The entire plot is best summed up by Sam (Shia LaBeouf) while explaining why he is being spirited away to a secret government base, "I bought a car and it turned out to be an alien robot." Sam is just a typical high school boy who wants what every high school boy wants, a hot car and a hot girlfriend. Sam eventually buys a beat-up yellow Camaro and plans on using the car to get the attention of Mikaela (Megan Fox). The car has other plans, however, eventually drawing both Sam and Mikaela into a centuries old war between the Autobots and Decepticons.
As many times as I've seen Transformers, I'm still not 100% sure how I feel about it. I liked it enough to leave the theater excited and even after the fourth or fifth time seeing it (there's at least three different ways to watch the Blu-ray version, but more on that later), I still have a few issues. The initial build-up is great, but it takes a little too long to get some robot-on-robot action going. There's a nice introduction to a fight between Bumblebee and Barricade early on, though most of it happens in vehicle mode with a short closing shot of a victorious Bumblebee walking away from a damaged Barricade. I also question the need for a side-story involving a group of hackers. They aren't useful after the first half of the movie and their function could have been replaced with the other government-centered plotline. There are also a few too many unnecessarily goofy things, like Optimus having to explain how they learned English - couldn't that have just been left unsaid?
If anything, Transformers definitely sets a new bar for visual effects. This is easily some of ILM's best work to date and the HD transfer only makes it better. I literally paused the movie several times just to appreciate some of the smaller details on each of the robots - so if you're considering an upgrade, it is worth it. It also helps that a number of extras and lots commentary mention the effects, so it is hard to not notice them. As I already mentioned, there are a number of ways to watch the movie. There's the standard theatrical release and another that is accompanied by commentary from Michael Bay. I don't rank Michael Bay among my favorite directors, but I really enjoyed his commentary track. It's hard to not hear his excitement for the movie and he has a great sense of timing as far as when to say something and when to just shut up and let the movie speak for itself.
The other two viewing modes are a little more interesting. The first is called H.U.D., which is sort of a "Pop-Up Video" style presentation. As the movie runs, descriptions of the vehicles and other bits of trivia pop up. Sometimes these are presented as text windows, while other times video is included, mainly for animatics, interviews and some behind-the-scenes voicework. The last mode, Transformers Intelligence Mode, is exclusive to the Blu-ray version. Intelligence Mode uses the BD-Live feature to connect to the internet and download special overlays that show dynamic robot facts, health status and even the locations of Transformers on a GPS which are displayed while watching the movie. Obviously the alternate viewing modes aren't great for your first view, though they're a neat way to entice another view.
Other features include short vignettes focusing on the humans and robots, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at how vehicles were chosen and tricked out for the movie. "Inside the Allspark" centers on ILM's work and is accompanied by "Transformers Tech Inspector," which offers an up-close look at the robots. Finally, there are two behind-the-scenes features. "The Story Sparks" is a series of interviews about how the movie came about, including comments from Executive Producer, Steven Spielberg. There's also "From Script to Sand: The Skorponok Desert Attack," an in-depth look at how an action sequence goes from words on a page to a scene in a movie.
Transformers is not one of the best movies ever made, nor is it really one of Michael Bay's best works. Still, it is such a fun, action-packed movie that it really doesn't have to be a cinematic masterwork - it merely has to deliver the experience fans expect, big explosions, big action and bigger robots. There are undoubtedly hardliners who are still holding on to some bitter dissatisfaction with the live action's interpretation of the series, though most have managed to move on. Sure, it isn't like the cartoon; names and robots are changed... just get over it and enjoy the ride.
