Upcoming Gotta-see

Next week Transformers hits the theaters. I am excited to see this, despite the director.

As kids, my brother and I watched every Transformers cartoon that hit VHS. We were both thrilled when the movie came out, but I was terribly diappointed by it; Optimus Prime was killed within the first 30 minutes. I couldn't cope with the writer's decision to kill off my favorite character so quickly into the movie. I was 11, which must be my excuse. I recently watched the 1986 movie again, and while I was still upset about Optimus getting the ax, I was better able to appreciate the talents of Judd Nelson, Eric Idle, and the great Orson Welles.

Since I did love the cartoons as a child, I was interested when it was announced that a live-action version had been green-lighted. The concept has, in my opinion, the potential to be an exciting summer action flick, if, and only if, it is done correctly.

When Michael Bay was announced as director, I quickly lost interest. I have never seen an entire Michael Bay movie because I either a.) fall asleep in the middle of them from boredom, or b.) get angry at the over-done effects and even more over-done acting. They start off well- then quickly loose momentum. Armageddon started off well, but by the end of the movie I was ready to shoot Bruce Willis myself just to get through the treacle of his "heroic sacrifice". The end of Pearl Harbor was more of the same, giving me even more reason than I already had to dislike Ben Affleck. The direction and FX of both movies are boring and repetative. I have since avoided all Michael Bay movies.

From what I've seen of Transformers, Michael Bay could redeem himself. It would be a tall order, to be sure. However, there appears to be some (small) interesting plot. The transformers themselves look incredible. And best of all, in my mind, he has stuck with the original "version one" characters from the cartoons, which were the best of what I remember as a child.

After viewing all the trailers, the piece that interested me the most and whetted my appetite for this movie was seeing Optimus Prime, live and in the metal. He looks awesome.

This is also going to give viewers a chance to see Shia LeBeouf in an action movie before next year's Indiana Jones IV is released. I, for one, and curious to see if he can hold his own in an action movie, since he is about star in a sequel to the Grandfather of All Action Movies, Raiders of the Lost Ark. Can he blow up Nazis with Indy? Hopefully, this movie will give viewers some idea of his abilities.

I hope this movie focuses on the machines and not on some sappy human subplot. I hope there are no repetitive FX and no substandard acting. But most of all, I hope it lives up to the potential of the concept.

And I hope Optimus doesn't get killed off at the beginning of the movie. I couldn't take the trauma again.