I was the only one at work who disliked Transformers.
I'm not a Michael Bay fan. With every film of his the pill gets harder to swallow. But I like robots and I like Transformers. So I thought if I kept my expectations low I could maybe enjoy a shot of a Transformer transforming and maybe two robots fighting for a bit.
Technically, both wishes were met...but with a catch. The rapid cuts, swooping cameras, spastic animation and busy character designs made it near impossible to make out how the characters were transforming and who was fighting who where. There's one shot of Optimus and a red shirt Decepticon (Devastator?) falling off an overpass in the trailer. That's the most coherent action shot in the entire film.
The rest was just a big ole mess.
For the last week or so I've been watching the first season of Transformers on YouTube along with some clips from the animated movie. I didn't remember much of anything, other than the iconic designs of some characters (which I already knew had been thrown out for the movie). I was surprised how simple yet effective it all was. Sure there was cheese and camp and all that, but it was earnest, it had defined characters, it had drama and it had robots fighting.
It reminds me of a common conversation I have with a friend of mine about comic book adaptations and remakes/sequels. "It's not that hard" is our mantra. It's amazing the complicated depths some filmmakers go to screw up simplest stories. Maybe they mistake simplicity for stupidity and childishness so they feel the need to complicate things so that they appear more "adult."
I guess what bugs me the most is the lack of vision and imagination. My most common complaint with adaptations or movies in general I guess. Why not aim higher? Why not shoot for a Transformers film on the same level as Star Wars or Raiders Of The Lost Ark? They were oscar nominated. As it stands it's just another narrow minded franchise, where they're so happy to have a big opening weekend they can't wait to start the sequel, never realizing that if they'd put a little thought and effort into it, they could have had the next Bond or Star Trek series instead of the next failed Matrix or Pirates trilogy.
Looking back that last critique is sort of out of place. Transformers doesn't have 60+ years of source material like other comic book characters going through failed franchises right now, so the Bond/Star Trek analogy doesn't really fit cause they probably only have a trilogy's worth of stories. Still, unless someone else takes over the franchise, there's not much reason to come back.
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Labels: critiqua, snappy
