Expectations from a Movie

    Looking back at what I wrote about Transformers: The Movie(TFTM), I realized I had more to say on the subject. Or at least more to say about movies in general that I can relate to Transformers. This is gonna relate to the topic, just trust me. And yes next post is going to be about something non TF related.
    Like many other I was initially very excited when I heard there was going to be a new Transformers movie coming. The fact that is was going to be made by Michael Bay was a little nerve inducing, but I went into the movie with high hopes. I came out of the movie having enjoyed parts of it but on the whole not satisfied. And the more movies came out the greater the distaste that I had. The reason is because it didn't try to be anything more that the most generic action movie. Maybe it's unfair to put the blame all on Bay. He was chosen for the director's chair by others and on the whole the viewing public ate it up.
    And I can hear the clamor already that what should I expect from a movie about robots that are fighting with each other. And to that I respond back that there was an ANIMATED movie that came out in 1986 that surpassed it in every way. That movie has more heart in one scene than all three current TF movies put together.
    One of the easiest ways to see this in he character designs themselves. While Bumblebee and Optimus were very different the majority of the others were very close on the color wheel no matter Autobot or Decepticon. When it's hard to distinguish between characters it's hard to care about them. In contrast in TFTM not only do 95% of the characters look different from each other the two factions look different from each other.
    One of the other major points that irks me is the focus on the human characters over a movie that is not supposed to be about them. To be honest though even in all the more recent cartoons this takes place as well, but these also came out around the movie so the influence is easy to see. To be sure TFTM has human characters all of two of them. My understanding as one of the reasons behind the LaBeouf focus is that the only way to get people in the seats is to have a character that they can relate to, and I feel bad for the masses that find it easy to relate themselves to Sam Whitwicky or Shia. My stance would be that if you develop the humanoid robot to have a distinct character the human element is unnecessary.
    And that is one of the biggest failings in movies today. Now don't get me wrong, I have no problems with popcorn movies. There are movies that scream for that treatment. You know something like The Expendables I would not expect to have a heady discourse about. In too many movies there is teh ability to make more from the material they have. So Transformers is not a bad movie due to bad acting, which trust me there is in spades, but more to the fact that it could have been so much more than what it became and that people were satisfied with what they were given. But again I leave it you the audience to judge for yourselves. The movies are not hard to find. The entire old one can be found on Youtube and most have seen the new one.