stripethree

So, after much hype and anticipation, the first real trailer for the live action Transformers movies is out and already has enthusiasts and die hard fans kicking and screaming. I for one, am completely geeked about this movie and I cannot stop watching the trailer. I think it’s going to be great. I think about some of the complaints and to me, they just don’t make sense.

The Transformers look too complex and ‘alien’ like. Well, first off, this isn’t the cartoon, and if these things really did exist and really did transform to and from complex machines like automobiles and helicopters, they would probably look pretty damn complication in their ‘person’ modes as well. All that stuff just doesn’t wrap up in a super simple package like, oh, wait, the cartoon. Secondly, the Transformers are aliens and are supposed to be vastly superior in technology to us. Makes it seem appropriate to me that they are pretty complex things.

They don’t transform into the same cars/things! Well, part of this is the business side, and the fact that companies like Volkswagen and Porsche do not license out their nameplates and designs. The other part is again, contribution to the reality of a live action movie. If this were ‘for real’ a huge robot could not conceivably transform into a handgun (Megatron). It’s just not possible and honestly, if I saw that in the movie, it would just seem stupid. Yes, I am disappointed that Jazz will not be a Porsche and that Bumblebee will not be a Volswagen Bug, but that’s life. I’m not thrilled that most of them will be GM cars, but whatever, that’s not what I’m seeing the movie for. People seem so surprised at this, when really, what did you expect? They wouldn’t make the movie if they couldn’t make money off it, and if GM stepped up, kudos to their marketing department for trying something new. I bet no new car has been showcased in such a manner that the new Camaro will be in the movie. I am certainly not going to be shopping GM cars anytime soon, if ever, but I’m not going to let that ruin the movie for me.

The movie is too dark. First, you are judging the entire movie from 2 minutes of footage with almost 0 dialogue. Stupid. Second, ah, the story revolves around a war. Last time I checked, war isn’t exactly a bright and shining happy story line. I sure hope it isn’t as dark as some of the old Batman movies, but I think it’s an intriguing take that will enhance the realism (relatively speaking) I mean, this is still a scifi fantasy thriller, but hey, it’s cool that they’ve gone to such great lengths to maintain some touch with reality).. This also isn’t a movie that seems geared to kids were everything is happy go lucky and sunshine and puppies. To truly portray a war between two ‘races’ there’s going to be destruction, death, and some general darkness over the storyline..

The director sucks (Michael Bay). So you aren’t a fan, who cares. Don’t write it off. People also seem to forget that this movie is being executively produced by Steven Spielberg, one of the greatest movie makers of our time. So even if you aren’t a fan of Mann’s work, why don’t you wait and see. Stop writing it off just because you didn’t like whatever his last movie was.

It pains me to see people rip apart these movies, even after they come out as if it were feasible to take every aspect of the comic books and translate it to the big screen. That would be silly. It holds true for X Men, Spiderman, Transformers, all of the recent comic book movies. I love watching these movies, even if the stories are ‘updated’ and the characters have evolved or changed. I’m excited enough that this movie is made at all, even more so that is appears so far to look pretty cool. It will be fun to go see it and get into that same state of mind as when I was a kid watching Transformers, just thinking ‘this is sooooo cool’. I’ve watching the preview probably 10 times, and it’s still not lost a bit of its entertainment value. I can’t wait until Juily 4.