Title: Transformers
Director: Michael Bay
Writers: Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman(story & screenplay), John Rogers (story)
Release Date: July 3, 2007
Country: USA
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Budget: $150 million (estimated)
Revenue: $709.7 million (worldwide)
Running Time: 144 minutes
Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson
Plot
The movie opens with Optimus Prime, an Autobot, narrating the history of the AllSpark, a cube-shaped artifact capable of granting independent life to normal electronic and mechanical objects, which is the source of life for all Transformers, both Autobots and the evil Decepticons. Their society flourished until they were betrayed by Megatron; and war erupted over the AllSpark, which was lost and ended up on Earth.
Fast forward thousands of years to present day Earth, Qatar, to be exact, where American soldiers are stationed. They fly in to their base and go about the usual routine. Capt William Lennox (Josh Duhamel) is contacting his wife and seeing his baby girl again, when a helicopter comes up on the radar. It lands at the base, and the base commander orders it to stand down; but, instead, it transforms into some sort of robot (the Decepticon Blackout) and attacks the base. Blackout locates the base's mainframe and downloads information until the humans cut the computer's hardline, terminating the network's connection. Blackout then destroys the base and everyone on it, save for a few who escape, including Tech Sgt Robert Epps (Tyrese Gibson).
Back in America, we see Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf) in class, practically doing a show-and-tell with his grandfather's memorabilia for eBay sales. His grandfather, Archibald Witwicky, was a famous 19th century explorer who tried to reach the Arctic circle. He later went crazy after claiming to have found a giant man frozen in the Arctic ice. Sam's teacher is none too pleased at Sam's antics, but Sam manages to talk him into giving him an A, so that he can take his money and his A to his father, Ron Witwicky (Kevin Dunn), to buy a car.
Sam's father takes him to a used car lot, where the salesman (played by Bernie Mac) tries to sell Sam a car. Only one car captures Sam's attention: an old yellow Camaro.
In the Pentagon, Defense Secretary John Keller (John Voight) addresses up a team of computer analysts and scientists to try to determine who attacked the base in Qatar. They've received no word from survivors, and all they have to go on is the sound of the signal used to tap in and download sensitive information from the U.S. Government's computer networks. Maggie Madsen (Rachael Taylor) heads one of their teams.
Sam takes his car out for a spin with his friend, and he runs across his crush, Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox), and the jocks she hangs out with. As Sam is ready to leave, Mikaela angrily leaves the jocks and starts to walk home, so Sam kicks his friend out of the car and offers her a ride. She accepts. Everything seems cool until the car mysteriously stops working near a local make-out spot. The Camaro also mysteriously cuts on the radio to play "Let's Get It On", much to Sam's shock. Mikaela, who is surprisingly car-savvy, takes a look under the hood and is impressed by the engine but can't seem to see any problem. She decides to go ahead and finish the walk home. Sam begs for the car to start as she leaves. The car suddenly starts and begins blasting "Baby Come Back". Sam spins the car around and gives Mikaela a ride home.
Second Qatar Attack
The Pentagon tries to alert the president (who is aboard Air Force One) of another attack in Qatar, but the aircraft has already been infiltrated. A small Decepticon called Frenzy hides beneath a passenger's seat, disguised as a boom box. He transforms and makes his way down to the plane's interior, where he finds the computer network. He accesses the mainframe and begins a massive download, focusing on facts about Archibald Witwicky and a secret government branch called "Sector 7" and their top secret "Project Iceman".
Maggie detects the intrusion and alerts the Pentagon, convincing them to take the whole network offline to stop the download. The Pentagon is frantic to discover who is behind all of this, as they suspect that it could be Russia, North Korea, or China. Maggie is warned to keep her imaginative ideas to herself, so she makes a copy of the strange signal and takes it to a friend's house. When Air Force One lands, Frenzy escapes after killing several secret service agents and hops into a waiting police car (which has a Decepticon sigil on its fender).
