Transformers Movie Review: Optimus Prime was Robbed!
“Stay away, lad! That’s Prime’s fight!”
– Kup, in the original 1986 Transformers animated movie.
I just watched Michael Bay’s Transformers movie at the Gateway Globe Platinum Theater. Believe it or not, it’s even more of an abomination than everyone expected it to be — from jumpy editing to fake graphics to gibberish computerspeak to racial slurs to redneck propaganda to pop culture pandering to hideous character designs to Matrix-wannabe bullet-time to badly-acted overexposed humans.
Humans get more screen time in this movie than they do in the entire original series — and their acting consists mostly of making hero faces and sexy poses for gratuitous closeups. The titular Transformers are reduced to either bothersome pets or public safety hazards, put down by humans whenever convenient. Bumblebee actually whines like a puppy at one point. Optimus Prime and Megatron each kick a Cybertronian’s ass without human assistance just once, as if just to please the fans and get them out of the way. Even brilliant voice performances from Peter Cullen and Hugo Weaving could barely shine through Michael Bay’s condescension towards their characters.
Cybertronians had it so bad in this movie, I actually cheered when Starscream acrobatically took out Air Force jets in midair. You know you’re watching a bad Transformers adaptation when a weasel like Starscream kicks the most ass.
In the ultimate insult to all Cybetronians throughout the histories of all Transformers universes, Sam Witwicky kills Megatron. Yes, you read that right — the chief antagonist is offed by an alien third party. Optimus Prime was robbed of his right to defeat Megatron. This movie could’ve ended in an epic battle between Prime’s racial tolerance and Megs’ survivalist expansionism. Instead, it ended with the Disneyish intervention of some plucky pure-hearted kid. At least in the original 1986 Transformers animated movie, that kid was a fellow Autobot who would eventually redeem himself and succeed Prime. This time, that kid was some fleshy alien interloper.
Apparently, two factions of an ancient race can’t decide their people’s fate. You need a good ol’ American boy for that.
I guess beloved characters developed and explored over twenty-three years across fourteen series produced on two continents aren’t good enough for Michael Bay. He’s too incompetent a filmmaker to use such rich characters as anything more than overly complicated CGI setpieces. This movie shouldn’t be called Transformers; it should be called Ugly Robot Pet Owners Versus Ugly Robot Terrorist Moles.
Tags: Bumblebee, Hugo-Weaving, Megatron, Michael-Bay, Movies, Optimus-Prime, Peter-Cullen, Starscream, stupid, Transformers
June 28, 2007 | Filed Under MoviesComments
387 Responses to “Transformers Movie Review: Optimus Prime was Robbed!”
Wow and I was seeming set to watch this movie. Its quite sad it never stayed faithful to the original script/form. Grant it there are many who ‘embrace’ this, but damn thats bogus. Did Hasbro or some creative body intervene w/ Bay’s creative direction?
People question some changes. (major changes) Like Bumblebee’s classic alternate mode was a Volkswagen Beetle, but this was changed to a Camaro. Megatron’s not turning into a gun, Optimus prime got robbed for his right to defeat Megatron, some new designs for the Autobots, abomination, etc etc. Some are blasting Michael Bay for everything, making him out to be the Grinch who stole their Transformers Christmas. Time is moving forward and it’s no longer the 80s. Judge the movie on what it is, not on what you think it should have been.
Oh, I’ll judge it for what it is, alright: an gratuitously homocentric propaganda film.
Hmm, maybe a spoiler warning should’ve been in place.
I saw it. It’s not perfect, but it’s not the worst I’ve seen.
dude, this is a michael bay film,and you were expecting a great storyline? maybe you should put yourself in a more appropriate perspective. this is obviously an eye candy film, big robots and explosions and effects. and it succeeds at that. any monkey knows it’s not a movie trying to be smart.
like the previous poster said, it’s not the 80’s anymore. as an anime fan i thought you would appreciate the new ‘mecha’-nized look. don’t tell me those old 80’s boxy designs look cool by today’s standards– now, that would be something to whine about. megatron’s not turning to a gun because he’s too big to be a gun; if you think about it the movie introduced a bit of plausibility.
a lot of pretentious film critiques nowadays huh? hating stuff (everything) must really be cool.
Even if all we expect from Bay are big-ass boom-boom rock-’em-sock-’em robots, he sorely underdelivers. Humans hog all the screen time, all the way to the climax. People pay to see Transformers, not Ugly Robot Pet Owners.
I agree with Lichen Reedweb, we should criticize the movie as it is - present time.
We already know the hard fact that when an American adopts a Japanese story, the story becomes very different. Heck, they also change their OWN stories when they’re adopting it for the big screen. So why criticize it as what you think it should have been?
Watch the movie as it is, not as a “live-action version of the 80s serials”. They created this movie for the present generation who doesn’t know anything about Transformers, just as they created Spider-Man for the present generation who doesn’t know about him at all.
You see, the reason why “some” are disappointed with the big screen adoptations of classic shows is because they are “expecting” it to be similar to the “original serials”. We should not, no, we must never expect anything when it comes to big screen adoptations, especially from a Western company or people.
We all know as well how Americans are claiming Transformers to be their “own original” cartoons when the rest of the world has proven time and again that Transformers is “from the Japanese” (quote from Sam in the movie).
Hi mike, I would think since you’re more of a gen one transformer fan, you’d appreciate a more Robo-centric type of transformer storyline, but for the more younger Transformers Armada generation, a homocetric storyline would stand to be more acceptable or even appropriate. however if there is one thing I’d like to complain about the movie, its the deliberate use of an all american vehicle line up. a transformer Japanese car could have been a better tribute to the people who thought up of the idea of the transformers, rather than a comedic line saying, “it must be Japanese”.
Your a noob!!!! the move was great and very funny. When I walked out everyone was saying how good and funny it was. Don’t know what kind of drugs your on but dam man its was a kick ass movie. Can’t wait to see it again.
You’re right, JC. We shouldn’t expect anything from Hollywood. This movie is proof.
Two words, Marvin: product placement.
Hey Mike, I think the movie in itself is awesome, but for your complaints about the overall storyline, some things to keep in mind: 1) This is a Michael Bay film, 2) What works in cartoons won’t always work on the big screen and 3) Our 80s generation has evolved faster than we would have liked. I agree that the human protagonists had more airtime than the bots, and that part sucks, but you have to give the movie the credit it deserves for WOW-factor. Besides, I’ve never heard of a movie getting ALL the factors (cuts, production, script, etc) right at any one time. So let’s just appreciate that they decided to make a movie out of a beloved cartoon.
BTW, please consider putting a spoiler warning at the top of your page. The movie isn’t being shown in other countries yet, we’re one of the lucky few who got to watch it on the big screen first.
As you said, DarkHalf, this is a Michael Bay film. There isn’t much of a story to spoil.
Well, you gave away the “what-the-f*ck” part of the story.
Wag ka nga masyado feeling hollywood critic Mike! Then dont watch it again if you didnt like it! And if you feel you are a “movie critic” try warning the readers about spoilers ok?
Nah, it wasnt that bad. In fact, it was downright frikkin AWESOME. I watched the movie along with transformer fans ten times more rabid than you, who could recite the script of the 1986 movie backwards, who knew the name of every voice talent who did all the major characters, who could recite all the names of the constructicons and predacons in alphabetical order, and they enjoyed it. Immensely.
So what if Prime wasnt the one who did Megatron in? So what if Bumble bee was a camaro? So what if the humans hadmore screentime (sulit naman kay Megan Fox RRWWAAR)? In the end, the movie kicked ass. The movie is critic proof, because those who enjoyed it, and we are legion, will just forever see nay-saying, nit-picking critics like you for the pompous, pretentious, “ohooh-I-wanna-be-cool-by-bashing-the-trnasformers” you really are.
Ika nga nga ni Mix, ang feeling mo.
I’m a Transformers fan, but I’m not thanking the gods of Hollywood just because Michael Bay was generous enough to let Transformers play setpieces in a movie entitled Transformers. As JC pointed out earlier, getting Hollywood treatment isn’t always cause for celebration. Regardless of franchise fandom, a bad movie is still a bad movie.
I hate you so much right now ……. it’s not out here for another month and thanks to lack of spoiler warnings i now know the end …….. Thank you, perhaps instead of bashing Bay you should concider your own inept nature
You should consider your own inept spelling.
Mike, what film did you watch? Are you sure it was Transformers? What are you talking about more screen time devoted on humans? There’s a robot going berserk not even 10 minutes into the film.
