Transformers: The Verdict

A few weeks ago I speculated that IMDb is starting to be gamed by movie studios, using the high rating of summer blockbuster The Transformers as anecdotal evidence. I agreed, however, to withhold definitive judgement until I had actually seen the movie. Maybe I was being churlish in assuming it wasn’t worthy of a 8+ rating.

Well I did the see the movie while in the States recently (it’s still not out in Prague), and it sucks. Actually, the effects are stunning (as expected), the leading lady is quite attractive, and since I like blockbusters it was doubtless worth the price of admission. But the plot and especially the dialog are as corny and cliched as they come, with a long string of genuinely cringe-inducing moments and one-liners. (When the hero has to chase down his robot ally, and the nearest vehicle turns out to be a woman’s bicycle, replete with pink frame and tassels on the handlebars, I nearly left the cinema in disgust.) Obviously the studio knew that the CGI would be the main draw, so they went for a dumb-as-a-stump lowest-common-denominator screenplay that wouldn’t challenge the intellects of the legions of 12 year-olds and hillbillies likely to attend. All conspiracy theories aside, that alone says a lot about the sad state of Hollywood today.

The bottom line is that this movie in no way deserves its high rating (still holding steady at 7.9). Clearly IMDb is suffering the blowback effects of its success. But are the studios to blame? Perhaps not: fanboy exuberance seems to be a major factor as well, judging from The Simpsons (which was extremely funny but hardly one of the top 250 films of all time). Plain old grade inflation probably plays a role too. But personally I still find it hard to believe that the studios could resist the temptation to boost their products’ appeal going into opening weekend, any way they can. Now that the New York Times has unmasked Fake Steve, how about they turn their investigative spotlight on what could be the scandal of the decade or, at very least, a slow news day in summer?

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2 Comments »

1. I don’t understand why you hate the pink bicycle scene in the movie. I agree that there some parts of the movie are not that very original but we also need to agree of the person’s reaction when he think his first car is stolen. That is my opinion but I know every person have different taste when it comes to movies.

   Comment by Web Team — 8/6/2007 @ 9:49 pm

2. I didn’t disagree with him chasing after the car, but I was already fed up with the hackneyed screenplay, and the girl’s bicycle cliche was the straw that almost broke the camel’s back. Luckily I’m a pretty tough camel and I stuck it out til the end.

   Comment by Matt — 8/6/2007 @ 10:39 pm

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