I was definitely nervous when I heard that there would be a transformers movie because, well, those characters represent some of the best portions of my childhood. The teaser trailer got me excited, but still nervous. The full trailers were pretty, but who knew how they'd treat it? Then there was a part of me that felt that if Spielberg was producing, it couldn't suck (forgetting for a moment that he let Jurassic Park 3 get made, which was a steaming pile of shit).
Well the verdict is in, and they FUCKING NAILED IT! It became obvious as the movie began that they realized it had to be treated with a balance of action and a certain campy factor that acknowledged that this is, after all, a franchise built on toys. So in that respect it was very true to the original TV cartoon, with a plot line that felt more like the comic book. Most of the actors were total unknowns, so there was very little distraction from the robots, who are the stars.
The amount of humor really surprised me. There were some really classic moments in there that really match the absurdity of these giant robots hanging out in the suburbs.
This is the first movie in ages where I can remember the audience actually clapping at the end. I'm pretty sure I'll have to see this one again in the theater. I enjoyed it that much. And considering that much of the applause came from kids who weren't even born when the cartoon was on, that's saying something.