Transformers is silly, stupid and pure mechanical mayhem. It’s delightfully sinful. And I beg to disagree, it’s fantastic–that is, if you go into the theater as a kid, not as a cerebral-art-film-critic.
Naku, another feeling critic na naman. Ikaw Mike yung tipo ng tao na walang kalatoy-latoy sa kama. Yung tipong inaaral lahat ng position sa lovemaking at nagbabasa ng sex tips. You just can’t go down and dirty. Maga-alcohol muna, ganun.
Pa-intelligent-kuno eh mali-mali naman ang analysis, didn’t even provide a convincing argument at wala man lang spoilers, diyosme!
Alam mo, if mag-aattempt kang maging film reviewer, mag-aral ka muna, iho. Even rabid critics who live and die on dissing films are decent enough to put a spoiler warning.
Wag ka ngang review ng review na wala ka namang “K.” Napaka-GenX ng attitude mo, pa-angst eh wala ka naman sa lugar.
Hoy hindi na ’80’s noh, 2-oh-oh-7 na!
Kindly move on na po tayo at hindi na natin pag-aari ang mundo. Laos na ang GenX attitude. You’re caught in a time warp. Hindi mo na pag-mamay-ari ang mga robots na yan. ‘Wag ka masyadong fanboy.
Stuck-up ka masyado, baka kailangan mo na ng Viagra.
Naku may I digress to the max ako. At personal na atake na, my bad.
Ang sa akin lang, Mike, don’t review a film if you can’t weave together a convincing argument.
At kung nangangarap ka maging film critic, eh sorry, pero walang pumapansin na sa mga film critic ngayon.
Tumatanke ang Spiderman 3 at Pirates na tsinugi-tsugi ng critics na sa aking palagay eh mas pangit compared sa Transformers.
Bakit kamo?
Eto, ang Spiderman 3 nagpapa-deep ‘coz of the personal conflicts of the characters kaso nag-fail kasi naging katawa-tawa ang mga tagpo na hindi naman dapat maging katawa-tawa. Ang Pirates naman, halo-halo ang kwento, hindi mo na masundan. Daming characters, daming habol dito, habol doon.
Ang Transformers, alam niyang corny siya at hindi nag-aattempt magpa-deep. At anong mas maraming screen-time ang mga tao? Eh sa earth nga nangyari ito diba? Anim na bilyon ang tao sa mundo, ano gusto mo, walang tao kang makikita? Hindi ko alam kung aanga-anga kang musmos o ano eh.
Anyways, going back, as I was saying, hindi nagpre-pretend ang lolo Michael Bay mo. Ang katalinuhan niya, alam niyang hindi siya magaling sa storytelling pero mahusay siya sa aksyon at bakbakan. Kaya nga sinimplihan niya ang kwento, it’s about Sam Witwicky and Bumblebee, doon na lamang niya pina-ikot ang kwento. Kasi nga, may I repeat, ang lolo Michael Bay mo eh alam ang kanyang kakulangan, which is storytelling. (Di tulad ng isa diyan hindi niya alam na wala siyang K mag-review.)
Battling robots you want, battling robots I shall give you, yun ang nasa utak ni direk Michael Bay.
Eh kaw naman, ang napansin mo racial slurs, si Witwicky, propaganda crap.
Hello? Propaganda what? Ano ka ba, aktibista? Manonood ka ng Transformers tapos propaganda mapapansin mo?
Tsk, tsk, tsk…
And what’s with the “a bad film is a bad film?”
Bakeeet? Sino ka ba para magdeclare ala-GMA na a bad film is a bad film?
Hoy iho, wala tayo sa art world. This is entertainment. Hindi Picasso o Leonardo ang ating tinitingnan dito, there’s no absolute yardstick when it comes to Hollywood films.
It’s purely subjective.
Ang sa akin lang, if you’re going to diss a film, diss it convincingly and not be too messianic about it.
Pa-know-it-all ka kasi. Dyan ka na nga, wallow in your propaganda-imperialist-whatnot delusions.
Frigging stiff.
well said Hooligan. Would you like me to translate for you Mike or are you gonna break out the free babel fish translator?
Anyway I have my quibbles over the film as well (Peter Cullen’s line’s were cheesy, Jazz was sorely underused, etc.) but i left the cinema feeling happy. You have to consider that this is the first movie of a frickin’ franchise and it will suffer from a condensed storyline.
Take a chill pill and eat some brownies.
Mike,
Go back to flipping burgers at Mcdonalds and stop posting about things you do not know of. This is one of the best movies of the year. It Rocked the Rhode Island premier and everyone there loved it. There is no way this movie was meant to be like that of the 1980s, that is what the 1986 film was for. This wasn’t a remake but a reinvention of a great storied franchise that has changed many times over the past 20 years. If you love movies go watch Transformers, I guarantee you will not be disappointed. Best movie I have seen in a long time.
I hate Optimus’ mouth..it sux. The special effects made me crave for more *drools*
MIKE, I TOTALLY AGREE WITH U..
I am a trans fan but after watching the movie, somehow i felt devastated with what micheal bay has done with this film. Bay admitted that he not even a trans fan and transformers for him just only toys. He made the film in his way and thats what we got!. Some scene in the film for me is unnecessary especially involving sector 7 guys and John Turturro as an agent of a classified organisation for me is a joke. I need to see more optimus prime, autobots and decepticons. I felt frustrated after all the hype and the waiting, the movie didnt up to my expectation.
tigil tigilan nyo nga yang feeling eloquent trip nyo ha. what the hell is so wrong with the flick? it’s a summer popcorn movie and to look for anything deep is plain absurd. sa lang masasabi ko sa reviewer na to and whoever who happens to agree with his schtick, pare pareho kayong mga KAMOTE!!
This review is crap. The movie was actually good. Idiots who try to look too deep into any movie are, of course, going to be disappointed (especially a cartoon conversion). Just enjoy the explosions, overkill, and impressive effects. Ignore all the crap about propaganda and product placement, cause honestly people, this is a “toy” movie.
Your such a tool mike. you clearly cant enjoy a good old action/comedy movie, and this one is filled with awesome massive robots that looked sweet as and humor that you cant find in these days top comedy movies. It was such an enjoyable movie and yeh maybe the ending could have been different but i think it worked in the end and nobody was expecting it. so shove your gay comments up your…. coz you clearly cant enjoy transformers for wat it is.
well im a die hard transformers fan myself but when i first knew that it was bay who would direct this, i expected it to be totally different from the original storyline so that made me appreciate and enjoy the movie along with my wife and kid when we wathced it.nowadays, dont expect cartoons from the past and shown in movies to be the same old thing because if you would want that, well i guess it would be better that you just watch the original tv-series itself rather than spend your money on a remake.your missing the idea of a movie which is entertainment.
you seem smart. why don’t you make your own transformers version and give us free tickets so we can be the critics.
stevie wonder is that you ??mike if the film was that bad then why did you stayed till the end?
That’s the problem when you expect so much from something. Hooligan’s comments were right.
DO you actually expect it to be so much like the 80’s movie? If it was tailored to the 80’s movie, would you typically say that “oh it was so last gen.. or the gen before that”..
Is there some movie that you actually liked? Why not try doing a movie of your own and see how idiotic it would be compared to this movie. Of course you’re not a director, but even so i doubt you’d be able to make a movie as great as this.
The problem here i think is that you’ve already made you’re judgement before watching the movie. Or you just want some attention on your own. you want to stand out as someone “feeling elite” who say’s “hindi yan pasado sa taste ko..” Coz if you judged the movie fair and square, the movie’s undoubtedly one of the best this year,
@all
Actually di nga nag transform si megatron into a big gun but at least he did launch a cannon type weapon..
@you again mike
When you watch a movie, see it to appreciate and not see it to criticize.
I don’t know what movie you saw, but it definitely was not the same as what most of us saw… stop being stuck in the 80’s and hoping someone makes the movie your way (or someone asks you to make one yourself), im glad i saw the movie before i read this review (would’ve been better if i didnt even read this review at all actually), cause the biased in this revies definitely does not do justice in describing the movie for what it REALLY is.
Same here. Imagine that: not enough Transformers in a movie entitled Transformers.
One Transformer even disappears from this movie. Thanks to bad editing, Barricade vanishes after Bonecrusher transforms, never to be seen again.
