This is a movie that will make you glad you are a man. This is the quintessential action movie of summer, and Michael Bay, against terrific odds, delivers a fantastic and bombastic blockbuster with hundreds of explosions, thousands of missiles and about 14 million rounds of ammunition. This is his best work yet.
After the lackluster Spider-Man 3 and Pirates 3 I was beginning to doubt there was going to be a great live-action film that really delivered this summer. The film we saw in the Arclight's THX-certified digital projection theater at a screening tonight - well, it literally rattled our seats and rocked the screen. And it's a whole lot funnier than you would expect, too.
Yes, there's a couple of funny groaner moments and it gets cliche and borderline cheesy in a scene or two. But don't let minor quabbles distract (even if the ending doesn't make total sense), this is a very enjoyable adventure.
The crowd was applauding when characters were introduced, laughing out loud at all the right parts and gasping when the fierce battles ensued. Industrial Light and Magic, the powerhouse of cutting edge visual effects, will wow you once again. Shia LaBeouf is great, the others are all somewhere around fine - but honestly who really cares about the humans - the robots steal the show.
This movie explodes on screen, and while it runs just a bit too long in the middle, everything is worth seeing - and maybe even seeing again. I left the theater smiling tonight - I'm still smiling as I type this. My buddy Taffy, a lifelong Transformers fan, won't be able to wipe that same expression off his face for a week. A
JG
PS: Stay for the beginning of the credits. There's 3 extra scenes ... 2 interview style and 1 other cool tidbit I won't spoil here ...