 Michael Bay's Transformers enters an already crowded movie marketplace in many cities today (Monday) in advance of an "official" opening on Tuesday. By and large, it's attracting positive reviews. Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times describes the movie as "goofy fun with a lot of stuff that blows up real good, and it has the grace not only to realize how preposterous it is, but to make that into an asset." Manohla Dargis in the New York Times remarks that the movie seems to be "designed as the ultimate in shock-and-awe entertainment." It is, she adds, "part car commercial, part military recruitment ad, a bumper-to-bumper pileup of big cars, big guns and, as befits its recently weaned target demographic, big breasts." Some critics seem amazed by their own enjoyment of the film. For example, Desson Thomson writes in the Washington Post: "Before you dismiss this movie as toy porn for overgrown boys (not that there's anything wrong with that), consider this: Never was this goofy rapture explored with more fun. For the non-Transformer heads among us, who couldn't tell an Autobot from a Decepticon, it's a wonderfully playful experience." And Roger Moore in the Orlando Sentinel puts it this way: "We knew it would be dumb. But we had no idea it would be so much dumb fun." Lou Lumenick interrupts his review of the movie in the New York Post to remark: "A box-office analyst whom I respect predicts Transformers will be the year's top-grossing flick. If the enthusiastic response I saw at a screening the other night is any indication, predominately male audiences will flock to see some of Hollywood's most lavish special effects ever, climaxing in a battle that destroys much of downtown Los Angeles." |
