Get Transformed….

Yes, it’s a movie review!!!! 

It’s pretty much to say that in our corner of the world, we got to see the hotly-hyped potential summer blockbuster “Transformers” a week ahead of much of the rest,  so I’ll just try to keep it as spoiler-free as possible. 

Let’s just say that the film manages to exceed all my expectations and then some.  Certainly  there were liberties taken with regard to the central line-up we know from the ’80s cartoons, but all in all this is one film that should satisfy even the admittedly most rabid fanboys.  There’s not just wall-to-wall decibel-busting action (I saw this at the THX-enabled cinema of Glorietta mall’s G4 – Php 170 well spent) but loads of humor plus so many uncanny topical references; I wound up laughing in some parts as much as I was gasping at awe as the robots were duking it out in the streets of the city. 
 
It’s not just “Armageddon” ( *spoiler alert* which is explicitly mentioned in a line from the movie, in a show of auteurial immodesty) – it’s “Peter Jackson’s King Kong”  (*spoiler alert*Sam tries to plead to Simmons to spare Bumblebee’s life)!!!  It’s “The Matrix Reloaded” (*spoiler alert*the freeway chase between Jazz & Bonecrusher does remind one of the epic car chase from the abovementioned) and “Independence Day” (*spoiler alert*the existence of a shadowy government think-tank which shamelessly takes credit for a lot of things we take for granted in our present life, Anthony Anderson’s reluctant computer hacker)!!!!  Hell, it’s even “Herbie: Fully Loaded” (*spoiler alert*Bumblebee tries to play Cupid for Sam and Mikaila) but then again maybe the producers wanted to take Volkswagen to task for refusing them access to their Beetle.        

It’s also a two-hour car commercial, with spots from Mountain Dew™, Google™, eBay™ among others; but then again, wasn’t the original TV show essentially an half-hour commercial for a toy line which began in – of all places – Japan???  Nevertheless, it is comforting to know that the distinct transformation sound as well as Peter Cullen’s voice for Optimus Prime has been retained while Hugo Weaving turns up imbuing his Megatron with the same air of menace that he imparted as Agent Smith in…well, you-know-what.   Other than that, the acting talents assembled are serviceable at best; Shia Laboeuf is charming without being too glibly annoying, and relative newcomer Megan Fox doesn’t strain too much in terms of believability as a beauty to whom V-8 is not just vegetable juice.    

    

“Transformers“ is a well-deserved feast for both eyes and ears that should really rock the summer b.o. like no other.