This month’s GameInformer magazine has a great article on the game. Follow the link to check it out.

And of course, here’s the Teaser Trailer.  Dinobots, roll out!

The way I explained it to my son was that this was the style for music videos in the 80′s and early ’90′s.  The director could string together a few random scenes that didn’t have to make much sense as the video was really about the song.  As music usually tells some sort of story (even if the message is extremely simplistic as it tended to be in the ’80′s), it did most of the work.  Take the song “Running down a Dream” for example.  The director could show shots of Tom Petty running down an alley, having a nightmare, rehearsing with the band, Tom in concert live on stage, a car chase, running in a field, a beautiful woman partially obscured in haze, and end it with Tom playing guitar in bed.  The viewer would tie the song to the images to figure out what’s going on.  This may be sufficient for a 5 minute music video (sometimes, there were occasions where even the viewer said “what the hell is going on here?”), but really doesn’t work for a 2 hour movie.  Bay obviously had a great idea for a plot, but had no idea how to tie it all together.  So all we’re left with are random shots to try to piecemeal together on our own.

Bay’s directorial weak points seem to be characterization, continuity, and humor.  I don’t think Bay has any idea how to develop characters other than through the path of the story, which limits any viewer attachment solely to the main character.  Tertiary characters were almost non-existent in this movie because they were just used as background.   There was very little fleshing-out of the characters, especially with most of the Transformers themselves.   You walk away from the movie knowing Sam, his girlfriend, and few others.  Some of the characters with the most potential, the new Autobots, Soundwave, and the new badass on the block Shockwave, received minimal screen time and were wasted on the story.

Bay’s attention to continuity was non-existent in Transformers:  Revenge of the Fallen, and he continued the tradition in this film.  Characters disappeared for awhile (sometimes in mid-scene) then popped up an hour later as if they’d never left.  Scenes chopped from one to the next with no flow (getting back to the music video background I’d discussed earlier).  My son noticed that Bumblebee went from rescuing Sam to being captured with the other Autobots seconds later.  Bay tried to conceal this inadequacy with blinding flash of CGI, action, explosions, loud music, and metal flying in every direction.  To some degree it worked because it’s impossible to follow anything when being assaulted with that much sensory noise.  But the weak story couldn’t be hidden for long and I left the theater feeling cheated.

As in the second movie, I was unimpressed with Bay’s attempt at humor.  He tried a combination of potty humor an 8 year old boy would find hilarious, but mixed in the borderline gross sexual innuendo of a blue stand-up comedian, making the content unacceptable for the younger demographic who have more desire to see this movie and inclination to buy the tie-in merchandise.  Add to that the fact that every human antagonist for Sam came off as a lewd, creepy, perverted douchebag.  It’s like he took one antagonist character, ripped pages out of that script, and handed it to 5 actors, creating 4 new characters for the film just to add a few more big names to the credit roll.  Then there was Sam’s Girlfriend, newcomer Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (who for the record I didn’t think was all that hot) who seemed to be a bigger concern to Bay than say, telling a good story.  Nick’s first comment when leaving was “the movie was more about how hot she was than what was happening to the Transformers”.  That’s my boy.  I was proud of him when he caught that.  One shot of the girlfriend leaning over the hood of the car was enough.  We get it Mike, she’s hot.  Every scene she was in?  Overkill.  Add to that the fact that she’s a sub-par actress and not as hot as she thinks she is?  I say get rid of the girlfriend altogether and bring in a girl that can keep up with the boys.  How about wearing sneakers instead of heels when you’re running through a burning Chicago?

I’d heard that the first half of this movie was as bad as the second film, but the second half made up for that.  After seeing the movie, I disagree with that statement.  I thought the movie in its entirety was bad.  My friend Dave saw the film opening weekend and was rather vocal about his opinion, which I’ve got to agree with whole-heartedly.  Check out his review as well as it’s a riot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB6IhkoVUr0&feature=channel_video_title

The good news is Bay’s control over the franchise is at an end.  The bad news is the movie made so much money that Hollywood thinks the guy craps gold.  I’m guessing he’ll turn up in another year or so to destroy another childhood memory.

