Transformers

I was sitting at the exclusive red carpet preview of Transformers and I was in anything but a good mood. Christian reviewers refer to productions like this as ‘popcorn films’ – a snack rather than a meal. Could it really spark any conversation of eternal significance? I personally doubted it…

It had taken an hour of misdirection and negotiation for me to finally make it to my seat. I’d had to squeeze between glassy-eyed fans and glamour-dressed industry hangers-on, dodge well-meaning security guards and offer my identity to media minders at least a half a dozen times. The much anticipated Steven Spielberg-produced, Michael Bay-directed film was starting to wear thin and the first reel hadn’t even begun to roll.

Actually, I should never have even been there. I was expecting this job to go to a reviewer who was a true Transformers fan. I had missed the buzz growing up by virtue of being just that little bit older. Admittedly I am a Star Trek fan, but I’ve never been overly excited by robots that can turn into trucks. There are hierarchies even within the circle of science fiction nerds to which I belong…

Back to the cinema where I am witnessing a strange cultural exchange…

The distributors are attempting to build the excitement associated with the film’s preview by playing the theme song over and over. It’s an 80’s glam-rock revision of the original Transformers cartoon theme but it doesn’t seem to be going down too well. On the tenth time round the die-hard fans that surround me actually start chanting ‘No more! No more!’ until someone pull’s the plug mid guitar-wail.

Co-producer Don Murphy clearly had this audience in mind when the idea to create the Transformers movie struck at a comic convention. He remembers thinking, “The kids of the 80s have all grown up and now they probably want to see movies based on all this stuff around me, all their beloved characters and stories. Oh my God, this makes perfect sense.” And that’s as far as I personally expected God to enter into the film – at the level of the expletive. But the sub-culture crowding the cinema makes it pretty clear that this group could just as easily cat-call the film as cheer it.

I’m sitting next to Freibus and Andrew. Andrew, 23, knocked off work in the middle of the day because he was so charged with anticipation. He owns all the box-sets of the cartoon series. Freibus, 30, is an IT employee and has been working angles to get tickets for months. “I’m not a nut or anything,” he tells me. “It’s just one of the biggest events of the year for me. This and the War of the Worlds musical.” I have nothing that could top that comparison, so I start chatting to them about the two decade phenomena that began with the first toy release by Hasbro in 1984. I ask them about the many spin-offs, including the Beast Wars series but they groan and shake their heads. Clearly I’m in the presence of purists.

Finally the cinema begins to darken and Micheal Bay himself steps up to the microphone at the front to welcome us and reveal that the film has only been completed 19 hours earlier. We will be the first audience in the world to see what he and other Transformer tragics hope will create a whole new audience of obsessives. I, of course, have my doubts and my pen is already sharpened. Freibus and Andrew will be hard to convince. I’m also hoping that the 500 or so words I have already written will help convey to you the magnitude of the turn-around I was about to make…

Transformers is simply fantastic entertainment and likely to be one of the biggest releases of the year. It is also likely to provide interesting opportunities for the Christian mind keen to engage in truly popular culture. The plot is faithful to the original cartoon without getting bogged down in the sort of minutiae that would only interest the truly obsessed. The pace is exactly what you would expect from the producers who delivered Raiders of the Lost Ark, The X-Men and Saving Private Ryan. The film runs for well over two hours but watching is fairly effortless. Most importantly for its genre, the computer generated effects are impressive and flawlessly integrated with the live footage. The battle sequences actually evoked cheers from the audience, as did the appearances of well-realised characters like Optimus Prime. There is also a hefty amount of Woody-Allen-esque humour from the main teenage character that is sure to please any parent who is stolidly preparing to do ‘something nice for the kids’.

For the discerning mind there is also a strong theme of faithfulness in the face of opposition. As the Transformers reveal themselves, all sorts of social pressures are brought to bear on the main human characters to deny the truths about which they have become aware. Teenager Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) is made painfully aware of the significance of his family motto, ‘No sacrifice, no victory’. The Transformer leader Optimus Prime asserts more than once that if his companions truly believe in their cause they will be prepared to lay down their lives. As he assures Sam, “I will sacrifice myself to save you”.

If there is a fault in the film’s philosophy, though, it has to be the overly high view both aliens and people have of humanity. Film-goers can expect to have to deal with the usual clichés about the supreme worth of individual freedom and the importance of personal choice. Servant-hearted moments abound but they are ultimately used to bolster our pride in ourselves, confirming Optimus Prime’s wince-worthy observation “… there is more to them than meets the eye.”

I’m not sure I’m at the point of buying the figurines, but I think that I’d be happy to promote a Transformer trip. It will be one film you certainly won’t have to convince a youth-group to see. Just be sure you’re ready to make the connection between ‘no sacrifice, no victory’ and God’s long-term transformation of their own lives.

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