Okay, so, it's certainly better than Revenge of the Fallen and a little bit better than Dark of the Moon, which I kind of enjoyed. Surprisingly, for an almost three hour movie it doesn't feel like it drags the same way some of the other Transformers movies do. There is also less of the obnoxious humor that has characterized the series so far and the human characters are less obtrusive than they have been in the past. So, I was pleasantly surprised.
Probably the best thing about the movie is that for once it feels like there is a real overarching story or mythology that is happening outside the confines of the events of the movie. There are some interesting mysteries and loose ends beyond the plot holes. Actually, certain sequences of the movie feel like they are channeling Ridley Scott's Prometheus.
I particularly like the subplot about Megatron/Galvatron attempting to resurrect himself by manipulating a team of scientists into rebuilding his body-which is straight out of Transformers Animated. Speaking of Galvatron, fans will notice that he is voiced by Frank Welker, who voiced Megatron on the original cartoon series from the 1980's. He replaces Hugo Weaving who had previously voiced Megatron in the movies. Interestingly, Galvatron was originally voiced in the 1986 animated movie by Leonard Nimoy-who voiced Sentinel Prime in the last live action movie. In the post animated movie cartoon series, Galvatron was voiced by...Frank Welker! So, full circle. Or something.
Also from Transformers Animated is the interesting new villain Lockdown, a bounty hunter working for a mysterious group of aliens who claim to have built the Transformers. Quinessons, anyone? Lockdown is a pretty cool character but I can't help think that he would be better voiced by someone else than Mark Ryan who has already done Bumblebee and Jetfire's speaking voice in the live action movies. Lance Henrikson originally provided the voice for Lockdown and it would have been nice to have him do it in the movie too.
This movie also marks the live-action debut of the Dinobots, who are inexplicably incarcerated aboard Lockdown's ship. Despite the movie's Cretaceous prologue and the subsequent appearance of a metallicized dinosaur later in the movie, the origin of the Dinobots is frustratingly unexplained. Also, true to this series, they are ridiculously overdesigned. Nor are they ever addressed by name or do they even speak.
The group of Autobots is mostly new and have become total alpha male a-holes. They are constantly fighting amongst themselves like Decepticons and are generally unlikeable. Even Optimus Prime has a huge chip on his shoulder and goes back and forth between emo and enraged throughout much of the movie. One of the new Autobots-Drift-is hilariously over the top Japanese, which is surprising considering all of the China ass kissing found in this movie. Drift is literally wearing a Samurai helmet and speaks in haiku. He also refers to Optimus Prime as "Sensei."
I still think that this series needs a reboot. A good Transformers movie can be made. Just not by Michael Bay.
Patrick Garone
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