He probably decided to go after Michael Bay.
tuwang tuwa si mike abundo kasi madaming nagre react sa review nya.
syempre sinadya niyang maging negative ang review para madaming kokontra sa kanya at magko comment dito sa kawawang site na ito.
nadamay pa ako sa mga nagcomment, wakokoko!!!!
tangina ka abundo, di ko pa napapanood yung pelikula ini spoilers mo na agad.
walangya!
wakokoko!!!
ZOMG THEY CHANGED IT FROM THE ORIGINAL BECAUSE YOU CAN’T MAKE A CARTOON FOR KIDS WORK IN THE SAME WAY AS A LIVE-ACTION MOVIE FOR ADULTS!!!!!!!111111 HOW COULD THEY???!!!!!!!11111one
Grow up, people. When you make a 2 1/2 hour live-action film, it won’t work the same as a long-running cartoon.
I thought the movie was fun. They had to look different, and things had to run differently - I’m cool with that. It was much better than I expected.
Look at this original Optimus Prime animation. Tell me which is better, honestly:
Plus, in my opinion using the Transformers only as much as they did worked well, it made the aliens seem just that - alien. I thought Shia LeBeouf was great in it as the “kid” as you said, whereas Hot Rod in the ‘86 original was freaking annoying. The ending took me by surprise, with him sticking the cube in Megatron. I expected them to do the whole “Optimus sacrifices himself again” thing, which is fine, but this worked too.
And what’s with everyone making a big deal out of the General Motors thing? So they got sponsored: Who cares? Movie production got to get PAID, son…
Meh, disagree with me, I don’t care. Mad props to Michael Bay for a big, loud, expensive, Hollywood popcorn movie that I enjoyed, and it didn’t rape the original series and plots.
Here’s what Twitch has to say about this fleshfest:
I actually sympathized with Megatron flicking away Bay’s disgusting humans.
What the F**K is a Twitch?!
Michael Bay directed Megatron to do that, Mike.
I’m a Transformers fan, now in my 30s, and I liked this movie very much, because it is very 2007. And yeah, I’m just an ordinary guy who loves movies, like the rest of us, and I’m no movie/film critic like you are because to do that is difficult. I just give thumbs up or thumbs down or thumbs sideways to movies. I just either say, “I like the movie,” or “I don’t like the movie,” or “it’s an ‘okay’ movie.”
This is now one of my (personal) favorite movies. But I’d have to watch it again (on the boob-tube), because the original Transformers The Movie of the 80’s doesn’t feel as high-impact as when I first saw it. Maybe because it’s the 21st century now.
From your previous posts, it seems that you dislike Hollywood and its creations. I think one thing (not the only thing) that Hollywood is about is business and making money by providing entertainment, and here they are with a movie that will enable them to do just that. In that sense, they are going to achieve their goal and are thus successful with this movie, and kudos to that. I think it is unfair to look at all Hollywood films with the same eyes we use to look at an art film or paintings and so on at an art gallery. We’re free to do that, but I just personally think it’s not fair.
I also noticed the product placements and I see (and have read) that this is the future (read: 2007 and beyond) of advertising. I don’t see nothing wrong with that.
I did not notice how much more of the humans were shown, more than the Transformers. But I personally don’t find anything wrong with that. That’s what they wanted, they (the producers) risked money to do that, and again we’ll see if it was worth the risk - which will be determined by the “vote” of the millions who will watch the movie and buy the DVD in the future. Plus, I think it’s also a ploy to make us want to see more of the Transformers - and it seems it’s working - and they already actually have plans for a sequel.
Optimus Prime getting robbed? Again, I don’t see nothing wrong with that. I think Optimus Prime beating up Megatron and sacrificing his life to save mankind - that’s so Transformers cliche and I think that’s what we all expected. So Sam “saving” Prime and the world was a twist, and perhaps, the twist of this 2007 movie. Was that insulting to Cybertronians? Well, I wish I could actually read minds of Cybertronians, but I can’t.
My concern right after the movie was - because I so want to see a sequel - is… what is going to be the story in the sequel? And who’s going to be there? Is it going to be as interesting as this one? When is it going to come out!?? It ought to be better, of course, because it’s the second one. Actually, I want them to create a series! But, that shall be their decision. Maybe if I had money, I can tell them what to do and not to do.
By the way, what Hollywood-produced live-action movie of comics or cartoon origins has been faithful to their original comics or cartoon characters or stories? I’m not good with movie trivia, but right now, I don’t remember any.
My overall thoughts on your comments: Welcome to 2007.
Oh, and I congratulate you, because your post is so controversial - that’s how to make money on the web with blogs. I wonder now if that was partially your intention? If so, congratulations! I honestly dream of writing my own controversial blog post in the future myself.
The film didn’t do much for me. Sure, Megan Fox is absolutely gorgeous, and the effects were stunnning, but there was no real heart in the story, only the illusion of one - when the autobots were battling the decepticons, I found myself watching detachedly, basically observing the effects of smashing one piece of steel into another. And I used to ‘love’ the series when I was a kid.
Cons: What the heck happened to Bumblebee?? In the original series, he was a VW beetle. In the film, it shows the young kid at the start being taken to a garage where there was a yellow VW parked next to a yellow-orange camaro. It turns out, the camaro is Bumblebee. Did I miss something? Another thing that irked me was that Optimus Prime was shown at one point to have this mean-ass sword hidden in the equivalent of his forearm, which he used to demolish one of the decepticons within seconds. When it comes to his fight with Megatron, it’s simply the two of them smashing their fists against each other, no sign of any use of their individual abilities. And lastly, the ending with the young kid pushing the cube into Megatron’s chest was a load of bull****. As if a human teenager could have overpowered Megatron, even with the almighty-M in a weakened state. Optimus Prime was basically emasculated at the end - it came down to a good ol’ apple-pie-loving naive american teenager to destroy a machine that had apparently ravaged innumerable worlds throughout the galaxy.
Pros: Megan Fox. Some very cool cars and transformation sequences. A decent soundtrack. Megan Fox. Amazing highway sequence where one of the decepticons ‘rollerblades’ down a highway and takes out a bus. And hopefully a sequel that will be better than this sweet-sour depiction.
I really enjoyed the film and I like the new and more modern look of all of the transformers. In one of the fight scene with Bonecrusher, Prime reminds me of Voltes Five when his sword came out. For a moment there I thought he was gonna chop Bonecrusher with a V shape on the torso. hehe..
One drawback of the new look of the Transformer is that they tend to be difficult to distinguish from one another in the melee.
Over-all, Im glad they made this movie. I hope that they do make sequels.
You critic crap… you were expecting transformers to be an accurate rendition of the cartoon series, it would not have worked, megatron would look stupid if he turned into a gun, bumblebee was cool as a beetle, but still… he is cool as a camaro. TRANSFORMERS ROCKED, BIG TIME!!! mike abundo, go watch the tiyanaks instead, it will suit your preferences.
In the end, the mighty warrior-philosopher-king Optimus Prime was reduced to watching a squishy little alien juvenile knock off his greatest rival. It was a pitiful sight.
I agree with you on the fact that it really was disappointing to see Prime get robbed of his right to kick Megatron’s ass.. but dude, you had no right to spoil the ending of this much awaited movie, even if the ending sucked. You should really consider puting a SPOILER WARNING, man.
“By the way, what Hollywood-produced live-action movie of comics or cartoon origins has been faithful to their original comics or cartoon characters or stories? I’m not good with movie trivia, but right now, I don’t remember any.”
hmm i thought it was impossible that someone has not yet seen “300″.
that movie was a hundred times better than the mediocre comic; yet remained very faithful.
The first 10 minutes was AWESOME - one of the best openings of any movie ever. But things went downhill after that.
Do we really need a token romance thrown into the movie? Can’t they just make Megan Fox tag along rather than having to invest time into some stupid long drawn out love interest back story that distracts from the main movie? Hello? This is not maid in manhattan or sleepless in seattle! Other time wasters include the family scenes, the chihua hua scenes and that doughnut eating idiot who supposedly can crack top secret codes but in the end contributed zip. I wish they’d do away with all these lame attempts at comic/romantic relief because they just aren’t funny nor romantic.
While the effects were good, it would have been better if they went easy with the jerky editing. hard to tell what is going on because they kept jumping angles and you can’t really see the transformation clearly - it’s too fast and everything looks like a blur.
I forgot to add - yes the ending was LAME! Unfortunately.
Get with the times fools…of course it’s gunna be like it is too suit the audience and make money. Get over it, and remember…they are probably setting it up for a trilogy cos my god…they will make BILLIONS! So don’t worry, megatron will be back, and Optimus will f**k him up
We’re not talking about hypothetical sequel wishlists. We’re talking about this movie, and this movie sucks.
