More Than Meets the Eye......

Transformers, more than meets the eye…Transformers, robots in disguise…..

If you’re old enough to read this, then you’re probably old enough to remember this tag line from the Transformers cartoons that were popular in the mid-eighties. If you didn’t catch them the first time around, then you at least might have caught them in reruns. The cartoons, of course, were based on a toy line licensed by Hasbro after being all the rage in Japan. Cartoons based on toys were nothing new in those days, and always seemed to ensure steady revenues for the toy companies.

But a big screen, live action movie? Many were skeptical about how well such a film would succeed, myself included with the rest of the Doubting Thomases. But surprise surprise, Transformers is a sci-fi action thriller hit that grabs you from the very first scene and keeps you on the edge of your seat for the entire two and a half hour trip. Part Independence Day, part Terminator, and part Ferris Buehler’s Day Off, director Michael Bay’s version of the Transformers story never takes itself too seriously, which is one of the reasons it works so well, and is sure to be the biggest blockbuster of the summer season.

Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf) is a teenage man with a plan: first he’ll get the car, and then he’ll get the girl. The car, as it turns out, gets him, however: a sporty if somewhat dilapidated classic Camaro that’s definitely more than meets the eye. In fact, the car seems almost possessed, and seems bent on helping him get the girl, Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox).

In short order, Sam finds out why his car is acting so strangely: it’s not a car at all, but an alien robot with the ability to transform itself into mechanical devices. And it’s not alone: an entire legion of its comrades have come to Earth on a mission to save the human race. Calling themselves the Autobots, they’re here to protect humanity from the evil Decepticons, transforming robots from the same world as the Autobots who want to enlist all of Earth’s machines in their crusade to dominate the universe.

And Sam is the key to it all. To achieve their nefarious ends, the Decepticons need the Allspark, a mystical cube that can grant sentience to machines. The location of the Spark is encoded in an ancient artifact in Sam’s possession, and he must help the Autobots locate the Spark before the Decepticons do. That won’t be easy, however, with the U.S. military and secret Sector 7 agency eager to destroy both Autobots and Decepticons alike-and all who stand allied with them.

From the highly explosive opening sequence, its clear Transformers will be an action flick of epic proportions. The conflict between Decepticons and the U.S. military is a jaw-dropping shocker in the best traditions of Independence Day and War of the Worlds. And it’s just a taste of what’s to come as the film progresses.

But all that wouldn’t be much without some human interest, and we get that with Sam and Mikaela. Bay rounds these characters out nicely, gets the viewer to sympathize with them, and makes them fully believable before he whisks them and the audience away into battle.

We’re never too caught up in the action, however, for whimsical flights of humor, and the action is constantly peppered with moments of comedy that remind us that we shouldn’t get too serious. Appearances by Bernie Mac and Anthony Anderson help with that, but LeBeouf is capable of delivering some truly funny deadpan lines himself, and even the robots get in on the act.

When the action gets moving, however, it’s fast and furious and will most certainly have you at the edge of your seat. The battle sequences are intense, and quick shots filmed from a variety of angles come at us almost as a blur at times, depositing the viewer smack dab in the center of the events.

The action is so fast, in fact, that we almost don’t fully grasp just how truly breathtaking the special effects here are. That’s because they’re simply so amazing that we just accept them as being real. But we get a reality check, of course, when the robots transform, and the eye-popping effects, perhaps the greatest ever to come to life, simply blow us away. They really need to be seen on the big-screen to be believed.

Fox and LeBeouf have real chemistry on screen, and deliver up a pair of fine performances here. They’re really the only ones allowed to shine, although Kevin Dunn offers some laudable moments as Sam’s father. Jon Voight portrays a dry Secretary of Defense Keller, and never really has a lot to do.

Most of all, the film is fun, a great escapist action adventure that will transform your everyday worries into laughs and thrills, at least for two and a half hours. A film the whole family can enjoy, Transformers is the best action flick of 2007 so far-and just like the Autobots and Decepticons, much more than meets the eye.