Later, Sam wakes to the sound of his car starting up. Fearing that it is being stolen, he pursues the car to a local junkyard and sees his Camaro transform into a giant robot. The "robot", an Autobot named Bumblebee assigned to protect Sam, sends a signal into space. The police arrive and do not believe Sam's story. Thinking he's probably on drugs, they arrest him.
Maggie takes the top secret file to her friend Glen Whitman (Anthony Anderson), "the only hacker in the world" who could break the code. He cracks the signal just before Federal agents bust in and arrest them both.
Later after Sam's father bails him out, Sam sees that his car has returned. Terrified, he flees on his mother's pink bicycle and is pursued by Bumblebee. He rides fast until he crashes in right front of Mikaela. He quickly takes off again, and she follows him. Sam tries to hide from Bumblebee and is relieved when a police car rolls up. Sam explains his situation, presumably to an officer behind the wheel; but no officer is behind the wheel and the car attacks him, suddenly sprouting bladed weapons from the headlights and the grill. The car transforms into Decepticon Barricade and asks Sam if he is "Ladiesman217" (Sam's eBay ID), and Sam tries to escape again. Sam runs into Mikaela and tells her to run, because a monster is after him. Then she sees Barricade, too. Bumblebee drives up, the two reluctantly hop in, and the car chase begins.
Bumblebee To The Rescue
Bumblebee leads Barricade on a wild chase and gets the teens away from the Decepticon so that he can face off with Barricade. Barricade battles Bumblebee but not before releasing Frenzy, who pursues the humans. Bumblebee and Barricade duke it out while Mikaela and Sam try to fend off the resourceful Frenzy. Eventually, Mikaela uses a saws-all to cut off Frenzy's head, which flees in Waspinator fashion just as Bumblebee leaves Barricade in a broken heap. Bumblebee beckons for the humans to come with him and reveals, through radio transmissions and songs, that he's an alien and that he has sent a signal asking for help from his comrades. Unknownst to them all, Frenzy's head has scanned Mikaela's cell phone and has transformed into it, hiding in her purse.
As they drive down the street, Mikaela asks, "So, if he's supposed to be like this super-advanced robot, why does he transform back into this piece-of-crap Camaro?,". Bumblebee slams on his brakes and pushes the kids out. Sam remarks, "See, now you've upset him", as Bumblebee speeds away. Suddenly Bumblebee spins around and gets up on two wheels, and his undercarriage scans a passing car. Bumblebee shifts and changes into a new-model Camaro, to Sam and Mikaela's amazement. They hop into Bumblebee and race away.
That Car Is Sensitive
The Feds interrogate Maggie and Glen, who reveal that the Decepticon signal targeted Project Iceman and the Witwickies. Soon afterward, Defense Secretary Keller calls them in for continued help.
Next, several "meteors" fall from the sky. They are really Autobots. Bumblebee takes Sam and Mikaela to the Autobots' meeting place, where they are introduced to Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Jazz, and Ironhide.
Meet Optimus Prime
Optimus Prime tells them about the AllSpark and how Megatron searched the Galaxy for it and was lost. He explained how Sam's grandfather discovered Megatron frozen in the ice and accidentally activated Megatron's navigational system, which imprinted Cybertronian script onto his eyeglasses. That script revealed the secret location of the AllSpark, and its recovery was of great importance, because the Decepticons would use it to give life to Earth's machines, creating a new army of Decepticons, eventually destroying humanity.
Sam leads them back to his home where the Autobots accidentally trample his yard and demolish the lawn decorations. Sam finally finds the glasses and gives them to Optimus Prime just before Sector 7 swoops in and arrests Sam and Mikaela. The Sector 7 operatives, led by Agent Simmons (John Turturro), try to coerce information about the aliens from Sam and Mikaela, until Optimus Prime stops them and forces them to release the kids. Optimus notes that Simmons is neither afraid nor surprised to see the Autobots.
