Cinephile (Action Films): Transformers
3/5 Stars
Plot: “A ancient struggle between two Cybertronian races, the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons, comes to Earth, with a clue to the ultimate power held by a teenager.” -IMDB
Review: It was the summer of 2007. After four years and a victory lap, I had just graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma with a degree in broadcast communications. With no plans to pursue anything to do with broadcasting, I spent the summer applying for jobs while waiting tables at a local pizza restaurant. I had no way of knowing what lurked around the corner for me and the world. At the time, I knew only one thing to be true. A life of school and studying was behind me, and I stood on the precipice of adulthood.
Around that pesky corner, there was a financial and housing crisis that would rock the foundation of the world’s economy, America’s continued involvement in two foreign wars, and the election of the country’s first African American president. Nothing would ever be the same again. But before arriving at those life-altering moments, on July 3, 2007, the world would finally see Michael Bay’s best imitation of Apocalypse Now in the form of Transformers.
Years earlier, what began with a series of Spider-Man movies morphed into a CGI revolution, and perhaps pandemic. Soon, theater screens would be filled with nothing but superheroes and childhood moments brought to life. Nostalgia was the new cocaine, and it was drawing people to cinemas in record numbers. Those silly fantasies of your childhood were given new life, framed in beautiful detail, and built upon stories beyond your wildest dreams. While comic books received most of this era’s attention, cartoons and toys that defined the millennial experience made their presence known.
Armed with an actor who got his big break on the Disney Channel and an actress who would soon become bedroom wall material for prepubescent and teenage boys across America, Michael Bay set out to make his mark in the nostalgia game. With superb sound design/editing, enough humor to make its ridiculous plot palatable, and all the slow motion and lens flares your little heart can handle, as well as some shiny vehicles from the fine folks at General Motors (who in 2009 would need a bailout to survive the financial crisis), Bay brought cartoons, die-cat metal toys, and the intricate world of time spent with my brothers to life.
Now, of course, given the moment in history in which this film was born (we were in a worldwide battle against “terrorism”), this film possesses more whiffs of nationalism than might be tolerated today. You also watch these films knowing nothing is permanent. Studios smell cash cows, and that always means sequels; more sequels than you can handle or ever ask for in the first place. But for a brief, but fleeting moment, all was right in the world. A ludicrous story about robots from outer space who transform into cars felt innocent and fun. As the George W. Bush years ended, we found ourselves craving fun. Little did we know, but something much worse than a Decepticon would soon ride a golden escalator to the bottom of a tower bearing his name to claim only he could make America great again. Oh, we had it so good, and we didn’t even know it.
Be good to each other,
Nathan
As a member of the factory, you are taking a stand for human powered creation.
