Roll out and see this
By Carrie Cronk, Staff Writer
Just in time for the July 4th holiday, “Transformers” was revitalized from the 80s and brought into movie theaters across the country.
Director Michael Bay (“Pearl Harbor” and “Armageddon”) stays true to the memories of many Generation-Xers who were fans of the toys and cartoon.
The movie reacquaints fans with the transforming alien robot races, the Autobots and the De-cepticons.
The Decepticons have traveled to Earth in search of the All Spark, a cube which possesses the creative energy from their planet Cybertron, and will stop at nothing to find it.
The Autobots have come to Earth to stop the Decep-ticons from finding the All Spark and using it to turn human technology against humans.
While on Earth, the robotic aliens have disguised themselves as new and concept model vehicles we commonly see today.
Minor changes Bay made include Bumblebee being a Camaro rather than a Volkswagen Beetle, and he uses the first names of Ron “Sparkplug” (father) and Sam “Spike” (son) Witwicky.
Other than the minor differences, the movie does remain authentic to the cartoon.
One of the character voiceovers helps to maintain that authenticity.
The voice of the Autobot leader Optimus Prime is Peter Cullen, the same actor who performed the voices of Ironhide and Optimus Prime, as well as many other characters in the cartoon series.
The sound effects for the robots when they transform also is very similar to the sounds used in the cartoon, if not more realistic.
The special effects team has designed exceptional graphics that are highly accurate to how the Transformers moved, fought, spoke and so on.
The movie is not all action and special effects, though. Throughout the film are many philosophical issues that arise for the characters.
Predominantly through the film is the issue of the cost of freedom. The message of life and freedom require sacrifice is abundant throughout the film, which makes the timing of the release more than appropriate.
The end of the movie leaves the audience with the sense of a pending sequel, which Bay has recently announced that a second “Transformers” is in talks, and is intended to be released in 2009.
Generation-Xers who grew up as hardcore “Transformers” fans will be pleased with this movie. It has been made with great care and attention to detail, and has maintained the qualities so many fans loved about cartoon series.
Rating: A+
