HOLLYWOOD POV: "Transformers"

Currently in 3^rd place for the top grossing 2007 film releases, Transformers has already earned over $308,934,291.00 this summer.  The only two films ahead of Transformers are three-quels (Spider-Man 3 and Shrek the Third) that opened over two months previous and will quickly be overtaken by the superior Transformers movie. The only other close challenger is The Simpsons. Armed with an enormous marketing campaign including comics, toys, clothing, and ancillary tie-in deals, Transformers opened in the United States on July 2, 2007, and broke the box office record for the highest-grossing opening week for a non-sequel.

 

Future big box office star-to-be Shia LaBeouf stars in his first action film hero role as a kid who can save the world in Transformers. A boy's first car is always a special day to remember, but this boy gets something extra when he gets his first set of wheels, a scarred yellow Camaro. Seventeen-year old Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) doesn't know it yet, but his new ride can transform into a powerful robot (Bumblebee) whose mission is to save planet Earth.

 

The tag says it all: "Their War, Our World."  Caught in the middle of an intergalactic war between two races of robots that are able to change into a variety of objects like cars, trucks, and planes at will, the heroic Autobots (short for Autonomous Robotic Lifeform) and the evil Decepticons fight a war on Earth with the help of Shia LaBeouf and his beautiful girlfriend and mechanically skilled grease-monkey, Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox).

 

Sam doesn't know it, but he holds the key to the coordinates of the location of the Allspark, a boxy object at the center of the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons.

Whenever a special voice is needed for a villain the man to call is Hugo Weaving, here he voices the evil Decepticon leader Megatron who desperately yearns for the Allspark.  Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime in the 1980s cartoon, reprised the role for the film to the delight of the multitude of Transformers fans.

To prepare for the role, LeBeouf worked out five days a week for three months and added 25  pounds of muscle. Extravagant Director Michael Bay says he hired LeBeouf because he had that elusive on-screen charisma that reminded him of a young Tom Hanks. LeBeouf certainly has that every-man persona that most anyone can identify with, and he has an easy going, casual attitude that will serve him well as he ages into bigger action roles that are the bread and butter of Hollywood's top grossing actors.

 

 

With Steven Speilberg producing and George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic working their special effects brand of magic how could anything go wrong with Transformers? Not much. Not much, that is, if you enjoy loud huge action sequences that will make your eyes bleed and your head spin... and make the 2 hours and 20 minutes almost speed by. Transformers is THE perfect summer movie.

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Digital Dogs rating:  A - an E ticket ride.

MPAA rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, brief sexual humor and language.

Running Time:  140 minutes

Producers Kenny Bates, Michael Bay, Steven Speilberg, Ian Bryce, Tom DeSanto, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Don Murphy, Allegra Clegg, Director Michael Bay, Screenplay Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Music Steve Jablonsky, Editor Tom Muldoon, Paul Rubell, Glen Scantlebury, DP Mitchell Amundsen, Actors Shia LaBeouf, Tyrese Gibson, Josh Duhamel, Anthony Anderson, Megan Fox, Rachael Taylor, John Voight, John Turturro, Bernie Mac, Robert Foxworth, Hugo Weaving

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© 2007 by Digital Dogs

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--- Digital Dogs is gather's Los Angeles Movie Correspondent ---

Digital Dogs' column, HOLLYWOOD POV, published every Thursday to Gather Essentials: Movies is an insider's look at the art, people, and product of Hollywood.

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