Transformers...an over-the-top experience

Direction: Michael Bay

Now I've been a fan of the Transformers ever since I was a kid. In fact I used to own a whole bunch of those Transformers toys, which one could twist and turn and fold and change shapes to become different things.

So you can imagine I was pretty excited when I read that they were making a Transformers film, and then when I saw that fantastic trailor a few months ago, I started counting the days until the film's release.

Now the film, Transformers which opens at cinemas across India this weekend, was always going to be a treat for fan boys like myself because it's like going back to your childhood and seeing your favourite toys come to life on this giant cinema screen, it's really quite surreal, the feeling.

But then when you consider that the film's been directed by Michael Bay, Hollywood's favourite blockbuster-movie director, you can be sure it's going to be an over-the-top experience, because that's Michael Bay's trademark style.

Think about it, what do you remember about films like The Rock or Pearl Harbour or Armageddon or The Island. I'll tell you what you remember, you remember the explosions, you remember cars being tossed around in the air like doughnuts, you remember buildings being blown up -- that's what you remember.

So you can see why I went in to see Transformers with a little trepidation. I didn't want my favourite childhood memory to be ruined by Michael Bay's over-enthusiasm.

Right off the bat, let me explain to the uninitiated that these Transformers are giant robots that disguise themselves as cars and trucks and jet-planes and just about anything that they like including a music-CD player.

In this film, there are two kinds of Transformers, the good ones and the bad ones. The good ones are the heroic Autobots and the evil ones are the Decepticons.

Both have been hiding out on Earth after they fled their own planet Cybertron. One of the protagonists of this film is this nerdy school-kid played by Shia LaBoeuf, whose father gets him a second-hand yellow Camaro for his first car.

Now this car turns out to be one of these cool Transformers who's been sent to protect this kid from the wicked robots who've begun wreaking havoc around the world.

Incidentally both sides, the Autobots and the Decepticons are searching for the Allspark, which grants total power to anyone who possesses it. Now as luck would have it, the Allspark was found many, many years ago by this very teenager's great-grandfather in an Arctic expedition. So you see, this kid's ancestor plays a very significant role in this good versus evil battle that's going on between these hulking robots.

The special effects in Transformers are some of the best special effects you have seen in years. Nothing's looked this slick before. That scene in which one of the evil robots attacks a US military base in Qatar is truly spectacular because nobody can understand what's going on.

Even those battle scenes between the Autobots and the Decepticons are quite stunning - metal clashing against metal with humans running helter skelter, unable to escape from the scene.

So naturally the effects, the CGI is the best thing about the film. But having said that let me also add that my initial fears weren't unjustified - the film is just way too long at two hours and twenty minutes, and although the action scenes are nothing short of stunning, they're still a bit of an overdose.

Some bits are extremely clever, like that scene in which those giant Autobots accompany Shia LaBoeuf home and then hide from his parents. Extremely funny, extremely clever. Even that scene in which Shia LaBoeuf's car, Bumblebee, performs wheelies after being insulted by his girlfriend. These are those rare moments in a film like this that make you smile.

So I'm going to go with three out of five for Michael Bay's Transformers. The film's got some great moments, and you're sure to be hooked from the moment the lights go out, but there's a very good chance you'll leave the cinema with a migraine because it's all so loud and because you've had enough.

It's like that feeling you have in your tummy when you've eaten too much ice-cream. You enjoyed the ice cream very much, but you wish you hadn't been so greedy.

Rating: 3 / 5 Good