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July 11, 2007
More Than Meets The Eye
Or possibly less. People. This is a movie about GIANT ROBOTS some of whom want to DESTROY THE EARTH. It is possible, that in such a context, the deployment of the United States Armed Forces to embed missiles into Decepticons may not, in fact, be a commentary on the righteousness of Operation Iraqi Freedom. We can go back-and-forth doing a sort of tendentious reading of key scenes (The president is a ding-dong eating dunce, the military folk are hair-trigger types who nearly invade the wrong nation, Optimus Prime is colored sort of like an American flag, Megatron is kept frozen and the All-Spark hidden via a giant public works project, etc), but we're missing the point. The point is GIANT GODDAMN ROBOTS. They're REALLY BIG.
For the thoughts of someone who actually helped write the film, go talk to John Rogers. And donate to his charity this month, the Fisher House, as he'll use some of that Michael Bay money to triple your donation.
July 11, 2007 | Permalink
Comments
"And donate to his charity this month, the Fisher House, as he'll use some of that Michael Bay money to triple your donation."
You actually want the orphans to have Bay's blood money? Their rags will be permanently stained red.
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"The point is GIANT GODDAMN ROBOTS."
And must not let the GIANT GODDAMN ROBOT attack come in the form of a mushroom cloud.
If we don't fight the GIANT GODDAMN ROBOTS in the movies, we'll have to fight them in the streets of Kansas City and Pittsburgh.
Posted by: Petey | Jul 11, 2007 5:55:32 PM
I thought the point of the movie was laughing at the stupidity of black people. A movie about GIANT GODDAM ROBOTS would have spent more time with said ROBOTS.
Posted by: Duvall | Jul 11, 2007 6:01:46 PM
"I thought the point of the movie was laughing at the stupidity of black people."
WTF? Did you even watch the movie? It was practically 75% comedy... most of it dealing with "GIANT GODDAMN ROBOTS". Other than the ding-dong scene there wasn't any political commentary anyway, and one of the main heroes was a freaking BLACK GUY. Or did you miss that part?
Really... don't read too much into things.
Posted by: Dustin | Jul 11, 2007 6:50:15 PM
So ... Megatron is Dick Cheney?
Sorry. That was just too hard to resist. Otherwise I agree. When people start reading political preferences into Transformers, things have gone too far.
Posted by: Nicholas Beaudrot | Jul 11, 2007 6:52:40 PM
Other than the ding-dong scene there wasn't any political commentary anyway, and one of the main heroes was a freaking BLACK GUY. Or did you miss that part?
Well, I guess that makes up for all the minstrelry then.
Really... don't read too much into things.
It wasn't exactly subtle.
Posted by: Duvall | Jul 11, 2007 7:27:11 PM
I read Transformers through a political lens all the freaking time.
Posted by: sangfroid826 | Jul 11, 2007 7:29:16 PM
I read Transformers through a political lens all the freaking time.
Posted by: sangfroid826 | Jul 11, 2007 7:29:51 PM
I thought the idea was to get as much of Megan Fox's body in as they could and keep it PG-13...
Posted by: Eric | Jul 11, 2007 8:01:23 PM
Maybe Uwe Boll can direct the sequel...
Posted by: Andrew | Jul 11, 2007 11:43:13 PM
Uwe Boll would only direct "Transformers, The Movie: The Videogame --- The Movie!"
Posted by: Anthony Damiani | Jul 12, 2007 1:31:15 AM
Meh. Not even the GODDAMN GIANT. Unicron, now that was a seriously big robot.
Posted by: Trevor | Jul 12, 2007 3:37:26 AM
Normally, I would agree: it's a freaking Giant Robot movie. However, recall that this *is* Michael Bay and he *is* kind of notorious for getting primo access to military gee-whizzery in exchange for his movies serving as recruitment commercials/military porn.
That said, I enjoyed the blazes out of this movie. Though I did wince when August over at xoverboard pointed out that a movie about battling giant robots still managed to kill off the black guy.
Posted by: Mark | Jul 12, 2007 4:02:25 AM
Been trying to puzzle out what I'd actually have liked the movie to be and who could've done it. First place is a tie among Christopher Nolan, Martin Campbell and Alfonso Cuaron doing their realistic action thing.
If we had to have a kid-friendly version, ignoring the fact that they're horribly busy, Gore Verbinski and Robert Rodriguez would be the choices. While hit or miss, they both have more upside than Bay.
Other than Bay being like Tony Scott with ADD, my biggest complaints with the story are that it was way too unfocused and that it derived too much from two of my other favorite robot movies, Short Circuit and Batteries Not Included. Could've used more Robot Jox.
Posted by: Andrew | Jul 12, 2007 4:10:54 AM
Actually, I thought that the movie had very pro-troops but anti-government vibes. I found it pretty pronounced.
Also, people, please - it's not cool to make out on the hood of a car when that car is your robotic best friend. It's just sick. Even when he wants you to do it.
Posted by: Gravity | Jul 12, 2007 9:32:48 AM
Wait, you mean the destruction of "The Cube" wasn't a veiled reference to our the American imperial desire to smash Islam's Kaaba?
I want my $10 back.
:)
Posted by: nikkos | Jul 12, 2007 10:35:08 AM
We should have tried sanctioning them first or at least seeking international support via a United Nations resolution. On the other hand, the robots are giant and probably carbon based meaning they are bound to increase global warming so we better attack them now or hold a giant concert.
Posted by: Alex | Jul 12, 2007 10:38:00 AM
realistic action thing
Your complaint about a movie about giant robots is that the action sequences aren't realistic enough? What would a realistic action sequence involving giant robots look like?
Posted by: rea | Jul 12, 2007 10:54:59 AM
I don't think that any film in which the action takes place in a Middle Eastern country which is invaded by bad guys which are basically self-aware US military vehicles (F-22, Black Hawk, etc), and who are then fought off by the scrappy, heroic insurgents and their clunky cars and trucks, can really be seen as "mindlessly pro-American".
The only way it could have been improved is if one of the Autobots had detonated himself at a Decepticon checkpoint with a cry of "Allah Ackbar"!
Posted by: ajay | Jul 12, 2007 11:35:16 AM
Normally, I would agree: it's a freaking Giant Robot movie. However, recall that this *is* Michael Bay and he *is* kind of notorious for getting primo access to military gee-whizzery in exchange for his movies serving as recruitment commercials/military porn.
Well, it's a little more plausible that the military would fight the Decepticons than say, militias of the Red Dawn-ish variety.
Other than Bay being like Tony Scott with ADD...
Huh? That's the other way around. At least Bay doesn't subtitle characters speaking in English.
Posted by: Xanthippas | Jul 12, 2007 10:35:27 PM
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