Chill Out

An Editorial

If you’re like me (a Transformers fan), then you’ve been watching the developments of the up-coming live-action Transformers movie with great anticipation. You’ve seen the trailer ten times (if that few), you’ve watched the on-line interviews with the writers, and you’ve scrutinized the 20^th Anniversary DVD of the original movie for any and all tidbits about the release in July.

But one thing that I hope you haven’t done yet is made up your mind about the movie. See, I’ve been listening to a lot of the fandom of the series about this film and more than a little bit of the fans out there have already passed judgment on it. Some (admittedly, not many) are claiming that it’ll be great, as if having transforming robots is all you need for a good movie. While it is a good start, it’s hardly the only qualifier.

But far many more fans have already decreed that it’s an awful abomination and that it’s going to be horrible. Some of their complaints are rooted in a lack of faith in the director, others in the overall designs of the Transformers (especially some of the ‘leaked’ designs), and some in the changes made to the known vehicle modes.

It’s a foregone conclusion that there are going to be people who jump to conclusions about any project that’s ever made, doubly so when it’s about something as popular as Transformers. And I’d be lying if I said that amongst all my anticipation for the movie, I didn’t also have plenty of trepidation as well. But let’s be reasonable here.

First off, any time a story shifts mediums; things are going to have to change at least a little. But in this case, you’ve got not one medium shift, but two. Not only is the story of the Transformers being brought to the big screen as a complete film (versus a quasi-TV-tie-in like the first film), but it’s also making the ambitious leap from animation to live-action. Either one of these would be hard to do. Put the two of them together and you’re going to get an especially tough assignment, one that, naturally, will require change.

But is change a bad thing? Consider what the original Transformers cartoon was. I mean, seriously. We all loved the characters and the story and all that jazz, but at the end of the day, it really was more or less a commercial to sell the toys. You like the TV show; you buy the toys. It certainly was that simple for me, as it was for many of the fans. Well, things are a little bit different now. Not that there won’t be toys to go along with this movie, but it’s meant as an independent product.

Also, consider when the story was made. The original show began its run in 1984. It’s now 2007. Obviously, changes are going to need to be made, if only in the vehicles. It wouldn’t make sense of Bumblebee to be one of the old model VW bugs if the Transformers are supposedly given modern vehicle designs. Just the same, Starscream, Skywarp, and those pimps aren’t going to be F-15s if for no other reason then that model isn’t used anymore.

Beyond the vehicles, the nature of the story is going to have to shift. The world has changed radically in the last 23 years. Themes that were important to the original animated tale are now, perhaps not invalid, but certainly not at the forefront (making the movie focus on an energy crisis would be hit-or-miss today).

On a different front, a lot of people have been clamoring about whether or not the movie will stay true to the original story. Well, which story are you referring to? The animated series? Consider that it had a prominent tendency to contradict itself (if you’d like proof, check into the origins of the Constructacons). How about the comics, of which there are multiple versions (original US, UK, Dreamwave, Devil’s Due, etc), each with their own stories and histories? If you were to stay true to only one version and ignore all the others, you would be missing out on some valuable subject material. And fans of one version will be angry if another version is favored. As much as I love the original animated series, there are parts of the comics that I think, from the story standpoint, are better.

As for the actual design of the Transformers, from what we’ve seen in the trailers, it does look quite different. I will be the first to say that I am most skeptical about this movie based on their physical appearance. At the same time, though, I’m not about to let the stylistic issues completely ruin my interest. I’ve already mentioned the semantic reasons for changes to the vehicle modes, so I won’t rehash it. But are the characters really that defined by their vehicle? Obviously if Wheeljack were suddenly a jet, that might be hard to see. But if he’s a Porsche now instead of a Lamborghini, I’m not going to lose sleep over it. You might as well complain that Carly (I think that’s Carly in the trailer) isn’t a blonde.

The Transformers, from what we saw in the animated series, didn’t adhere too closely to reality, in either their basic designs or in their transformations (there’s no way that Prime’s final form would have been what it was, based on the model truck he transformed from). But in a live-action film, adhering to reality and the proposed laws of physics is going to be a bigger issue. The final robots would have to believably be able to fit into the form of the vehicles they were transforming into. Ergo, designs might need to be changed. And it is possible that they might be changed for the cooler.

And finally, we need to address the cast and the studio. I’ve heard a lot of worry over both these factors, some valid, most not. Michael Bay, the director of the film, has lost some favor of late with the moviegoers that I know. Some of his more recent movies haven’t been that great in their eyes. I still have a hard time holding that against him though. They speak of him as if he could never make another good movie. This is the man that brought us the Rock after all. I’m willing to at least give him the time of day from here on out just off that project alone. And Spielberg’s the executive producer. Yeah, the EP doesn’t necessarily do that much per say, but its Spielberg. The man who brought us ET and Indiana Jones is not going to sign onto a project that he doesn’t want to be quality.

Lastly, I mention the studio because there’s an important factor that needs to be considered. N recent years, a lot of people have gone on the rampage about studios, saying that they’ll gut any property they can get their hands on. And it’s true; most studio execs are, more than likely, not fans. What they are is businessmen, whose job is to make money. What’s going to make more money; a good movie or a bad movie?

It is in the studio’s best interest for this movie to be good, for both the general audiences and for the fans. The general audiences will bring in the big bucks up front, but the fans will bring in the big bucks in the long run. The fans keep the thing alive. As such, the studio will keep the fans in mind as the movie is made because, simply put, there’s money in the fan’s approval.

And before any of you begin, bringing in the general audiences isn’t a bad thing. Just because something’s popular doesn’t mean it’s awful. If I can go to and enjoy the same movie as Hotstuff McPopular, that’s great. That’s twice the tickets, which increases the chances of there being a sequel (hopefully with the Constructacons). And you don’t know. If the movie is popular with the general audiences, then some of the non-fans might get interested. If they like the movie, they might want to see what the original show was like. They might want to get into the whole thing. And that’s not bad!

I don’t know if this movie is going to be good or not. I have reservations too, just like everyone. Lord knows, this film could suck something fierce. But it ultimately is going to come down to how are you going to decide? Are you going to decide in advance, based on the few little snippets you see on-line and rumormongering every little detail that’s passed around on message boards? Or are you going to decide by going to see the film? I, for one, am more than willing to give it a chance and, if you’re a fan of the series, I hope you will to.