Watchlist 2007: Transformers Special Edition

Transformers. It lived up to the hype. Boy, it lived up to the hype.

We had the chance to see Transformers opening day. When we got to the theater, the line was already a hundred or so people long. I thought we were going to be the last people there, and was ready to go; ten minutes later, the line had doubled. Most of the people in line were my age, a lot of them guys, but a couple of fangirls mixed in (there was this girl who was in a Sailor Moon outfit!).

We finally got to our seats, and the trailers started rolling. Balls of Fury (looks funny). Some dumb Rock movie (ugh). I Am Legend (promising). Then, the most interesting one, an unnamed JJ Abrams flick. Godzilla, maybe? Or maybe it's Smokey the tree-crushing monster from Lost.

Then the Dreamworks logo comes up. Applause! Finally. Cheesy opening monologue. I cringed. Five minutes into the movie, Blackout transforms. Huge applause. I had this goofy grin on my face after that, which didn't go away until the end credits rolled.

Never mind that the robots didn't look like the Transformers I grew up with. Never mind that Megatron looked like the Shrike from the Hyperion novels. Never mind those silly flames on Optimus Prime and his "lips". Never mind the over-the-top acting by Jon Voight and John Turturro. This movie kicked all sorts of ass, and Optimus Prime was the number one ass-kicker.

The large crowd was into it as well. Applause when Blackout transforms and makes the classic transforming sound. Cheers when the phrases "More than meets the eye" and "Autobots, roll out!" were uttered (although there's this one phrase from the animated movie that people missed...watch out for it). But the biggest ovation was when Optimus Prime showed up and transformed, flames and all.

Hands down the best movie I've seen this year.