Mike Abundo sucks harder.
feeling movie critic, pero di man lang makapag “spoiler alert”. Tsk.
You remind me of those kids that want to spoil everyone’s movie experience by spoiling them of the ending… I just think it’s obnoxious and immature. Dude, PLEASE PUT A SPOILER ALERT in your review. It wasn’t Michael Bay who spoiled this movie for me.. it was you.
O kids, tama na. Napansin na ng husto itong si Mike na sa tingin ko eh tuwang-tuwa pa ngayon at marami ng pumunta sa website niya.
Isa siya sa mga unang-unang nag-post ng review. Yun nga lang, nag-feeling masyado ang lolo ninyo.
Akala niya eh cool mag-diss ng isa na namang Hollywood blockbuster ‘coz he thought it’s what the elitista film critics are going to do.
Sorry, Mike, even Jessica Zafra, who is the epitome of angst and the de-facto voice of Gen-Xers and is more qualified than you are to review a film actually enjoyed the movie. So that says a lot.
Hirap kasi sa mga fanboy na kagaya mo, ang kitid ng utak. Mga spoiled brats kasi kayo nung bata, lahat ng gusto ninyo binibigay ng magulang ninyo kaya ngayon, pag hindi nasunod gusto ninyo sa isang beloved franchise ninyo, nagmamaktol kayo kahit obviously mas nakaka-appeal siya sa maraming tao.
Ang masasabi ko lang, sorry ka Mike at kayong mga fanboy, gumawa muna kayo ng film to prove yourselves and hope against hope that Steven Spielberg will award you the job of directing the sequel to Transformers.
Doon ninyo gawin lahat ng gusto ninyo. Ang gawin ninyo, limang oras yung movie tapos walang istorya, ubusan lang ng lahi yung Transformers, as in, limang oras na battle scenes.
O di happy kayo nun di ba? Yun nga lang ewan ko lang kung ilan ang manonood ng ganung klaseng pelikula.
Ewan ko lang kung may Hollywood studio na gagastusan yung script na ganun.
So bago kayo magmaktol ng magmaktol, gumawa muna kayo ng movie. Kahit B-movie lang (diyan sumikat si Quentin Tarantino), just to prove yourselves.
Otherwise, just shut up. If magpopost man kayo ng review, put spoiler warnings and make a convincing argument.
Sabi nga ni Mike, “homocentric” daw ang Transformers. Speak for yourself, Mike, you’re “robocentric” naman.
Dun ka kaya tumira sa beloved Cybertron mo nang makawala ka sa “homocentric propaganda” na pinagsasabi mo.
What are you on, man? Pahingi naman niyan…
Geez… trolls and noobs galore! It’s entertaining and downright annoyingly stupid. Obviously many Filipinos (assuming that’s the foreign language I read here) are still far behind from understanding the concept of blogging and its difference from a corporate movie review blog. “Spoiler alert”? Are you kidding me?! The author is no way obligated to put it here, these people are so clueless! Reading pompous personal attacks, seemingly know-it-all, high-horse, but rather presumptuous stupid comments makes IT IQ go down the drain. Stupid is as stupid does. No way can these dinosaurs be salvaged from the tar pits.
Thanks for the warning man, at least I wouldn’t expect much from the storyline.
Laura Clifford:
Nick Schager:
@bikerboy: He called it a review, not “a blog about the transformers movie”. Get a damn dictionary. Bloggers are entitled to their opinion, and so are the commentors. In fact, most “corporate movie reviews” are the personal opinions of their writers. They just have bigger names. If you find the comments here pompous, you apparently haven’t seen enough blogs. And it’s one thing to attack a blog post, a hell of another thing to attack the posters/commentors. Take a leaf from Mike Abundo’s book and stick to either agreeing/disagreeing with the whole movie deal with supporting info rather than shooting off from mouth.
Bikerboy, isa ka ring pretentious crappy.
Isa ka na namang geek na tingin ninyo kayo lang may alam sa blogging. Oh please spare me. Get out from under that laptop. Better yet, get a girlfriend, hindi yung puro internet ka.
People will inevitably type “Transformers Review” in the Google blog search in the first day of showing to gauge the film. Mike knows that some people might stumble upon his blog.
Kung nag-iisip siya (which obviously hindi), he should have been decent enough to put a spoiler alert, regardless whether he’s obligated or not.
And the way you look down on Filipinos being still in the dark about blogging, well, sorry, there’s no law governing the internet. Not you, nor geeks like you have the monopoly on blogging.
The only law here is common sense. Magpopost ka ng review, you’ll make it public through the search engines then you’ll enable the comment button. So don’t freak out if people tell you to put a spoiler alert.
At ikaw Mike, magpost ka man ng mag-post ng review ng ibang tao, it won’t make a difference ‘coz even if you proclaim yourself to be the authority on Transformers, Hollywood studios won’t even give you a penny to make a cheap movie.
Madali maging critic. Ang mahirap is to accept na hanggang critic ka na lang and no Hollywood studio would gamble on your geeky, one-dimensional “homocentric propaganda” view of Transformers. Ika nga, you’re one of those living on the fringes or ivory towers who are so detached to the real world.
Same with you, Bikerboy. Wag kayo masyadong feeling. There’s a colloquial term for the both of you: EPAL.
Yeah that’s my point, these people don’t stick to reviewing the author’s post, like you said “stick to either agreeing/disagreeing.” I’m no racist here, but most of the stupid low blow comments here are partly in Filipino, so what kind of impression does that leave me of your race? These dinosours are irritating for the others.
You’re the one who’s detached from the real world, Hooligan. You forget that we, the moviegoers, pay Michael Bay’s multi-million-dollar salary. We are well within our rights to critique his work.
I paid to see Transformers, not Ugly Robot Pet Owners.
@bikerboy: Commentors here are mostly Filipino because Mike Abundo is Filipino (and partially because we’ve already watched it). If you want impressions, I can refer you to some non-Filipino blogsites that have their own share of dinosaurs. So keep your opinions about differing races to yourself unless you intend for this comments section to feature culture clashes instead of being about the movie. I’m still here reading the comments on this blog since I’m interested about other people’s own views about the movie, not about their peeves about other races.
@mike: btw, am curious as to whether or not you found the comical scenes in the movie as funny as the rest of us did? or was the entire experience really as abominable for you as you said?
Well Mike, if you’re so hung up on the money you wasted seeing Michael Bay’s flick, you better write to him and ask for a refund. Otherwise, welcome to the real world. Stop being a spoiled brat.
And please, as I wrote in my earlier posts, nobody’s questioning your right for dissing Bay’s film. Most posters here were annoyed by your immature way of posting a review. If you’re going to entitle your blog entry “TRANSFORMERS REVIEW” and make it searchable, it’s common sense to put a spoiler alert knowing you’ll reveal the ending for everyone to read.
It is beside the point whether you’re obliged to or not.
Some Googlers merely stumbled on your entry as you are one of the firsts to put out a “REVIEW.”
I tend to think that out of your bratty frustration over the film, you deliberately omitted the spoiler warning so as to turn-off as many people as you can.
Well, sorry, you and your ilk like Bikerboy here can wallow in your delusions of being the masters of cyberspace and pop culture.
The thing is, just like in natural selection, the specialists (like geeks and fanboys) always lose out against the generalists (the mass market i.e. people who aren’t so hung-up on anything).
And to Bikerboy, whatever nationality or “race” you might be (although technicality according to anthropologists, there’s no such thing as “race”), it would be wise not to reveal it. You’re going to put your so-called “race” to shame.
Bringing the topic of “race” over a Transformers movie review puts you on par with single-celled organisms in terms of intelligence.
Better evolve first before participating in this discussion. You have a lot of catching up to do. You are so way over your head.
Hooligan, if you still believe there’s such a thing as a global media “mass market”, then you’re even more detached from reality than I thought. Welcome to the Long Tail.
If your basis for liking this movie is your own Darwinian survival as a loyal member of your beloved “mass market”, then you’re nothing more than a mindless lemming.
