Back in 1984 I was among the millions of boys introduced to the Transformers cartoon show. The concept was simple — there were good robots (Autobots) and bad robots (Decepticons) who could transform into various vehicles. They were battling for control of their planet, Cybertron, and were engaged in a war. One battle led them to Earth, where their ships crashed and lay dormant for millions of years. The cartoon chronicled their battle for supremacy and was a hit for years.

When it was announced that there was going to be a live-action movie of the cartoon that was so beloved by many, I cringed, since it was difficult to imagine a cartoon as live-action; 1987’s Masters of The Universe proved that. However I was willing to give it a chance and I am glad I did.

The plot of Transformers involves a device called the All-Spark, a mystical talisman that grants unlimited power to whoever possesses it. The Autobots manage to smuggle the All-Spark off the planet, but Megatron (the leader of the Decepticons) blasts off in search of it. The movie focuses on both races of Transformers looking for the All-Spark in order to control Cybertron.

Everyone has their favorite transformer; the producers had a large number of characters to choose from.  Those that made the cut include Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Jazz for the Autobots, while Megatron and Starscream round out the Decepticons. We get to see these characters, especially Bumblebee and Megatron, updated for today. In the “Their War” featurette, we learn that one of the reasons Bumblebee was changed from a VW Bug to a Camaro was because no one would believe a Bug could do 200 MPH — that’s a plausible reason.  We also learn that the producers changed Megatron from turning into a gun because it would be like Darth Vader transforming into his own lightsabre and having someone else wield it; this also makes sense.  And kudos to the Transformers team for casting Peter Cullen, who was the original voice of Optimus Prime in the cartoon, to reprise his role for the film.

The drawback to this film is there are too many characters. I’m not sure what real purpose Anthony Anderson and Rachael Taylor served since they really didn’t add to the plot.