Film Preview: Transformers (2007)

Trailers (Due to age, may no longer be available)

Posters (Due to age, may no longer be available)

Poster Rating: B; B-; B-; B

Review: What child of the last 30 years isn’t familiar with The Transformers. The name sells the film, but those not familiar may be intrigued by the poster.

I’ll discuss both posters in the same paragraph because they are just good and evil version of the same thing. Neither is notably spectacular, but we finally get a glimpse of the legendary ’80s robots up close.

The new poster does not surpass the intrigue of the original. However, it is slightly better than the two profile posters. The latter one is the first to feature the humans, which were so prominent in the film (almost more prominent than the Transformers themselves). The colors work well for their purpose and the tagline "Their War. Our World" becomes even more fitting.

Trailer Rating: B; B; C+

Review: It’s a clever way to introduce what could very well be a serious film. Though, the “A Michael Bay Film” should strike horror into the hearts of anyone who’s seen his film, but at least this doesn’t so far look like it will be another one of those terrible TV-to-screen adaptations. Then again, it is a Michael Bay film…

The new trailer gives a great deal more information about what the film is going to be doing, plus we get a few more glimpses at the transformers themselves. However, it seems like this flick is going to overdramatize something that was a children’s cartoon to begin with. Thankfully many of the fans of the transformers are grown up now, which could explain its more adult-oriented vision.

If the second trailer didn’t give you qualms, the third should really make you concerned. While it does show a few segments of the transformations, the added shots only serve to make this look like another Michael Bay film instead of an actual homage to the original television program. Is it just me or does it seem mighty egotistical to suggest that these magnificent technological creations, designed to fight one another, wouldn’t be able to succeed without human assistance? I’m thinking the film may be too patriotic for its own good.

Oscar Prospects:

Maybe some tech nominations, such as Visual Effects, but this movie is designed too much for fans of the cartoon and will likely not be well represented by critics plaudits.

Release Date:

July 3, 2007

Synopsis:

Outside of the typical action film conventions that drive me insane, Transformers was a surprisingly tight and efficient visual effects extravaganza. Whereas so many ’80s updates fail to ignite the feeling of nastalgia we expect, this film did nicely in bringing back old and fond memories.