Transformers

Now 20 years later, a childhood memory is on the big screen—and at my boyfriend’s urging, we waited patiently in line on opening night anticipating the two-plus hours of testosterone ahead of us. We were right about the testosterone part—big machines, cool cars, military guys and hot chicks (and about the two-plus hours—a bit long). But what I wasn’t expecting was humor that shows the movie’s makers were well aware of its inherent cheesiness. Killer robots from space? Had director Michael Bay attacked this one with the same overseriousness he did in Armageddon, he’d be in big trouble. The storylines are many and get a little confusing, but the main gist is that two clans of robots have landed on Earth—the Autobots (good guys) and Decepticons (bad guys). Shia LaBoeuf discovers an Autobot in the form of a used Camaro. The Decepticons land in Qatar in a bizarre U.S. military twist—this is actually the opening segment of the film. That gets the Department of Defense in on the deal (Jon Voight plays the secretary). The bad guys and good guys are on Earth searching for the same thing—a mysterious cube that apparently will help them re-create their planet, which they’ve blown up—and inevitably end in a full-on showdown. The scenes between the Transformers are simply fantastic—CGI at its best—and probably what the guys are going to show up for.