Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Transformers are AWESOME

Last night CJ and I went to see Transformers with the upstairs neighbor. While I enjoyed the TV show as a child, I was a little concerned about this remake. There were some pretty awful reviews, but a friend of mine had seen it and described it as "two hours of robots fighting eachother." That description was absolutely apt.

If you cannot watch robots fighting/transforming/car chases/explosions for an extended period of time then Transformers is not for you. If it is, you should definitely go. Definitely. It was a great mix of action, fairly good comedy, and more action. And Josh Duhamel, who is beautiful.

Before the movie started there were a number of ads for The Army National Guard, about which we were pretty confused. Transformers does a great job of portraying the American military as made up of able, committed, and intelligent men and women who, even when working under difficult conditions, can achieve amazing things. It also showed how even when individual soldiers do their best how faulty logistics or communication problems can screw up even the best run of missions.

Also, Josh Duhamel is great publicity for any group. Just look what his presence on the show Las Vegas did for Vegas hotels. Or something.

11 comments:

Ritmo Re-Animated said...

Thanks for the wrap - now I can't wait to see it myself, seeing as how it's also got a thumbs-up from one of my two favorite bloggers at Jewbiquitous. But one of Rotten Tomatoes reviewers said the cross-over "hunk" factor appeal was due to protagonist LaBeouf, not the Army dude - even if the former isn't much of one in the strictest sense of the word. Oh well, when in doubt, go with Annie's (gut) instincts.

As for the Army ads, I think Wired Magazine quoted producer Michael Bay as saying that input from U.S. military sources was so extensive (as it apparently is in many other high-octane features) that they basically have to get the Pentagon to sign off on how they are presented in the flick. That probably factored into their subsequent interest in sponsoring it so heavily. Bay's penchant for featuring military themes in his films has apparently put him in tight with the top brass, or at least with their P.R. machine.

Annie said...

Montana- It was super-fun. Although Shia looks like he's about 16 (which is the point) so I can't consider him a hunk without feeling a little dirty. Duhamel, however, is gorgeous. And wearing a uniform for most of the movie.

Interesting point about the military. We were talking about it as we left the theater, wondering how the filmmakers were allowed to portray F-22s. Not that I minded. The more tanks/planes the better.

QP said...

Well, if you liked it, I'll like it. I'm not looking for it to be too close to the cartoon; much of the cartoon was very dumb.

I'm thinking specifically of:

1) The "hate disease" episode, where bacteria evidently work on robots as well as animals and people;

2) every episode where part of the corpse of Optimus Prime (he died in the cartoon movie and stayed dead in the TV show) was used by the Decepticons for something, like the alligator robot made out of Optimus Prime's torso or the arm welded to the top of a building.

Annie said...

Pedant- it was actually pretty faithful to the cartoon (in terms of characters). We used to have the transformer of the stereo/tape that turned into a Decepticon. Can you remember its name? It's in the movie, and I couldn't remember.

QP said...

Soundwave.

Another stupid episode - the three aliens who, when they sang together, could destroy stuff, so Soundwave records each and dubs all their singing over each other.

Jack Steiner said...

Isn't Josh Duhamel gay.

Annie said...

No, married. Although even if he was gay, I can still think he's beautiful.

rokhl said...

Is that Fergie's boyfriend wearing a transformer themed/camoflage keffiyah? Now I've seen everything.

Annie said...

Yes, yes it is.

Lion of Zion said...

enough about the hunk of the movie. any babes in it?

Anonymous said...

Megan Fox is one of the females, the dark haired, blue eyed beauty. There is also the blonde Australian girl which I can't remember the name of but she was beautiful too.