Movie reviews: The Transformers (2007) – Part 77

transformers : more than meets the eye, indeed! i just recently watched the ’80’s cartoon inspired motion picture (produced by THE Stephen Spielberg! ’nuff said!) and here’s what i thought:

they stomped spider-man 3! they killed live free or die hard! they even kicked the pirates of the Caribbean from port to stern! this is THE movie blockbuster of the summer! if you do not go to the movies but one time this summer, make the transformers the movie you choose.

the CGI was the best i have ever seen, the acting was superb, and the very concept of the plot was more than a die hard transformers fan such as myself could have hoped for! not to mention the new look for optimus prime! i mean, FLAMES, BABY! this film managed to keep true to the essence of the transformers saga while, simultaneously, bringing the franchise to a whole new level.

trust me when i say, this is more than a kid-targeted sci-fi flick. this ain’t your daddies transformers, fan boy! my father, a fifty-something ex-Vietnam vet biker, a guy who finds science fiction to be, at best, hokey, sat through this movie with a look of astonishment on his face. my four year old son, who has the attention span of a mayfly, sat stock still for the entire almost two and a half hours! a feat that is , by no means, small!

in short, whether you’re a die hard fan or being introduced to the famed robots in disguise for the first time, you are guaranteed to walk out of that theater with a HUGE smile on your face!

AUTO-BOTS, ROLL OUT!

 

Movie reviews: Spider

“Revenge is like a poison that can take us over. Before you know it, it can turn you into something ugly.”

Aunt May (Rosemary Harris)

“Spider-Man 3″

REVENGE

Revenge is the sweeping theme of the third “Spider Man” installment. From Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) to the villains, each character is driven with one thing on their mind the act of vengeance. But Parker should have listened to his Aunt May because things really got ugly.

“Spider-Man 3″ opens with a celebration. By now, New York is a safe city and everyone is crediting our friendly neighborhood web slinger for making it crime-free. “People like me,” Parker says. But not for long.

While out on a romantic night with long-time girlfriend Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), a mysterious, extraterrestrial black substance falls from the sky via a meteor. It’s called a “symbiote,” a creature that lives off another creature to survive.

This malevolent glob attaches itself to Peter’s Spider-Man’s suit. Suddenly, Peter feels great, powerful, and he’s sporting a fashionable black costume. But he’s also proud, aggressive, and driven with anger.

THE POWER OF 3

When I first heard director Sam Raimi was thinking of pitting Spider-Man against three villains (it would have been four, Ben Kingsley was set to play Vulture but that plot died), I was perplexed. Here’s a director who clearly knows how to make a superhero film, yet might be running out of ideas. When a superhero sequel requires three villains, that’s a sign that there’s no more big story arcs to tell (remember “Batman and Robin” facing off with Mr. Freeze, Bane, and Poison Ivy?).

Villain number 1 is the New Goblin (James Franco) who himself is driven with revenge. Goblin is also Harry Osborn who blames Spider-Man for killing his father (the original Goblin from the first “Spider-Man”).

Sandman (Thomas Haden Church from “Sideways”) is Spidey’s second nemesis. He’s known as Flint Marko, an escaped convict who stumbles upon a government experiment that turns him into a sandman, a granulated giant who can change his shape and size at will. Police say Marko shot and killed Peter’s Uncle Ben. You guessed it he’s the source of Peter’s rage.

Eddie Brock (Topher Grace), Peter’s devious Daily Bugle rival photographer, is villain number 3. He gets transformed into the vicious doppelganger Venom by the same black slime that changes Peter.

All the villains have believable motivations to become evil but none of them can match Spider-Man’s greatest foe himself.

THE VERDICT

“Spider-Man 3″ is bigger, longer, and darker than the first two films, and with a super-expensive price tag of $250M, it’s riskier. So I understand why Raimi and company had to resort to 1,000 or so special effects shots to attract viewers but they failed to continue the emotional foundation they built in “Spider-Man 2.”

The storyline is not as engaging, and Raimi fails to find the right tone for the movie. Dunst, who recently made a comment that the “Spider-Man” franchise is dead without her, Maguire, and Raimi, may want to rethink that statement.

Still, “Spider-Man 3″ is an entertaining piece of summer fluff that is fun to watch. The cinematography and special effects alone are worth your money. I’m curious to see if Sony is going to move forward with “Spider-Man 4″ with or without Raimi and company. But if I were you, I would stop watching future “Spider-Man” installments until they tell the right story. That is your power of revenge. And for that, “Spider-Man 3″ gets 3 webbed wonder kisses