DarkHalf, I actually found Bay’s attempts at humor painfully contrived. Should hitting a Decepticon between the legs have the same effect as hitting a man in that area? I think not. You know a movie’s humorless when it screws up a joke about balls.
hmmm… im sorry you didnt like the film. damn. i think TFormer fans-hard core fans since the 80’s would really react this way. but, i think being extremely faithful to the cartoon or the transformers myth would be a disaster as well. imagine a desert wasteland and robots inside caves and about 3 humans. hmm… i loved the film and how it was presented. it gave a thrill ride and although it centered on bumblebee and sam, i still think it was nice. i mean, imagine an optimus prime centered flick. maybe your such a fan of prime that you were disappointed with him having 2 seconds of screen time. hmm… i think that in watching films, you should be open minded because it aint the same thing as the comic or the cartoon. do you honestly want a movie that mimics every scene in the cartoon and the only difference is that-they’re human? hmm… i think the movie kicked ass. dont think of the past. dont think of anything else. if you’d just sit down, watch and enjoy-and im sure you WILL enjoy. its a 9/10 for me. ^_^
Hay nako, Mike Abundo, you’re so predictable. Just as I was expecting, idadaan mo sa “pataasan ng ihi.”
Gaano man kataas ang ihi mo, mapanghi pa rin yan. Ihi pa rin yan.
Besides, you totally missed my point. Fanboys a.k.a. specialists or one-track thinkers or those who are so bothered by nitty-gritty stuff over a CHILDREN’s cartoon series that they have become incapable of enjoying themselves versus the masses a.k.a. generalists or those who can snap up blockbuster films and enjoy themselves without qualms and without being so hung-up on the nitty-gritty stuff.
In the end, life is short, Mike. Being so hung up on small details over a film that didn’t present itself as a “thinking movie” from the start is just a waste of your time on this planet. Hence, the analogy with natural selection.
Also, are you seriously hingeing your worldview on a two-minute Youtube clip?
Oh my…who’s the mindless lemming now?
The old “it’s just for entertainment” cop-out won’t work this time. Bay’s boring humans are not entertaining.
“Homocentric propaganda,” “boring humans,” “Ugly Robot Pet Owners.” Seriously now, who talks like this?
Can you enlighten everyone on the meaning of these cryptic terms?
Get real, dude.
Yeah, I figured they’d fly above your head like indistinguishable robots in a messy battle scene.
I figured, you’re incapable of grasping reality.
Shall we debate the nature of reality again, Hooligan, or shall we talk about this movie?
Sheesh, and you call me pretentious…
What’s there to talk about? You already said it’s bad and you reviewed it (WITHOUT SPOILER WARNINGS, mind you) and I said it’s just another blockbuster film that shouldn’t be taken way too seriously so that’s all there is to it, riiiight?
Unless you want to continue quoting other reviewers from the net just to prove your point.
Well as for being pretentious, I’m not the one rattling off obscure terms such as…
Should I even repeat them?
@Mike: I don’t remember that scene… was there really such? If there was, I was probably too busy absorbing details about the graphics. I found the “hiding from the parents” part hilarious though.
Oh yeah, I now remember my initial reaction when Megatron got nuked (killed is such an incorrect term). “What happened?!?!” I was expecting Sam to handover the thing to Optimus or some sort of climatic, confrontational sacrifice or something… but the next thing I remember seeing was Megatron lying in a heap and asking my seatmates what happened. And after explaining the ending, which is the topic of this blog, I recall having a “huh?” moment.
At least for that part, I’m sure other Transformers fans agree.
Optimus Prime wasn’t only robbed of his right to defeat Megatron, he was portrayed as a weak and easy to give up Autobot. But that is the only thing I would agree with you since it isn’t all Michael Bay’s fault. He only had a budget enough to do 6 sequences of robot action that is why you saw more humans than transformers. And me being 20 years old and not a product of the 80’s Transformers but still know the series well enough, I appreciated this movie for what it is. It is epic in the Spielbergian sense, in that I was like a child in awe or amazement of this robots coming to life. I loved the humor and the choppy editing (hard to follow but it builds up visceral action). I’m not much of a believer in faithful translations, since Lord of the Rings was a great film even if it wasn’t that faithful to the source book. A movie is a different medium. If you want to be a movie critic, you have to understand that. You can’t fit 20 years of backstory in a 2 hour movie. And you can’t stuff 20 years of history and make it relevant in the present.
Anyways, I’m new to this blog of yours but I’m liking it. Especially the parts on LU. Lol.
Welcome to my blog, Berserkerz. Enjoy the conversation.
To those asking why bumblebee turned out to be a Camaro and not a VW, the reason behind this is that VW folks
didnt permit the filmakers to use the ‘beetle’… A trivia to all, it could take 30 hours of rendering CG animations to make at least 2 second scene for a movie.. To mike.. stop being a stupid nonsense…the movie was good enough… what do you want see, optimus prime being shown like that of power rangers’ robot… again, i like the movie and will definitely watch it again, and buy the original dvd…
PS: Mike, good thing no one kicked you out of the theaters when you cheered at starscream taking out those F16s…
They were F-22s, dumbass. Stop spouting trivia if you can’t even get it right.
biker boy! how dare you even imply and generalize filipinos as being inferior in any way just because of what you think about what you’ve read… any decent and well educated person would know that just because I THINK YOU’RE stupid and arrogant (i really do by the way), doesn’t mean i would naturally assume you’re whole race is too…
Mike, pretty awesome guys you have to back you up… transformers was a great movie!
Yup, Nick Schager and Laura Clifford are both pretty awesome.
to biker boy: You have a small pee pee. That’s why you’re so insecure.
Transformers was EFFING awesome. and biker boy is an ignoramus stuck in his own bubble he calls home. He is very uncultured and unaware. he’s doing all this “pa tough guy effect” so he can seek approval from his BIKER MAN coz he’s just a boy….with a small pee pee.
Ok i think all of you guys have a huge stick up your asses! This movie was AWESOME! All of you who say other wise are being gay. Stop saying “oh they changed this and oh they didnt do this” were you the director? I dont think so.. They have to change things to modern day. Not like the cartoon that was in the 80’s. Any one with any commonsense would realize that. The movie was awesome and if you were a true transformers fan you wouldnt be complaining! so get over it! Enough said! It was thee best movie i have ever seen!
Transformers= AWESOME!!!
wow mike. Are you another of that green-with-envy-monsters-reviewer-wanna be? I really feel so sad for you that you wasted half of your life hating so much many things and this movie. Dude, get a grip of reality, even if you think Transformers suck, it reaped a lot of earnings and good reviews too. Sure, nothing can really gain favor in both good and bad reviewers but tell me, “why did you cheered when Starscream blasted airforce jets?” is it because you were enjoying yourself (in a wicked way) watching the scene? but still, you were enjoying yourself. Meant: you were glued to the movie. If you were like bored to the edge of your seat, you wouldn’t care less to cheer. you should be snoring yourself to sleep in those big lazy boys in Globe platinum (ha ha)…People clapped after the movie, and everybody I know gave praises for Michael Bay.
I am so sorry for you.
Yea. You don’t like it because I think you’re gay. Well, uh… you do look like one. Was anybody seating with you on that lazyboy?? nuf said.
I’m an 80’s kid and grew up watching Transformers after school. All I can say is that I don’t mind the “modern” changes done to the movie, I don’t mind at all. The movie is AWESOME IMO, hands down. I enjoyed the action, the girl (Megan Fox), the cars and especially how the robots were done.
Lets face it, a lot of the true fans of the cartoon and the animated movie are now in their mid 20’s and 30’s. I think it would be cheesy if the movie was to copy every aspect of the cartoon.
I myself wouldn’t want to see a VW Beetle turn into Bumble Bee.
But then again there will always be critics that cannot be satisfied.
Dude, you really purposely wanted to spoil the ending for everyone, didn’t you? You even submitted your article to Digg hoping it would be ‘dugg’ a thousand times over and get significant traffic on your site. The description you even put was “Sam Witwicky kills Megatron. Seriously.” That’s just immature and disgusting, man.
This movie has been marked for dissing by film critics and critic-wannabes from day one.
Most of them went to see this film already harboring some form of grudge for the choice of director Michael Bay.
Most would have preferred James Cameron for his work on the Terminator series and his storytelling prowess.
Some critics were pointing out the missed opportunity for weaving a mythology around Cybertron and the struggle between the Autobots and the Decepticons.
Still others were bemoaning the shallow storyline, the shock-and-awe approach and the comic fillers-in.
Most suggest it should have been done this way or that, written this way or that.
At the end of the day, with a $200 million budget, this is not one project that should be consciously made critic-proof.
The studios had to choose between commercial success and critical acclaim. It’s hard to choose both if you don’t have a J.R.R Tolkien or a J.K. Rowling writing for you.