I know I shouldn’t get my hopes up, but this looks like it might make up for that last movie. You know, the one that transformed from a summer blockbuster into a multi-million dollar steaming turd right in front of our eyes.

You’ve got Autobots, Decepticons, planetary conquest, Laserbeak (jury’s still out on whether or not that’s a good thing), Shockwave (most definitely a good thing), and most importantly what appears to be a PLOT! What more can you ask for? How about not having to see Michael Bay soil himself onscreen after paying $25 for tickets for Boy and myself? Not too much to ask, right?

Personally, I think Pepsi MAX is by far the worst tasting soft drink to ever be poured out of a can, and yes I’ve tried Moxie.  It’s even worse that that crap.  Their commercial campaign is kind of funny though.

Thanks to Mashable.Com and YouTube for posting these up for all of us.

….but this is Shockwave, and he looks way better than the new Megatron figure.  I like the cape for Megs, but the robot form just isn’t right.

http://tformers.com/ig.php?mode=view&album=14612&pic=transformers-power-core-combiner-dinobots+%289%29.jpg&dispsize=600&start=0

and for those of you who have no clue what a Predacon is, here’s a shot of Predaking.  They were 5 animal-type transformers that combined to form a ginormous super robot.  And yes, the lion formed the head.

Click on the image below to see the new Teaser Trailer for the show.  Not much to it but Bumblebee looks pretty cool.

Here’s the current cast list as it appears on Hasbro’s website.

AUTOBOTS

Optimus Prime – Peter Cullen
Arcee – Sumalee Montano
Bulkhead – Kevin Michael Richardson
Ratchet – Jeffrey Combs
Bumblebee – Rumored as Josh Keaton
Cliffjumper – Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

DECEPTICONS
Megatron – Frank Welker
Breakdown – Adam Baldwin
Knockout – Daran Norris
Starscream – Steve Blum

HUMANS
Jack – Josh Keaton
Miko – Tania Gunadi
Raf – Andy Pessoa
June – Markie Post
Agent Flower – Ernie Hudson 

Click on the Image to See the Teaser Trailer for TRANSFORMERS: PRIME

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyvCMgWooh4

The show will air with Hasbro’s lineup of new “retro” shows like GI Joe, Strawberry Shortcake, a live-action Clue (based on the board game) and others.  Here’s a link to their homepage.  I’ve got a feeling my Dish network package won’t be carrying this channel as I don’t currently get Discovery Kids (which Hub will be “replacing”, taking over, whatever). 

http://hubworld.com/

Alan, I hate to disappoint you, but I agree with you 100%.  You said exactly what I was thinking sitting through this movie.  Great CGI, cool effects, poor planning and story. 

 I was particularly blown away by your comment about their being too much in this movie.  I said the same thing to my wife when I got home.  The first thing I said to Jenn was actually “He [Bay] should have split this up into 2 movies.  There was too much going on, so much that he could never focus on any one specific thing long enough for you to get any form of attachment to anything”. 

One of the few things I liked was that Starscream and Megatron had their classic personalities and dynamic going on.  And Soundwave, who couldn’t love that guy.  I just wish we got a bit more of him. 

Things I hated:
Sideswipe:  All flash without an ounce of personality.   Uttering “I’m the shit yo” (or whatever the hell he said) after slicing Sideways in half within the first 2 minutes of the film doesn’t constitute character development. 
The Twins:  They had personality, but it was unbearable.  They were ignorant, annoying, offensive, and completely superfluous.  They didn’t add to the story in the least.  I found myself hoping that Devastator was going to eat both of them.
The Language:  You’re marketing a movie that’s based on toys FOR KIDS and a cartoon that’s shown TO KIDS about giant robots who interact with ….wait for it….KIDS, and you insert so much vulgarity and sexual overtones that no one in their right mind would bring their kid to see this movie.  The Derosby boys aren’t prudes.  We’re actually pretty vulgar and sarcastic most of the time, but I don’t swear in front of my kids.  And if I had to watch one more thing dry-humping another, I was going to walk out.  Could have done without seeing Devastator’s wrecking ballsack too.  Not necessary and only funny in an uncomfortable “what the f%^k…” kind of way.

