What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that even though the myriad tie-in toys are being marketed to kids as young as 2, this explosion-heavy action movie based on the '80s cartoon and action figures is not for young children ... no matter how "cool" they think the robots/cars are. It's packed with scenes of loud, hectic combat (including gunfire), destruction, and flying missiles and bodies. Plus, it's long (144 minutes, the last 20 or so of which are devoted to a big fight scene), the characters swear ("bitch," "s--t," "damn," etc.), and there's some sexual imagery (shots of cleavage and a short-skirted bottom, jokes about masturbation and virginity, and more).
Families can discuss why kids want to see this movie -- is it because of the story or all of the toys and other tie-in products they've been hearing about? Who's the movie's intended audience? Is it today's kids (and, if so, what age group?) or grown ups who were kids when the toys were first popular in the '80s? How does this big-screen version compare to the different TV shows and the previous movie? Do the explosions and crashes seem more serious here than in the cartoon versions? How does the fact that the new movie is live action instead of animated affect what age kids it's best for?
Common Sense Media Review
You'd expect a summer action movie directed by Michael Bay, CGIed by Industrial Light and Magic, and based on a line of toy cars to bring the noise. TRANSFORMERS does exactly that. Big and boomy, it skimps on plot and character development, instead focusing on its decidedly spectacular explosions. Though the opening voiceover offers a cursory backstory -- the good Autobots and the bad Decepticons fought over a cube that has the power to create worlds and, in the process, destroyed their own planet -- it hardly matters why these giant robots have come to earth. The point is much simpler: They blow stuff up.
First, the bad robots head to the Middle Eastern desert, where the US Air Force has stationed men near Qatar. A Decepticon disguised as a helicopter attacks a unit that includes the very buff Sgt. Epps (Tyrese Gibson), Captain Lennox (Josh Duhamel), and ACWO Figueroa (Amaury Nolasco), whose buddies goof on him for speaking Spanish and cultivating "magic voodoo powers." The attack sends the men into speedy, loud action mode -- partly to protect a young Arab boy and mostly to exercise their genius for killing large mechanical objects.
Back in the States, Secretary of Defense John Keller (Jon Voight) gathers great minds to figure out the strange happenings, including brilliant Australian Maggie (Rachael Taylor), who deciphers a code with the help of her mentor, a stereotypical computer geek named Glen (Anthony Anderson). Their efforts lead to the discovery of a secret US project, "Sector 7," which has been hiding and examining Megatron (voiced by Hugo Weaving), a bad robot that crash-landed in the Arctic decades before.
Before you can say "Independence Day," the movie cuts again to the "regular people" contingent -- specifically, 11th grader Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf). Taunted by his classmates, nerdy, entrepreneurial Sam has a massive crush on scantily clad Mikaela (Megan Fox) and is about to get his first car, courtesy of wealthy dad Ron (Kevin Dunn). Sam finds an ancient yellow Camaro at a used car dealership run by the disconcertingly buffoonish Bobby Bolivia (Bernie Mac) and drives off not knowing it's an Autobot named Bumblebee. Neither does Sam realize that he has in his possession the key to the all-powerful cube -- a key that all the robots, good and bad, desperately want.
The many plot strands don't so much come together as collide, owing to intervention by dimwitted FBI Agent Simmons (John Turturro), as well as the Autobots' courageous, red-and-blue-colored leader Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen). After saving Sam and Mikaela from a Decepticon assault, Optimus introduces them to his crew of Autobots, which includes lots of wheeled vehicles -- but no flying machines or girl robots -- and one "black" robot, Frenzy (Reno Wilson), who uses street jargon and throws gang signs.
Instantly fond of Sam, the Autobots soon join with the Air Force guys (who return from Qatar just in time) to save the U.S. ("Everyone's a solider now!" exults Will as the final battle begins). By contrast, the Decepticons -- as their name suggests -- are the subject of all manner of violent retribution. This blockbuster-to-be's firepower is tremendous, with extended battle scenes, snarky one-liners, and an exceedingly simplistic moral. When it's suggested to Optimus Prime that humans aren't worth fighting for, he insists, "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings." (Except, of course, the Decepticons.)
Fans will want to see other summertime explosion movies -- like Men in Black, Mars Attacks!, or Star Wars. You might also want to check out the 1980s cartoon series, Transformers; the more-recent TV series, or 1986's Transformers: The Movie.
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
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