I admire Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg for having realized early on that this film should make you feel like a kid all over again (granting, you loosen up and enter the theater without any expectation save for seeing the Transformers in a live action film after twenty long years).
They had it right when they decided that that sense of wonder and amazement in the original Transformers cartoons should be preserved.
I liken the experience of watching this film to a grade school reunion. It’s such a bore if one would start talking about his career, how many houses he has got and his achievements so far.
Basically, grown-up stuff.
But if everyone would just talk about the goofy days back when you were all in shorts, the affair would be so much more fun.
I was fortunate to having no opinion about Michael Bay before I caught this film. Even more fortunate for just wanting to chillout after working 24 hours straight before watching this movie.
In the end I enjoyed it tremendously. Felt like a kid again. It was silly, funny and loud.
Just like what grade school reunions should be.
I wish everyone here would post as sensibly as Grimm.
Totally agree, loosen up with this film. It’s a 200 million-dollar extravanganza and the financiers would certainly want a ten-fold return on their investment.
It’s meant to appeal to the broadest possible demographic and it certainly hit me for I am just an average Joe.
Had lots and lots of fun with this film. I can’t get the smile off my face.
To Mike, I hope you would be more considerate with your postings. I think no matter how you look at it or whatever your reasons are (maybe just a plot to increase traffic to this website), it wasn’t fair to spoil it for everyone just because it disappointed you no end.
Also, I cannot relate to your contentions on why you found the movie abominable. I read many other reviews from USA Today, The Hollywood Reporter, Chicago Sun Times and other movie websites. Suprisingly, the film got an average of A-minus (quite a feat for a Michael Bay film) and non of them ever mentioned the overexposure of humans, the lack of battle scenes and muddy camera handling.
I was surprised at how immature you can get with your deliberate attempt at ruining the movie for everyone given that you seem to be well-educated as evidenced by your profile (VP for Emerging Technologies).
It’s quite an irony that you are quite childish with how you expressed your disatisfaction with the film yet you seem to be incapable of being a child again even for just two and a half hours.
As one poster contends, and sorry to use his phrase but I think it’s appropriate, don’t be such a brat.
But kudos, you increased traffic to your website with your controversial review. Sadly, this is your fifteen minutes of fame and personally, except for this Transformers thread, I see nothing interesting to make me visit your site in the future.
And so, enjoy your fame while it lasts.
grabe. what a very nice thread. hmm… its a movie. some will not like it, some will. Mike has his points (for me the movie’s awesome no matter what) but do we really need to force him to like it. haha… Bay obviously didn’t please everyone. anyway, the POSSIBLE sequel MAY not be by Bay.
your a fuckin idiot
transformers rocks! mike abundo sucks!
Metalloid, I thank you for saying everything I wanted to.
mike abundo doesn’t know jack about anything. transformers rocked!
yeah mike abundo’s an idiot. i loved the movie!!!
die mike abundo die
Have you ever read a really great book and then gone to see the film? 2 1/2 stars.
Should’ve given it to Peter Jackson. Now he’s a pro.
to bikerboy:
wow. you said you’re no racist. But you attacked someone who commented in partly Filipino. what, saving your ass?? dude. YOU ARE RACIST. If you are filipino, I do hope you get out of the country and if you already are out, stay the hell away from the Philippines! #@@damn racist. So, why? you’re the english language expert now? I do hope you’re NOT a filipino because I would have all the pleasure of sticking your sorry @#ck up your lard ass.
@mike:
mr. i-didn’t-pay-to-see-ugly-robot-pet-owners, hitting the decepticon between the legs is not at all compared to hitting a man (or gay) like you between it. If you wre paying attention, the source of theirown spark is in their core. that was why Optimus was asking Spike to insert the block spark into his chest.
amateur.
I haven’t seen this movie yet. But I’ve had the most fun the last couple days googling “Transformers Review” and reading the hilarious exchanges between people who’ve seen this movie. Basically, people who have an opinion of this movie are grouped into 4 basic categories:
Category 1: Elitists. These people are G1 to the core. Nothing will redeem this movie in their eyes, and some will refuse to see it.
Category 2: n00bs. New to Transformers, these people don’t care about G1, they probably think the new “Transformers Animated” series will be amazing and they just want to see eye candy. Also, most likely young and impressionable (not necessarily a bad thing, we all were young and impressionable once)
Category 3: Clueless A. These people don’t know a Mecannibal from a Witwicky, but will come away from the experience praising the movie for its obvious attempts at eye candy and little else (is ANYONE really going to praise the acting? If so, I guess lump that in here too)
Category 4: Clueless B. Much like Clueless A, except these people will focus on actual content of the movie and determine that it is hollow, boring, convoluted and most importantly, how much the movie could have easily shaved off about 40 minutes of screen time.
NOW… everyone I’ve seen so far in this blog has fallen into one of these four categories. However, this is the part I find amazing…
#1. This is Mike’s blog. He can post whatever he wants here. His opinion to write whatever he wants is his own doing. However, people start bitching about why he doesn’t put SPOILER ALERT on here when people are basically googling TRANSFORMERS REVIEW. If you don’t want the movie to be ruined for you, why are you trying to find reviews of the movie online? Go see the movie and shut up.
#2. It’s funny to me that when someone gives a BAD review of this movie (and more importantly backs up WHY it is bad), all the people who LIKED it stand up and say, “You’re a FAG. THIS MOVIE WAS AWESOME!” as if their OPINION of the movie is of any valid argument just for the sake of their own appreciation for simple pleasures. “The acting was sub-par, the humor was cliche’d and hollow and the designs made it hard to distinguish the action sequences in the movie” is more to base an opinion off of instead of whether or not you think”Jazz was SO cool in the movie!”
The bottom line is that, no matter what people think about this movie, there’s no reason to come onto someone’s personal blog and call them names (especially homophobic ones) just because he danced a little poopieshoe on the latest take of the forever doomed Transformers franchise.
If YOU guys don’t like Mike’s opinion of the movie, then why don’t you start your OWN blog and post about how much you liked it? That way, when people google “TRANSFORMERS REVIEW” they will see your positive opinion and you can help even the odds in this horrible, slanderous battle over the quality of a movie made about kid’s toys. But please, put a spoiler alert at the top of the page when you do that. Because of you guys, I now know that the vehicles in this movie turn into robots. That totally ruined everything for me.
yup, i agree. it wasn’t supposed to be funny, man… you only thought it was supposed to be funny..
AbundO? or is it Mike AbundA? tee hee hee
This movie was even less than meets the eye.
A to the C: There’s more emotion in the comments about this movie than there is in the movie itself.
Thanks to the power of the internet, idiots run amok with their opinions and brazenly calls an opinion a “review.” Though I did not necessarily enjoyed the movie, it shouldn’t stop me from making an honest “review” of the movie knowing the responsibility I take into account of people reading it might take into account I am influencing their decision, instead of spoon feeding it. Not to mention, rudely.
We all watch movies. We all love movies. We all eat food. We all love food. But not all of us is a food critic. Same goes for film. It takes a degree in Film Criticsm and History to actually give you a right to give a personal opinion about a film. Imagine a proper review.
Some needs to know the difference between subjective or objective. Some just need to stop “reviews” period, and stick to “copy and pasting” articles from different respectable authors, which they tend to be really good at.
Good review of bad movie.
A to the C, how dumb can you get.
Lumping people into categories just reveals how how judgmental you are and what a paid hack you are.
I would categorize you as this: A Mike Abundo minion who postures himself as intelligent and sensible yet cannot even stick to the simple point of this thread.
What is your opinion of the movie? Not of the posters here.
There were many things that I did tolerate in the movie that I thought I was going to complain about. I did like the new character design, the plot of retrieving the “allspark” was okay, and the human characters were tolerable to watch.
BUT the one thing I hated was Shia LaBeuf (the little kid) was the one to defeat Megatron. That was the one thing I mainly got pissed off about. That is Optimus Prime’s duty.
The following would have been an awesome ending…. Megatron gets to the “allspark” and uses it to turn a bunch of machines into decepticons. Every mechanical device just starts turning into destructive robots. All hope would seem lost… but then suddenly autobot reinforcement comes in falling from the heavens in their shuttles and kicks some decepticon ass. We would have a huge battle scene where autobots are just tearin ass up and takin fuckin names. More nostalgic autobots would apear like Hot Rod, Inferno, Sideswipe, Smokescreen, Sunstreaker, and motherfuckin Ultra Magnus. Then after the rest of the autobots beatdown the decepticons, Optimus Prime and Megatron have big ass showdown. Metal on metal action, with more guns, ammo, explosion, and good old steel-reinforced smashing. And in the end Optimus Prime is the one who gets the bright idea of putting the allspark in Megatron and he would have shoved the damn thing right in his chest with one final blow.
that would have been an ending that would have pleased fans and the fans would have possibly forgave the fact that humans got more screen time than the cybertronians and making Optimus Prime and the rest of the autobots look like pussies that just bugged humans.
