Transformers

In preparation for what's likely to be the biggest movie this Summer, one of the cinemas in London was screening the original Transformers over 20 years after its original launch.

...and boy was it showing its age. The animation was basic to say the least but then the original cartoons weren't exactly masterpieces in that department. The soundtrack is awfully cheesy rock songs typical of the decade. In fact the soundtrack reminded me of the soundtrack to Team America, which was a piss take anyway. The funniest song was the one that ended with the line "Nothing's going to stand in our way....................today".

The story is around the ongoing battle between the Autobots led by Optimus Prime (for around 20 minutes before he gets shot and dies) and the Decepticons led by Megatron (for around 30 minutes before he is rebuilt as Galvatron), and the threat to both of them by a massive planet munching transformer called Omnicro (voiced by Orson Welles trivia fans). I was expecting to see hundreds of Transformers but there were only around a dozen in each camp; hardly a massive war.

I can't recall having ever seen the film before and obviously I remember the principle characters but the only thing that came back to me clearly was the voice of Soundwave (a transformer who can convert to a tape player), but that could be because he sounded exactly like a Cylon. I definitely didn't remember Blur (who speaks like he's on speed), which makes me think I was seeing the film for the first time.

The film is unlikely to ever find its way into a cinema again, so as an event it was special just a shame the film wasn't.