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I Haven’t Been This Happy Since Optimus Returned From The Dead

Fifteen days to go until Transformers 2 is released. It may not seem that long a wait but for a fan such as me – every minute of every hour of every day feels like a lifetime. Five years ago, when they announced that a Transformers movie was in the pipeline, I was as giddy as a little school girl in love. I wasn’t even perturbed by the fact that Michael Bay had been chosen as Director. Okay, his movies aren’t that great, (I feel like spitting whenever I see a copy of Pearl Harbour) but let’s face it, the guy knows how to blow things up and for a movie containing a number of giant robots kicking seven shades of rust out of each other, that’s sometimes all you need.

I have watched the trailer countless times. I’ve wept with joy at the brief appearance of Jetfire, I’ve fallen to my knees and praising the gods of cinema at the thought of seeing The Devastator in a live action and jumped up and down like a hyperactive teenager on a trampoline on hearing the words “The Fallen.” Some of you may not understand such excitement but those that have followed the Transformers Universe will understand.

What is that I hear you say – Why am I so happy in this piece when normally I want to take a nail gun to the world of entertainment? Well, fear not, that man hasn’t gone away because although I am excited at the nearing release date of the movie there is something that has been bothering me lately. It was something that I had expected to happen should have prepared myself for and, when it did happen, let it gently wash over me and ignore it but I’m not built like that and as normal, I’m wound up.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – Big robots, big guns, explosions, death and destruction on a major scale and, to top it all off like a whacking great cherry on top of a pretty fine cake, an even bigger robot so big that it’ll even have trouble fitting on an IMAX screen. So, what is not to like? Well it would seem that some of you out there expect a bit more from this movie – check out some comments on YouTube and certain film sites – you wanted a darker turn ala The Dark Knight, you want better dialogue from the characters, scenery chewing from the human element of the movie, and some of you wanted Michael Bay gone because he couldn’t handle the franchise. There were other comments but I’ll if I list them all I’ll be here all day.

Should this film be made to appease those that expect more from the movie business? Should it be made for those that consider film high art? Since when should a film about giant robots be about interaction between the human characters. Okay, I’ll agree with the point that a movie lives or dies by its script and how well the characters come across on screen but I’m not expecting the ‘Othello’ of robots. I don’t want Optimus Prime to suddenly go Shakespeare and stand beneath a giant balcony proclaiming his love for Arcee in old worlde verse. I don’t want the film to go Hamlet and have Autobots sleeping with their own mothers and poisoning their uncles. Most of all I definitely don’t want to see Ironside break out into monologue enquiring about his entitlement to “a pound of flesh.”

It seems to upset some people that films like Transformers are made and think little of people who find enjoyment from it, but why shouldn’t we enjoy it? It’s a blockbuster which has a strong fan-base, has plenty of back-material to draw from and contains everything which makes a summer movie great.

As I write this I am currently carving a tally-mark into the wall next to my desk, counting down the days until I can book my IMAX ticket and enjoying the ultimate pop-corn movie. At least I know I’ll be enjoying watching Transformers 2 while the art crowd sit around a flea-ridden mini-screen in a pit of a cinema watching a short movie about the plight of Bolivian Pig farmers.

Out of the two – Which do you think will be remembered when the robots really do rise up and take over the planet?

I rest my case.

Written by: Arron Kasady

I Haven’t Been This Happy Since Optimus Returned From The Dead

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