Fuck man, what was the point of getting Hugo Weaving to be the voiceover for Megatron when all he had was 5 or less lines. Its waste of an awesome actor (Mr. Smith from The Matrix and V from V for Vendetta”)
what you’ve written isn’t a review, it’s a rant. “waah, i didn’t enjoy the Transformers movie, and neither should anyone else! so i’ll call my rant a ‘review’ and give away the ending. waah!”
i agree that the movie was not good in the sense that the audience doesn’t really get to develop an emotional attachment with any of the characters (they tried with the humans, but couldn’t get anything more than a rise out of Megan Fox) nor is there anything really great about the story and plot (nothing more than ‘they come, they fight, the end’). but then again, this is a movie based on a toy line more than 20 years old, and recycled repeatedly through cartoons and comics. it’s completely unrealistic to expect some great cinematic epic out of this. and no, 14 years of cartoon storylines are NOT good enough. why would you want to spend millions on a movie whose story everyone can already know about beforehand? of course you will try to get a different angle, because you’ll want as big as market as you can get: not the screaming 30-something nostalgic fanboys, but the current generation of children and teens and hopefully some of the older generations who know nothing of this franchise.
what the movie is good at is remaining to the true origins and essence of the Transformers cartoon concept: to sell stuff through pure and almost mindless entertainment. except that since it’s a big budget movie, it now sells not just little boys’ toys (robots and video games), but also big boys’ toys (cars, electronics, American war machines). you’d be really naive to think that the entire Transformers cartoon series was anything other than that.
that being said, though, you should not deprive other people of the possibility that they could enjoy the film, especially if they aren’t familiar with the franchise. this is about playing, not thinking. other films require a “suspension of disbelief;” this one additionally requires a “suspension of intellect.” without story and character development, all that they are left to enjoy is simply the execution of the movie: pace, special effects, imagery, exposition, resolution. even if it’s practically just a thin 2 & 1/2 hour extended commercial, it’s their choice. and some commercials can still be enjoyable (google Cleo awards)
Not a purist film, clearly. I agree with all the negative commentary surrounding this film except that I still enjoyed watching the bots transform. Weren’t those the Destructicons? Wouldn’t they have used their ability to combine into Devastator? And I thought I saw an Insecticon as well. All these bots postdate the evolution of the Transformers. The Ark crash landed, and the two factions evolved simultaneously. The deceps clearly had more power, yet lost the fracas? For those new to transformers i’m sure you’ll enjoy it. For those familiar, you’ll find it cool, but you’ll know that it’s not really the Transformers.
Ok.. little message to A to C. This is a blog, you dont put something on the internet and not expect people to have their opinions also.. So stop trying to make it seem like your the little “smart defender” If people think that Mike was totally out of line wrong about this movie then they have every right to write their thoughts.. thats the whole point of this, is it not?..
Definitely had a pro America theme going on. All cars where American made. I even noticed an XBOX 360 (no PS3) in one of the scenes. Cell phone brand was Nokia, bad guys sometimes sounded like they were speaking an Asian language. Even the symbols which had an evil connotation to them resembled an Asian based alphabet. With Ford motor corp and more American made car companies in trouble this movie’s timing and subtlies does not seem coincidental. I’m sure there were more branding issues i forget but i definitely got that impression halfway through the film. As a fan of the series as a kid I find myself getting the chills at times sensing a climatic ending that never really happened. Up until the last 15 minutes I was completely satisfied. Did i want ‘Now light our darkest hour?’ Yes I did and I don’t feel bad for saying it. Maybe they chose to not give us everything so we’d buck up for the next movie. It was definitely enjoyable and it felt great to see some of my childhood friends fighting for whats right again. If you are a fan you really have no choice but to see it on the big screen and decide for yourself.
to A to the Dumb
Paid hack? You’re apparently of the belief that I got paid to write on someone’s blog. I’d like to see my check for pointing out how notoriously commonplace you are now. Is that coming out of your pocket? How nice of you to put me on your payroll.
My opinion of the movie wasn’t the point of the post. The point was to make fun of people who have to come in and say ridiculous things like, “You SUCK! That movie was AWESOME! You’re a FAG for hating it!”
At least you’ll die with the satisfaction of calling me A to the Dumb. That was pretty good. Where’s YOUR blog, asshat? Or do you just litter the blogs of other people you don’t agree with, you little troll?
To Brittany: I don’t care if people like the movie and I wasn’t necessarily coming to the rescue of anyone. I just think it’s funny when people are able to actually back up their critiques and the only thing people can say in retort is, “You’re a FAG! That movie was AWESOME!” OK, fine… why do you think it’s awesome? Can you come up with something besides calling someone a homophobic slur to argue your case? It’s just an opinion. All reviews are opinions. If you like broccoli, and broccoli makes me gag, does that make me a buttfucker? More to the point, WHY does that make me a buttfucker? And even MORE seriously, what is the deal with people who immediately think that people who don’t share their same opinions instantly makes them a faggot? Why does everyone have a problem with faggots? Are they faggots because they don’t like the new Transformers movie, or are they faggots because they engage in homosexual activity? Why is everyone who likes the new TF movie so afraid of faggots?
I just saw the movie… I’m not going to give my opinion of it, that’s not why I’m here. I just wanted to thank the lot of you who have nothing better to do than google “Transformers Movie Review” and say, “THAT MOVIE ROCKED!”
Good job getting your opinions out there in the open, guys. Michael Bay has obviously heard you; they are already halfway through the script of the next movie. Hey, who says nobody listens to the fans? Great job, internerds! You made a difference! Keep up the good work!
Unfortunately, this movie was their darkest two hours.
Now there’s an appropriate title for this movie: Pussies That Just Bugged Humans.
I don’t know what country you’re from, but around here people have the right to express personal opinions about anything. It’s a little thing called free speech.
Pace: jumpy. Special effects: great. Imagery: messy. Exposition: tortured. Resolution: horrible.
Unfortunately, those morons are exactly Michael Bay’s target audience. He originally dismissed Transformers as a “stupid toy movie,” until he realized how much money it could make. He must have an equally high opinion of its audience.
To A to the C,
Yada-yada-yada. You’re just like all the stiffys out there. You and Mike Abundo. Too serious about everything. Constipated for eternity.
Tsk, tsk, tsk. You must have had a terrible childhood for finding it too difficult to loosen up.
I know, I know, you’re going to point out again about personal attacks, calling names, blah-blah-blah.
Whatever, A to the C, whatever. The movie’s raking it in, Michael Bay’s going to purchase his shiny new yacht and you’ll still be railing in this pathetic little blog behind a ridiculous name.
The world is unfair? And stupid? And populated by trolls and noobs? You betcha!
And you better learn to live with that fact. Or, you could choose to burst a vein in your head from all your whining, you crybaby.
I think Mike posted this controversial blog (review in his stupid perspective) since he had read minority of the bloggers comments about the movie. I don’t believe he actually seen the movie.
And he prolly just wanted to post something like this to give him more hit points.
To A to the Dumb,
Not serious about anything at all. I’m not the one taking any of this seriously. I stated that I was laughing at you. You provided me with a lot of entertainment.
Terrible childhood? I had a great one. Maybe that’s why people take offense to the mishandling of a franchise that was part of their childhood. But then again, that’s only an opinion. You’re obviously incapable of dealing with the opinions of other people. That’s OK. Go ahead and burst that vein in your head you were talking about. I’ll still keep finding the unfounded personal assaults against people who dislike a movie about toys entertaining.
I did point out meaningless personal attacks. You appear to subscribe to that. Keep in mind I didn’t attack anyone in my initial post. I merely stated that I found the lot of you amusing.
Speaking of ridiculous names, what’s yours? You think I would post my real name so that insignificant turds like you can travel cross country and pee on the my door handle? No thanks. I’ll just settle for you hiding behind YOUR screen name and calling me dumb.
I never said the world was unfair, stupid or populated by trolls and noobs. However, YOU did when you said “You betcha!” Good call.
