ROLLOUT!

I saw "Transformers: The Movie" on the Fourth. No, seriously. It was good. Shut up. Yes I'm a major dork, dweeb, nerd, geek, etcetera. I really liked it. Of course it wasn't true to the cartoon that I watched when I was about six, but I can barely remember that anyway. The way it was presented made it appealing for anybody who watched it; of course there were the in jokes that referenced the original show such as the "More Than Meets the Eye", and the Volkswagen Beetle sitting next to Bumblebee in the used car lot. Things my movie going companions Mr. Smith, Miss Thomas, and Miss Taylor probably missed, but which drew a small chorus of chuckles from the devotees of the Church of Optimus scattered around the theater.

Optimus Prime is going to kick your ass for not watching the
original TRANSFORMERS when you were a kid, but he will do so
with compassion because you were just a kid then and didn't
understand.

As my cousin Ed(pwninginthehood.net) said,"It was either going to rock or suck, and it rocked my socks off." I agree with that sentiment entirely. I was prepared for disappointment and for my favorite childhood show to be forever ruined, but luckily it did rock. It's not all that often that I'm willing to give such an enthusiastic endorsement to a film, especially one that was adapted from something that I love.

I'm actually glad that they changed a few things. Megatron for example. He was a Walther P-38 handgun in the cartoon and he couldn't even fire himself when he was in his gun mode. Starscream had to carry him around and fire him which wasn't all that great since Starscream was always plotting against Megatron. They did maintain his frickin' giant gun albeit in a different way.

Bumblebee probably wouldn't have done very well against Barricade as a Volkswagen so it was a smart move to have him be something larger and more appealing since he was to have such a big part in the film. Originally, Bumblebee was just a scout and messenger and didn't do much fighting.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. If I were Colonel Tigh, I would give it five shots of scotch out of five.