MOVIE REVIEW
' Transformers': Movie magic or two-hour car commercial?
by KEN BARTOLOTTA Reporter

For all the damage that advances in technology have done to the aesthetic of film there are still times when this newfound gadgetry is just plain cool.

Take "Transformers" for instance. The movie itself gave me that feeling of wonder and awe that I rarely have the opportunity to experience at my local cineplex.

And that's saying a lot given the abundance of visual junk that studios seem to toss at their audiences - a bounty that seems to increase with every passing summer.

"Transformers" is a good movie, in spite of the standard trappings that normally accompany a Michael Bay movie: Over-the-top explosions, unrealistically beautiful women and poor acting. On the negative side of it all, "Transformers" could be seen as a two-hour car commercial.

In the 1980s, "Transformers" took the world by storm, beginning with the toys and ending with the cartoon, which was seen by many as serving little more purpose than to hawk the aforementioned toy s.

However, regardless of bad acting and a poorly written script, it's hard to deny seeing these robots crudely turning from vehicles to fighting machines is computer generation at its finest and most indulgent, and that in the end is the essence of the movie.

It's one part nostalgia and one part movie magic, and overall it's just a really fun movie that provides the sort of escapist feeling that one plops down nine bucks to experience in the first place.

The plot revolves around an ongoing battle between the Autobots (the good guys) and the Decepticons (the bad guys).

Caught in he middle of this melee is planet earth and most notably two teenagers, one played aptly by Shia LaBeouf, and the other played rather vacantly by Megan Fox, a pretty face who brings little else to the picture except for a hundred reasons for LaBeouf to act like a bumbling moron.

LaBeouf, however, does wonders with a poor script and is paramount in providing the camp and cheese that marked the '80s cartoon. He's a big reason the movie comes off as loyal to the original.

The other reason, and perhaps my favorite aspect of the film is that the Transformers themselves are voiced by actors from the original cartoon. That sort of thing is exactly what sends '80s purists and fan-boys alike flocking to the movie theater.

It was hard not to approach this movie with an already instilled bias attitude given my affinity for the franchise, but when Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots and a childhood hero of mine, finally makes his debut, it's hard not to feel like a 10-y ear-old.

Which is what we should probably expect from a movie based on a cartoon that was based on a toy.

e-mail: kenb@beenews.com