More than meets the eye: Anticipating the release of the Transformers movie – Part 1

The thought of finally watching the movie, Transformers, surely gives a tingle of excitement to all those who grew up with these “robots in disguise.” The story of the epic battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons for the fate of mankind captured the imagination of the kids of the time.

Now we are all grown up, and the prospect of being transported back to our childhood days is slowly sinking in. Better and better, it is not even an animated movie to reflect the original cartoon series. THIS IS THE REAL THING. Thanks to the wonders of CGI, we think to ourselves – how fitting that the movie still inherently targets its original audience – some twenty years on.

Let’s face it, had such a movie been made during ‘our’ time, it would have looked plastic, even toy like a la Japan’s Godzilla and Ultraman series. Actually, it would have been impossible even – lest we forget – these robots can also TRANSFORM.

The trailers and promotions for the movie have looked absolutely smashing so far, but I cannot help but feel a little apprehensive. No doubt that the movie will have updated the original cartoon to something eminently realistic and more catered to us adults, but the premise for the story somehow bothers me.

It is easy to believe in anything as a kid, so long as it excites. But the idea that somewhere out there is a planet (the Transformers’ home planet Cybertron) with inhabitants created in the exact image of our machines on Earth – now that’s rather far out isn’t it? We have all grown up after all. Can the movie address this loophole, or are we expected to leave our brains outside the cinema and just enjoy?

Then too, Transformers was a really long running series. Many movie adaptations of whatever have generally come up short on storyline and even characters. One famous example is Godzilla, which looked nothing like the monster from the original Japanese series.

What then, are those characters that have made the cut? I can imagine that many of the first generation Transformers will feature. We will probably see Optimus Prime and Megatron battling it out, but will we be also be seeing some of the Dinobots or Constructicons in action? Will some characters be axed in favour of plot details? Will we be missing the lovable Bumblebee? Will we be seeing the annoying but traitorous Starscream? Or the mysterious but versatile Soundwave? And what about the immensely powerful Unicron (he’s an actual planet!), who after all did not make an appearance until much later in the original series?

So many questions, and really only one answer. Transformers: The Movie is coming soon – to a cinema near you. Only one thing is for sure – it will be “more than meets the eye.”