An Australian movie review show gave Transformers a pretty good review, three and a half stars each. Link to review and video. (a very very minor spoiler if you've hid under a rock for the past few months ) I should note that the reviewers, Margaret and David, are probably the most well-known critics in Australia and are usually quite the lefty arty types, so I was surprised that they praised Bay. Later comments: Anyway, (assuming the ABC haven't uploaded the review video yet), IIRC, David went on to say he agreed that Transformers, like many modern action films, cuts too quickly and didn't stay focused on particular shots, possibly because of the younger generation's being used to things moving very, very quickly, perhaps due to being brought up on computer games (joking that maybe they should train the younger generation should slow down abit, or alternatively train the older generation to speed up). He then asked Margaret if this was her first good Bay review, and she disagreed (They gave The Island 4 and 3 stars respectively), and he replied Bay hasn't had a very good track record, to which she agreed, but said Bay did bring that sort of muscularity to films to which he agreed. David said what sets this film somewhat apart (though he is not a huge fan) are the human characters, who are pretty well defined, well acted and an interesting cast, there's alot of humour in it and the special effects, as always in these films, are wonderful. Margaret then said what surprised her was that the TFs had real personalities, which he agreed. She said they seem to have more personality than some real characters they've seen in films lately, which he said was true.
I got the distinct impression from David's comments that he is not a Michael Bay fan (so I think we can add another star to his review). And Margaret was very, very positive which I think will bode very well for getting people to see the movie.
I liked this quote: And that was the ultimate goal of the film to me. Take "Joe Soap" off the streets and introduce him (or her) to a world they weren't previously interested in (or even aware of!)
It probably sounds crazy but I actually had some butterflies in the stomach waiting to see this review, hoping that it would be good, because of how widely known and respected the two of them are as reviewers.
Yeah, I was fearing that they'd pan the film given their general preference for the deeper, more poetic pictures. Then again, David did do a few cameos for The Chaser
Just text at the moment, though that may change tomorrow. Fit for Natalie and I watched it as it aired here in Australia.
