So I watched this for the first time tonight. I got it almost a year ago on HD-DVD, and as nobody was home tonight, decided to treat myself to some eye/ear candy. I did not want to necro the old topic, nor was it appropriate to post in the topic about the sequel, and I sure as hell was not going to peruse all 1000 (or whatever) posts in the original topic. So I'm posting my thoughts here.
First and foremost, I enjoyed it for what it was. Never having grown up with the cartoon/toys, I did not have nostalgia goggles on. And that really early scene with the one Transformer (I'm guessing its name might be Shockwave) sending out shockwaves and destroying all those vehicles was pretty impressive, as was that scorpion one early on. For being almost two and a half hours long, it flew right by, and I was entertained the entire time.
Problem is, during and after, I felt fairly well manipulated. First, there were WAY too many product placements. A closeup on a Panasonic SD card that lingered a BIT too long for it not to be obvious? A guy walking down the street carrying an Xbox 360 in the box with no bag or anything? And of all things, numerous shots of the GPX logo on the little boombox one? GPX???? Seriously???? GPX is like, low-end brand of low-end brands.
Second, I sorta didn't care for all the videogame rip-offs (you might want to call them homages, but come on...it's Michael Bay). The slow-mo bullet-time thing (yeah, it's videogame via The Matrix) and the wall-jumping that Optimus Prime did down that one building are the ones that immediately spring to mind. I'll grant you, they looked really cool, but my logical brain felt a bit insulted.
Third, the score blatantly ripped off both American Beauty and The Terminator in spots.
Fourth, a lot of the jokes insulted my intelligence. The little girl holding the
asking if the Transformer was the tooth fairy? The ma********on jokes went on a BIT too long, and the, "Wow, this is better than Armageddon!" line was too clever by half.
And the tug at the heartstrings stuff was a bit overwrought. Come on, he's had Bumblebee for like 3 days, and both Sam and we are supposed to feel some emotional attachment to it (him?) as the music swells? It just felt cheap and easy.
So overall, I did enjoy it, but cannot help feel a bit used and manipulated coming away from it.
I apologize in advance if these same points were brought up in the other thread, and that I'm not 100% familiar with the names of all the Transformers.
First and foremost, I enjoyed it for what it was. Never having grown up with the cartoon/toys, I did not have nostalgia goggles on. And that really early scene with the one Transformer (I'm guessing its name might be Shockwave) sending out shockwaves and destroying all those vehicles was pretty impressive, as was that scorpion one early on. For being almost two and a half hours long, it flew right by, and I was entertained the entire time.
Problem is, during and after, I felt fairly well manipulated. First, there were WAY too many product placements. A closeup on a Panasonic SD card that lingered a BIT too long for it not to be obvious? A guy walking down the street carrying an Xbox 360 in the box with no bag or anything? And of all things, numerous shots of the GPX logo on the little boombox one? GPX???? Seriously???? GPX is like, low-end brand of low-end brands.
Second, I sorta didn't care for all the videogame rip-offs (you might want to call them homages, but come on...it's Michael Bay). The slow-mo bullet-time thing (yeah, it's videogame via The Matrix) and the wall-jumping that Optimus Prime did down that one building are the ones that immediately spring to mind. I'll grant you, they looked really cool, but my logical brain felt a bit insulted.
Third, the score blatantly ripped off both American Beauty and The Terminator in spots.
Fourth, a lot of the jokes insulted my intelligence. The little girl holding the
asking if the Transformer was the tooth fairy? The ma********on jokes went on a BIT too long, and the, "Wow, this is better than Armageddon!" line was too clever by half.
And the tug at the heartstrings stuff was a bit overwrought. Come on, he's had Bumblebee for like 3 days, and both Sam and we are supposed to feel some emotional attachment to it (him?) as the music swells? It just felt cheap and easy.
So overall, I did enjoy it, but cannot help feel a bit used and manipulated coming away from it.
I apologize in advance if these same points were brought up in the other thread, and that I'm not 100% familiar with the names of all the Transformers.
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