Transformers

The dual purpose of the Transformers movie is pretty obvious. Firstly, fans of the original series will now be old enough to appreciate the movie from a nostalgia-influenced perspective, and also it'll be a perfect tool to reinvigorate the toys themselves. After all, a fully transforming Optimus Prime could be sold for quite the pretty penny. The plot is fairly simple. Transformers come to Earth following in search of life-giving cube with Decepticons in pursuit. Due to a rather tenuous link to the cube, a teenage boy (Shia Leboeuf) is recuited to help the Transformers. Cube is discovered, to be followed by much metallic clashing in urban environment.

With Michael Bay at the helm, director of some of the biggest, loudest action-fests in the last 15 years, everything is unsurprisingly big and brash. Thankfully, the Transformers themselves look impressive thanks to some great CGI, but the film really is an epic trudge. Clocking in at about 2 hours 20, there's nowhere near enough plot or characterisation to sustain the film for the whole runtime. Even the action scenes are overextended to the point of exhaustion. Shia Lebouf reprises his usual role as the annoying loser teenager, but is slightly less irritating than usual, at least providing some chucklesome moments that do help to mitigate the more bottom ache-inducing segments of the film.

Released 27th July 2007 by DreamWorks SKG.

Written by Andrew Williams.