After a handful of American soldiers (led by Duhamel and Gibson) escape a giant transforming mechanical alien attack in Qatar, a pair of computer experts in Washington (Taylor and Anderson) try to figure out what happened. Meanwhile in California, teenager Sam (LaBeouf) has just got his first car and worked up the nerve to talk to the hottest girl in school (Fox). But it turns out that his car is actually a good robot assigned to protect him from the bad robots, and a shady government agency knows more than it's letting on.

Yes, it's essentially a love story about a boy and his car, and everything carefully is crafted to appeal to fanboys, including the strong central female character he hooks up with. This is quite possibly the noisiest, most spectacular action movie ever made--cinema seats shake with the rumbling soundtrack, while the prowling cinematography brings effects to life in an unusually exciting way. Within minutes we've lost track of the number of cars flung through the air, a Bay trademark, although we have to imagine how many people are mowed down or crushed.

But the best surprise is that there's actually some depth, mainly because there are good Autobots and bad Decepticons, and most humans can't tell the difference. Government overreaction threatens the fate of the whole planet, and victory is only possible with trust and cooperation in a battle against a villain who actually has something to fight for. Meanwhile, in the few gaps between the breathtaking action sequences, the script stirs in some terrific comical dialog to keep us laughing and deepen the characters.

Throughout, Bay maintains a brilliant technical sheen, with jaw-dropping special effects woven in expertly with the live action (even if the robots occasionally look like they're from Robots). But this visual expertise wouldn't work as well without such a thumping story. And even if the film is far too loud and relentless for some viewers, that's exactly what its fans will love about it.

themes, violence, language

22.Jun.07