The Plot:  Could we have an actual writer work on the next script please?  I know you spent a lot of money on CGI and marquee actors, but hiring a class of 5th graders to write the script for your summer blockbuster is the wrong way to try to come in under budget.  The studio will understand if you’re a few dollars over when the movie is raking in billions.  Please?  It never ceases to amaze me the poor quality of writing the major studios are willing to entertain in their summer blockbusters no less.   These writers don’t even seem to understand the basics of writing:  plot, character development, climax, resolution, some sense of continuity and structure.  Sometimes I think we Derosby brothers pursued the wrong career paths.

Megan Fox/Arcee:  You’ve created a “tough girl” character who could kick Sam’s ass 7 ways to Sunday.  Why is she being pulled along through this movie by the hand like a damsel in distress?  Same goes for Arcee and the Blachearts, the all-girl Autobot motorcycle rock band.  Perfect opportunity to show some female heroics.  In a movie flaunting two ignorant, offensive gangsta-stereotypes, the ladies could have had it worse I guess.

Continuity:  Maybe I’m mistaken, but I couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that the construction vehicles that made up Devastator combined in one scene, then transformed into robots and followed Megatron on his siege of the dig site/village surrounding the Giza pyramids.  I hate to sound like a broken record, but one movie to tell the story of Megatron coming back, introducing Devastator, and the fall of Prime at the end would have been great.  The next movie could have continued with Devastator’s story and the quest for the matrix to wake up Optimus.

All in all, I walked away torn.  I love the Transformers (like you can’t tell from my previous posts on the subject) and was dazzled by some parts of this movie.  There was just too much bad outweighing the good.  Sorry folks.  It’s just my opinion, however.  I encourage you all to go out and see the movie and form your own opinions.  Thanks for letting me rant.

-CWD

I think that this is an entertaining action film, with many explosions and quick camera cuts along with tremendous CGI. I really liked that Bay worked more on developing the personalities of some of the characters (Starscream, Megatron, and even Jet-fire to some degree). I liked that in a way there were more Transformers than can be explained…the thing to remember is that this is an entire civilization and to expect to be familiar with every single being is just not realistic. If this contained all humans would we expect a full background on each of them? Probably not so I am completely fine with not knowing all the intimate details of all the Transformers, and for the record many of them get their due diligence in prequel books and comics.
I also really liked what Bay did with Ravage, his beast form was well done and I was glad he never took another form. I also liked that Soundwave stayed in orbit, he’s a communication device not a warrior and as such he served a great purpose and got more face time than many people stated in their postings.

For the negative, let me just say that I am in no way a prude but the language and crude humor was a tad excessive. Bay did try to fit too much into a 2.5 hour movie and this is a common mistake made with sequels…this would be a time when bigger is not always better. I think some personalities got too much time (The Twins) although Bay did recognize that there’s a population that he is bringing into the Transformers fan club and he needs to connect to them…which he did apparently since my 13 year old nephew really liked them so mission accomplished. I just thought with those two, less would have been more (but they’re still not in Jar-Jar’s territory of annoyance’s). The story line and plot was thin and had some good origin pieces but was left to be told in bits throughout the movie. There were some aspects of the story that I thought could have used some more work, like the origin of the primes and what-not.

Anyway…these are just a few thoughts of my take. I’ve only seen it once so that makes a full review difficult. I hope my brothers post their thoughts too.

All in all an great theatre movie but not much more.