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Transformers was THE movie everyone was talking about in 2007. There was certainly a lot of hype around, but was the film any good?

ACTORS

The film chose an relatively unknowny actor called Shia LaBeouf to head up the cast. He ws chosen because of his boy-next-door looks, and cheeky personality, which perfectly fits the script. He appeals to the girls because he has charisma, and yet the boys can also identify with him because he's not drop-dead gorgeous. In all the interviews he gave (and there were hundreds!) he came across as a thoroughly likeable chap.

He manages to fly through the film with his humour intact, giving us the impression that although it's completely weird to have a car looking after you, and robots chasing you, it's still something he can cope with. In fact, it's really rather cool!

The female lead is Megan Fox, who manages to avoid the trap of being the unwanted femal who gets in the way. She joins in the action, and gives Shia's character (Sam) as good as she gets when they start the verbal sparring.

Superstar John Voight also makes an appearing, raising the kudos of the movie higher.

STORY

The story is inspired by the original comic books and the 1980s toy series. The main Transformer characters are Optimus Prime (the Autobot goodie) and Megatron (the Decepticon baddie) who are continuing a centuries-old battle. Anyone who has ever played with a Transformers toy wll recognise the screenplay from their own imaginations, as huge robots, the size of sky-scraper, battle above shrieking humans. Masterful!

SPECIAL EFFECTS

The special effects are, of course, what everyone is talking about, and yes, they're fantastic. A combination of computer generated material and normal FX, the scenes have all been edited seamlessly together. One of the main acheivements of the film is that you can suspend your disbeleif, and really lose yourself in the action. Because of the way the movie has been writen and directed (by Michael Bay), and the way the characters react to situations, the whole story becomes believable.

The movie won several awards for the special effects. The Visual Effects Society awarded it awards for the best visual effects in an "effects driven" film and the "best single visual effects sequence" (the Optimus-Bonecrusher battle), and it was nominated for three Academy Awards.

Looking at the statistics, Transformers is is the thirtieth most successful film ever released, and was the highest grossing non-sequel movie in 2007. The film is rated 13, for the sci-fi violence, and the brief sexual allusions. I think this is rather over-the-top, and feel a PG would have been better. It's a good clean fun, family movie.

I loved the action, and loved the humour between the two main charactesr. I loved the relationship that built between Sam and his car, and I can't wait for the ext Transformers film to be released in 2009!

Learn more about this author, Susan Hibberd.
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