difference between me and a total outsider, however, is that I do still have fond memories of bits and pieces of the animated series, and the toys were kinda awesome (we had a few). There was enough there that when the trailer for this movie came out, I was pretty excited about it - especially when it showed you Optimus Prime transforming for the first time, and in 2007, those visuals weren't exactly as basic as they are nowadays. All in all, things seemed pretty damn promising. As the film opens, we get Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) narrating, giving a brief background to what we're about to see. On planet Cybertron, a war between the Autobots, led by Optimus, and the Decepticons, led by Megatron (Hugo Weaving) breaks out over the AllSpark; the source for all Cybertronian life. The AllSpark ends up on Earth, and to make an over-complicated story short, so eventually do the Decepticons and Autobots, both in search of the now hidden cube. The human side of things involves Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), who pretty much holds the key to finding the AllSpark without knowing it. This ultimately hooks him up with Bumblebee, who ends up being his "first car," which Sam uses primarily to impress a classmate named Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox). Soon enough, the pair find themselves in the middle of the Cybertronic war, on the side of the Autobots, who wish to rebuild their home world. If the Decepticons get their hands on it, it's a little more about power and ruling the universe. This is a "prime" example of a movie that I will probably always have a soft spot for. One must understand that back in 2007, these kinds of visuals were pretty damn amazing to see. It could be compared to something like '300', in which slow motion was utilized to make things look awesome, and now it's just what Zack Snyder is known for. Nowadays, the animation on the Transformers is fairly standard and somewhat lackluster, but back then, it was all pretty mind-blowing stuff, and I remember watching this with my friends quite fondly. Over the years, sequel after sequel has been made, and all but one of them has been something of a dud in one way or another; either barely passable, or just kinda bad. Nowadays, I may not quite see this film as the mind-blowingly amazing film it was when it came out, but I can watch it the same way I can watch something like 'Independence Day'. It's certainly flawed in many places, just as most critics will tell you, but it was a super fun popcorn flick to see on the big screen, regardless of details. I have no qualms about saying this is something that's still a lot of fun, and nostalgic now in more ways than one. I think it's also important to remember that one must throw one's mind out the window for 'Transformers' in order to have a good time. That said, I would still say that this is one of the only "good, good" ones of the series, if only because it kicked things off, and it was something new. But remember, that's only the opinion of a semi-outsider to the whole franchise. Personally, this first chapter still works for me, and it's still a fun ride after so many years. 4/5
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