The agents secretly alert the military, who try to track down Optimus Prime and the kids, while the other Autobots split up. Bumblebee is discovered trying to save the kids after they fall off of the hidden Optimus, and is captured by the government, along with Sam and Mikaela. Sam, Mikaela, Maggie, Glen and the captive Bumblebee are all taken to Sector 7's secret base, deep within Hoover Dam, where they are shown "Project Iceman", the frozen form of Megatron. Sam tries to warn them about Megatron and catches their attention when he mentions the cube-shaped AllSpark.
It turns out that all modern technology was reverse-engineered from Megatron's body and that the AllSpark could give that technology life, though it usually proved to be violent and destructive to organics. They demonstrate by infusing Glenn's cell phone with the Allspark's energy, and the phone transforms into a tiny robot who viciously attacks the humans. Frenzy sneaks out of Mikaela's purse and touches the AllSpark, regenerating his body; and he sends out a signal, telling the other Decepticons that the AllSpark has been found. Around the world different Decepticons respond: StarScream, Barricade, BoneCrusher, Blackout and Devastator all converge on Hoover Dam. Elsewhere the Autobots decipher the Allpark's location and also head to the Dam. Optimus states that, if they cannot win, he will sacrifice himself by absorbing the AllSpark into his own Spark, destroying the artifact and himself as well.
Frenzy sabotages the cryo controls that keep Megatron frozen, and the Decepticon leader begins to wake up. Sam convinces Keller, with some help from Lennox, that Bumblebee is no threat and will in fact help them against Megatron. Bumblebee is reactivated and he transforms the AllSpark into a more portable form. They then proceed to escape from the Dam and make their stand in a nearby town. Megatron breaks free.
The Autobots encounter Bonecrusher on the highway, flanked by Barricade, and Optimus takes Bonecrusher on. The two are carried over a high overpass and battle ensues below. Bonecrusher seems to be a powerful warrior, but Optimus proves to be his better and kills the Decepticon with a long sword blade from his arm.
The Military and the Autobots try to set up defenses in the town, but that is soon disrupted by Megatron's arrival. Devastator and Blackout lay waste to different parts of the town, as they battle Ironhide and Ratchet. Bumblebee is wounded, having both his legs destroyed, as well.
Finally, Optimus Prime shows up and battles Megatron. Megatron temporarily overpowers Optimus and continues pursuing Sam. Megatron catches Sam and gives him the opportunity to survive as his pet if he hands over the AllSpark. Sam refuses and Megatron attacks, causing Sam to fall off of the building. Optimus catches Sam, saving the boy and the AllSpark.On the ground he and Megatron square off again.
The battle reaches its climax, and Optimus asks Sam to release the AllSpark into his chest, but instead, Sam manages to release it into Megatron's chest, killing the Decepticon leader.
In the aftermath, Bumblebee regains his ability to speak and asks that he might remain with Sam. Sector 7 is dismantled and all of the Decepticon bodies are dumped into the sea, where the cold and pressure should keep them from ever being retrieved.
Optimus Prime laments that the AllSpark was destroyed, dashing any hopes of revitalizing Cybertron, so he instead broadcasts an invitation to any Autobots left to come make Earth their new home.
Commentary
This is a very good movie in my opinion. And no doubt, the launch of a very successful trilogy of Transformer movies starring Shia LaBeouf. It presents the popular theme of "alien" invasion. In this case, the aliens are the transformers. However, in a film, when the theme of alien invasion is presented, the aliens are usually either malevolent or benevolent, but not both. In the case of this film, and even all three Transformers films to date, we are presented with the malevolent Decepticons, and the benevolent Autobots.
Also presented is the theme of technology, and what could happen should it fall into the wrong hands. Even the Transformers themselves are a super advanced form of machinery and technology.
Over all, I enjoyed this film, as well as the two other Michael Bay Transformers films.