For someone who likes to rail on about nothing in particular, you do a pretty good job of pushing the red button on others. You must be able to smell your own; or at the very least you are as guilty of the own self-righteousness with which you are trying to incriminate others.
But seriously, you won. I’ll give it to you. I can’t keep up with you! And please stop using “A to the Dumb” as your name, I feel as if you are laughing AT me and not WITH me. See you at the Digimon convention.
A to the C,
There’s one character in history who felt so superior above everyone else, he categorized people (just like you did–refer to your first post) into Jews and Aryans. He also found everyone amusing. So amusing, he sent them to concentration camps, performed experiments on them and eventually gassed them to the tune of 6 million.
‘Nuff said, A to the C.
Nah, this is just Mike’s attempt at fame, plain and simple. Congratulations on your 15 minutes of fame. Everyone, let’s move on now please. Kindly exit the blog in an orderly fashion. Thank you.
Reductio ad Hitlerum. Godwin’s Law in action.
Coming from someone who grew up in the 80’s and has a collection of all things Transformers, I must say I really did enjoy the flick. I went into it expecting the worst, but it actually turned out to be one heck of a film with great possibilities of sequels!!!!dinobots!!!!soundwave!!!!!metroplex???doubt it but anyways….all you people nitpicking and disecting every little flaw have all the right to, but if you wanna see your ideal, perfect transformers film with every name matching the bot, and every bot looking the part, go fork over 50K of your mommy or daddies hard earned dough and sit your ass through film school……..or you can have a coke and a smile, and enjoy the damn film you whiney little net vets. Now flame on.
ps….this optimus prime looked sick…..so did starcream, megatron and the rest of the bots and cons….damn negative nancies!
Oh, they definitely looked sick, alright. They all had Cybertronian anorexia.
oh ya, one last thing….about people hating on the cgi effects or any of the animations or character movements…..your freakin nuts. I took Softimage and Maya in school and though im definitely not a pro, I must say that this is the best…i repeat….THE BEST CGI effects I have ever seen on the silver screen to date. I can only imagine how long and hard they worked just figuring out the mechanics of it all….the transforming especially was sooo damn fluid….it was simply a treat for the eyes. Truly is amazing what we can do with computers these days!
Too all that great CGI on was overly complicated designs with no character. You couldn’t tell who was killing who, and couldn’t bring yourself to care.
Mike Abundo= the guy who gets killed in the movies for being a bitter fan who has an immensely hard time giving up his childhood….go buy a high powered telescope and look for cybertron….tell us when you find it, k thanks!
Shockwave, go buy another Transformers ticket and look for a story. Tell us when you find it.
Well put, Mike!
This movie was gutwrenchingly annoying and just plain bad. It had no redeeming qualities and no nostalgic value. It was almost as poorly directed as Mission to Mars or Fear.com. I’ll never get those two and a half hours of my life back!
This should’ve been a parody of Transformers, not a movie in and of itself! What a way to ruin a night!
(JH)
Good thing I caught a matinée screening, Joe. I’d hate to go to bed with those monstrosities flying around in my head.
Mike, so sorry that you are this bitter. And you call yourself ‘vice president.’ but all you do is copy-paste other critic’s reviews with your own review being very biased and has no spoiler alert. please be kind and act your position and stop replying to your own blog. Let the others reply since it is supposed to be subjected to comments anyway. You shouldn’t be childish to reply to others who disagree with your comments.
Now for the other like me who are glueing in this thread. please make an orderly exit from this site. This moron does not deserve the attention that he is already getting. Nuf already.
So let’s go. good luck Mike and oh, watch your back.
You comment, I comment, we all comment, Ime. It’s called conversation. You should try it sometime.
Frankly, the conversations about this movie are more entertaining than the movie itself.
The comments are not that entertaining, its all back and forth whinings. Your claims are obviously coming from the fact that you can’t leave the 80’s. But I guess your entitled to your opinions. I just hoped you were more open in accepting the good points of the movie instead of being bitter all the way as you were.
Oh, I accept the special effects as a good point — the only good point. Everything else sucked.
I didn’t think you did. “Believe it or not, it’s even more of an abomination than everyone expected it to be — from jumpy editing to fake graphics to…” I thought you just implied its part of the expected abomination of the movie.
I agree with you though that the story line is cheesy, but it was still entertaining to some extent. If you never knew Transformers back then, would you see the movie differently? And maybe perhaps like it?
I’d probably like it even less if I didn’t know the Transformers back then. Bay doesn’t give anyone any reason to care about the Transformers themselves; if I didn’t know who the Transformers were, I’d be even more apathetic towards these ugly aliens and their cheesy lines.
The hackneyed humans were just annoying, so I didn’t care about them either way. Thus, if I didn’t know the Transformers beforehand, I’d end up seeing a movie where I absolutely didn’t care what happened to anyone.
Blahblahblah. The movie’s raking it in the US box office. All this debate, whining, intellectual whatnot is moot.
A bad movie is a bad movie? Oh well, bottomline is it entertained the heck out of everyone who saw it. So who’s to say what’s a bad movie, then?
This thread is hilarious, especially the person who started all this, Mike.
I couldn’t understand why he’s one of the firsts to see the movie and post a review (although it’s not really a proper review by all intents and purposes but a long whine) when all along he knew it was Michael Bay who directed it. Hello? Armageddon? The Island? What do you expect? Also, Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci co-wrote the screenplay. Hello again? Alias? Mission Impossible III?
Mike wrote Michael Bay “sorely underdelivers” in this movie. A really funny statement. On one hand, he wasn’t expecting much from Michael Bay. And then Bay underdelivers. Was Mike expecting Bay to redeem himself?
What’s even more funny is, being a cyberjunkie and heavily involved in the IT industry (mister-emerging-technology-guru, right?), I’m sure Mike had access to inside info on the plot, storyline, etc. of the movie as it is not far-fetched to think he has a friend or a friend of a friend of a friend who works either in Dreamworks or ILM. There were even advanced screenings here and in the States and it’s not beyond imagination that Mike got wind of how the movie went.
Finally, trailers of the movie have been circulating in the internet as far as two years back. And weeks leading up to the opening of the movie, you could almost tell what the story is going to be like based on the final trailer (soldiers running around, a kid buying his first car, complicated robot character renderings, etc.). Mike knew all along the movie will be filled by humans–his main beef about the film.
Yet, despite all the flood of info and there were no well-kept secrets (unlike the final book of the Harry Potter series) about the movie, Mike still went to see it–and be one of the earliest to do so. What’s with that?
There are two possibilites.
One, Mike has been living under a rock for the last two years and he didn’t know a damn thing about the movie that’s why when he saw it, he was utterly shocked and disappointed.
Two, Mike knew all along the movie sucks but still went to see it and posted a “review” with the intent of ruining it for anyone who accidentally found this blog and to generate buzz to this staid, unknown website. In other words, he hit two birds with one stone.
In the end, despite all his elitist posturings and the fact that he wasn’t unaware of the movie’s potential to disappoint his impeccable taste for films, him having catch it on its first showing day does not distinguish him from the “disgusting humans” in the movie.
The task of writing the screenplay was given to Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci and not to Mike Abundo and his ilk because we would end up with a movie for nerds. You know, the types Conan O’Brien usually lampoons in his opening spiels.
Us “mindless lemmings” would probably go “huh?” after the movie while Mike and his kind would go (imagine Conan doing this) “Hooray! No homocentric propaganda!”
That’s why I’m happy Michael Bay, Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci were given the job for the film.
Hooray! An anti-nerd film!
first off the movie for “BIG SCREEN” was not made into a cartoon as…Yes! your right! as it could have been… The movie was made the way it was because of someone had a lot of money to which most of us do nots. They made it the way they wanted too and did a kick ass job in doing so. Have you ever seen anything quite like it before I ask. “ahhhhhhhh, no” should be your qualified answer. Therfore,so all you nerdy nerds who still have their original packaged transformers still perched on your dressers at home, come poke your head out of your room sometime and join the real world of movies
Mike Abundo is the lame brain nerdy nerd with the packaged transformers from the 80’s perched up on his dresser… yes everyone he would be one of them
So a movie with an actual story is now a “movie for nerds.”
Welcome to the dumbing-down of society.
Ooh! The term “nerd” hit a raw nerve. Ouch…
“Dumbing-down of society,” whatever, Mike, whatever…
Here’s what you should: write a screenplay, or hire someone to write it if you’re not familiar with writing screenplays, then submit it to Steven Spielberg.
That should settle all your whining.