It is probably impossible for me to give an unbiased view on the Transformers movie trilogy. I have been a fan of the original animated film from 1986, since it came out when I was a highly impressionable young boy of five. There is something just so appealing to the young mind of a car or any motorised vehicle for that matter actually transforming into a robot. I would like to say I had the Hasbro action figure of Optimus Prime when I was a child but as I approach thirty, even my sometimes perfect memory begins to fail me. I do know for a fact that I owed several Transformer toys during my childhood. Oh, if only I had held onto them. Or kept them sealed in their box as I have with my Disney/Pixar Toy Story Buzz Lightyear.

I knew it was only a matter of time before a Transformers movie would be produced. Spielberg and Bay held in their hands the delicate memories of my childhood, would they deliver? Steven, I cannot criticize, for he has forged many of my dearest memories within the fantasy lands of his movies, some he directed, some he produced but they will forever have a special place in my heart. Before I go too sentimental, I had faith in these big Hollywood movie moguls to be true custodians for my beloved franchise. It was only a matter of time before I would go and see for myself the first movie on the big screen in 2007. I can not believe it is now almost four years since the first movie of the franchise was released. Looking back at my blog post, I was perhaps too positive and gave too much of a fan-boy response to what others called a rather lacklustre movie. I stand by my commentary on what I still regard as an excellent film. I think many people, particularly fans can take this movie franchise too seriously. I recall leaving the cinema and saying to my best friend Pav, “What you have to remember is that this movie is based on toys!”. I would use this quote many times when talking to other people about the movies (my sisters and their friend Liz, after seeing Revenge Of The Fallen in June 2009 coincidently at the same cinema – Vue Reading). Sometimes people forget that the movie experience and in particular the cinema movie experience is all about fun, being entertained, leaving our rather boring lives to escape to the unknown. On this criteria, the trilogy delivers above and beyond what you would expect. Your expectations though need to be put into context, all three movies have been summer blockbusters for the family. While this may seem like a bad thing for a guy quickly approaching his thirties, it does allow you to understand the difficulty the producers came under and Hollywood will always try and go for mass market and not specific niche appeal. The dollar does at the end of the day, do all the talking.

I had high expectations for Dark Of The Moon but had had so much else on my plate on the day of the screening. I gave it little thought until around lunchtime when I was driving from my flat in Slough back to my home town. Originally I had wanted to see an early afternoon screening around 3pm but my sister could only make it for later, so we went for the 5:30pm screening at our local multiplex, a short five-minute walk from my parent’s house. The Empire was opened as the UCI Wycombe Six in 1987 (although I do recall my cousin Susan mentioning that she saw the original Back To The Future there in 1985) it metamorphosed into UGC Cinemas before then the Filmworks (which I believe was an Odeon brand) before switching to Empire a few years ago.

Even with minor changes in cast the team did not mess with a winning formula. It was great fun and the 3D effects were not overused as I had expected. Personally, I believe Bay should have stuck to his guns and not gone for 3D but I understand the studio may have demanded this in light of so many 3D movies released in recent years. (I, therefore, am looking forward to watching in 2D at home on Bluray sometime over Christmas or in the New Year!). It was great fun, entertaining, the story was perhaps the best of the three and the performances of most of the cast including the CGI robots. Even though it was rather cheesy and cheap, I enjoyed the idea of linking the history of Cybertron with the Apollo moon landings. They executed the idea with a great deal of gusto! I have looked on the web for a fair review, which meant I had to avoid anything from the Doctor! The blog Crash Landen perhaps as the most balanced response which I generally agree wholeheartedly with although the review of the second instalment was perhaps slightly negative in my modest of opinions.

Now that the trilogy is over, I look forward to a Transformers weekend when I can watch all three movies in glorious high-definition on the fifty-inch plasma screen at my parent’s house. Sorry, Michelle, I will be busy all weekend!