| ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. | |
| PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. | |
| OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. | |
| NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Parents need to know that even though the myriad tie-in toys are being marketed to kids as young as 2, this explosion-heavy action movie based on the '80s cartoon and action figures is not for young children ... no matter how "cool" they think the robots/cars are. It's packed with scenes of loud, hectic combat (including gunfire), destruction, and flying missiles and bodies. Plus, it's long (144 minutes, the last 20 or so of which are devoted to a big fight scene), the characters swear ("bitch," "s--t," "damn," a couple of incomplete "f--ks," etc.), and there's some sexual imagery (shots of cleavage and a short-skirted bottom, jokes about masturbation and virginity, and more).
In this live action film based on the 1980s cartoon series, the Decepticons, an evil race of alien robots, attack a U.S. military unit stationed in the Middle East. The men launch an immediate offensive -- but meanwhile, back in the States, Secretary of Defense John Keller (Jon Voight) learns of a secret U.S. project involving Megatron (voiced by Hugo Weaving), a bad robot that crash-landed in the Arctic decades before. In the film's civilian side-story, teenager Sam (Shia LaBeouf) buys a used car, unaware it's an Autobot -- a good robot. Neither does Sam realize that he has in his possession the key to the all-powerful cube -- which all the robots, good and bad, desperately want. The film's many characters and plots collide with the help of the Autobots' courageous, red-and-blue-colored leader Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen).
You'd expect a summer action movie directed by Michael Bay, CGIed by Industrial Light and Magic, and based on a line of toy cars to bring the noise. TRANSFORMERS does exactly that. Big and boomy, it skimps on plot and character development, instead focusing on its decidedly spectacular explosions. Though the opening voiceover offers a cursory backstory, it hardly matters why these giant robots have come to earth. The point is much simpler: They blow stuff up.
Families can talk about why kids want to see this movie -- is it because of the story or all of the toys and other tie-in products they've been hearing about?
Who's the movie's intended audience? Is it today's kids (and, if so,
what age group?) or grown ups who were kids when the toys were first
popular in the '80s?
How does this big-screen version compare to the
different TV shows and the previous movie?
Do the explosions and crashes seem more serious here than in the
cartoon versions?
| Studio: | DreamWorks |
| Director: | Michael Bay |
| Cast: | Megan Fox, Shia LaBeouf, Tyrese Gibson |
| Genre: | Action/Adventure |
| Run time: | 144 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | July 3, 2007 |
| DVD release date: | October 16, 2007 |
| MPAA rating: | PG-13 |
| MPAA explanation: | intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, brief sexual humor, and language. |