Rolled Out

Well, my verdict's in. Transformers Movie...This silver screen rendition of our childhood robotic heroes carries at least 7 out of 10. CGI was superb. Action choreography was definitely well thought off. Plus, I think Shia Lebouf and Megan Fox did a good job playing Sam Witwicky and Mikhaela Banes; a nervous-wreck teenage adolescent male and an automobile- savvy, fatherless brunette beauty who stumbled right between the battle between the insidious Decepticons, in search of the all -powerful 'Allspark', a mysterious object which power is only surpassed by its mysterious origin and the Autobots, the good guys who have come to opposed the plot to exterminate all life on earth...

Peter Cullen, the original cartoon series talent was brought back for Optimus Prime's unmistakable voice.

Jon Voight was a nice touch to the movie, playing Secretary of Defence, John Keller who, for some reason, seem to have more executive power than the President himself in time of crisis. Bernie Mac, as usual, was a good comic relief, although, I thought he should have been given airtime in the movie. He's antiques never fail to spurn a good laugh.
And no disaster movie is ever complete without the special forces, here, Tyrese Gibson as USAF Tech Sargeant Epps and Josh Duhamel (Las Vegas' Danny McCoy) as Captain Lennox. Despite the portrayal of the grit of the US armed forces, these characters and their sidekicks seem to know only how to shoot blanks rather than doing any serious damage, with the exception of Captain Lennox doing a slide under Brawl with his grenade launcher. Supporting roles may look good, not very effective sometimes...

I don't think it was very difficult for Michael Bay to pick Megan Fox over the 1500 candidates waiting in line. I mean, she's Megan Fox! I hope to see her reprisal in the next instalment of this movie franchise.

Pity Rachel Taylor who played Maggie Madsen, the young computer hacker recruited by the Pentagon to decipher the Transformers' communication signals could not have played a more crucial role in the movie. For that matter, Anthony Anderson (Hackers), who played Glenn Whitman, Maggie's 'consultant' too did not have a more prominent role in the movie. He's hillarious.

My opinion? Entertainment value good but disjointed character development. Cool CGI, but loose ends not tied. I guess too many characters involved may not be ideal, unless Bay is planning for a sequel or sequels...if so, Megatron should return from the dead.. still I LOVE IT!!!! The Transformers will always be part of my growing up years...

The other things missing were Stan Bush's "You've Got the Touch", which I thought would have made a good song for this movie, better dialogue, more Megan Fox's mid-drift and Soundwave (fellow fans know what I'm talking about) *grin*