Transformers: Seriously? (Transformers, 2007. Directed by Michael Bay)

Right, i'm going to lay my cards on the table and admit that I was really impressed with the first Transformers film, and love it to this day. Coming from a 22 year old who has seen many 'serious' 'avant-garde' and 'high-brow' films probably makes this comment all the more surprising, as Michael Bay's intentions of appealing to the critic are far outweighed by his desire to appeal to the box office, and to the film's shareholders. Nonetheless, it appears to me that Bay (perhaps unwittingly), has hit on something pretty special in this film.

Lets begin with a hard, simple fact. The film's budget was $150 Million, it grossed worldwide at a staggering $800 Million. The profit margins dont lie, and indeed, few will deny that the first Transformers film is successful in that it proved commercially lucrative. But these figures, however impressive they may appear, only tell half the story. It could easily be contended that the long-running Transformers brand did most of the legwork for that colossal gross revenue figure, but the subsequent release of Revenge of the Fallen and plans to create another (...and another...and another, as is now custom in Hollywood) film would suggest that Bay is doing something right in these films, that he is keeping both the hyper-critical Transformer lover and average, slightly disinterested cinema goer alike happy. Pretty impressive, when you think about it.

But now I am coming towards the real crux of the matter. Yes, the film was a commercial success, yes public interest in the film was as big as its revenue, but does the film work beyond its Transformers label, its jaw-dropping CGI, its deafening explosions, and break-neck-speed plot twists? Well, no, according to the critics.

The first Transformers film received generally positive reviews, but none really do much credit to the film and most are of the slightly underwhelmed 'damned by faint praise' sort. It quickly becomes apparent that most critics are writing positive things about this film merely to satisfy the editors board sat upstairs as no-one wants to totally slate a film so blatantly central to the wellbeing of the entertainment industry economy, although i'm sure many were tempted. Quite simply, the sheer ecenomic might of the Transformers legacy had critics by the balls, and they dont like that, or the film for that matter.

One such review came from Empire Magazine. The film was rated 4 stars, which is 'Excellent' according to their rating system. The content of the actual review could not have contradicted the 4 star excellent rating more. Ian Nathan, the reviewer, delivers his damning and laughable (pardon the pun) verdict: 'treat as a comedy for best results'. It seems that Nathan felt more inclined to laugh at the film itself, rather than its comic content. Whilst I would agree that the film has comic elements, and it does have a general lightness of touch, to 'treat this film as a comedy' is perhaps one of the worst pieces of movie going advice I have ever recieved. Let me get one thing straight, this film is NOT trying to be a comedy. It is trying to be funny, yes, but its prime dramatic drive is that of action thriller of the Die Hard or Batman kind. I mean, what's funny about the opening scene, in which an entire airbase is wiped out with brisk authority by some testosterone charged apache helicopter hyperbot? What is funny about the Guantanamo bay-esque torturing of Bumblebee? What is funny about the overarching concept of mass destruction in a real world in which there are enough nuclear bombs to destroy planet earth ten times over? 'Not a great deal!' I hear you cry.

And this is where I make my main point. Yes this film is perhaps aimed at the younger audience, but it is not just a laughable example of Michael Bay melodrama. As much as this film excercises the imagination of children, it also challenges the older, wiser audience to in a sense surrender themselves to the fantasy that this film is offering, and to engage with a parallel world from which we can learn so much. As the archangel Gabriel aka Optimus Prime asks his autobot comrades 'were we so different?'. And indeed, throughout the film, there is a dark voice (Bay's voice?) which asks us to see this fantastic, out of proportion 'death means nothing' world as one which may well become our own. As I said before, it may not have been intentional, and it is a simple enough trick to put out there, but given the magnitude of the whole film, and the pitch that it sets for the audience, the mood of this film, as it progresses, can become extremely infecitous and consuming, predominantly thanks to the Superman meets Iron Giant figure of Optimus Prime, whose dignified philosopher cum last action hero proves fiercely attractive. One cant help but beam from ear to ear watching Prime (and all the other autobots) transform for the very first time.

Perhaps in this review I have grown rather romantic, but that is testament to the power of this film to really hit hard at your critical pressure points. Like Neo in The Matrix , as cliche as this sounds, the best results watching this film only come when you 'open your mind' to the fantasy in which this film is enshrined. Like Nathan, you may well feel tempted to laugh, and if you do, you wont be the first or the last. But before you watch this film again, think of yourself in a room with Morpheus, in one hand the blue pill, the other is the red. Please, take the red one, you may well be pleasantly surprised.