July 4, 2007
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While Transformers is a good movie, and worth a full price admission, it, in my opinion, is far from great. There are many spots of intelligent humor, typical of Michael Bay movies, and great special effects, thanks to the Industrial Light and Magic team. How can one go wrong when they have the special effects team that revolutionized special effects and Dreamworks SKG behind them? The robots are believable. In fact it is in their vehicular forms that the Transformers sometimes looked like computer-generated imagery (CGI).
My biggest problem with the movie, and with the entertainment industry in general, is the stereotypes used in the movie, both obvious and obscure. Taking so many ethnic studies classes and popular culture classes has really really taught me how to identify the pervasive stereotypes reflected in film, and the ongoing results of those stereotypes. I will refrain from pointing out each scene that I feel leans on stereotypes to get a message across so that I do not ruin it for would-be viewers.
Also, there is hardly any character development, leaning on the CGI and the collective memory of Transformers fans to keep the viewer intrigued. They were successful on me. Optimus Prime definitely comes back with a flair and has the most development among the Transformers as their leader. The almost identical voice from the cartoon was goosebump inspiring. I say almost identical because, while Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prie in the cartoon, was hired to do the voice of Optimus Prime, the voice was synthesized to sound more artificial. The other Autobots barely spoke and the Decepticons, except for Megatron and one line from Starscream, did not even speak a human language, their dialogue being translated to the audience through subtitles. That is a director’s liberty that I have ixed feelings about.
Overall, it was good, but far from great. I would not allow my opinion to stop people from watching it though. A lot of people are raving about it. To each their own. I probably would have thought the same way before I learned what I know now and how the entertainment industry affects the status of the underrepresented and the underserved in America.
This has been brought to you via the many who have spoken out and worked to protect free speech in the United States of America (USA).
Speaking of which, happy independence day to the Republic of the Philippines and the USA.
Comments (2)
yah, i noticed the bad racial jokes as well.
Kuya Boby. Interesting review on the movie. Don’t you just wish that EVERYONE can take those ASA classes and be more conscious of these things? Every time I point something like this out to a person, I always get accused of being too uptight. Good post Boby.
-ari