More than meets the eye

My record of super-fanboy nerdiness speaks soundly for itself so, without shame, I will just say here that I have already seen Transformers twice. Yep, that's right. I saw it on opening day at the very first show and again less then 24 hours later. Nerdy? Absolutely. I don't care.

I. Love. This. Movie.

Watching it in a theater packed to the gills with people on opening night is the absolute best way to watch a summer blockbuster movie and this one was no exception. Cheering, applause, collective gasps at the amazing visual effects (to watch these things actually transform is poetry in motion...I'll never understand how they made it look this good). I loved the Transformers when I was a kid and seeing this movie was like riding joy. Michael Bay outdid himself on this one with a generous helping of fanboy trivia thrown in. One of my favorite lines from the entire movie was when Megatron (leader of the Decepticons and voiced by Agent Smith himself: Hugo Weaving) shouts, "You've failed me yet again, Starscream." I mean, seriously...that was perfect. He used to say that ALL the time in the original show. It's actually one of the few things I remember about it from when I was a kid.

And thank you for letting Optimus Prime kick some serious ass. And thank you again for using the original iconic voice as well. I don't know who that guy is but his voice is Transformers.

As an oft-cynical bastard of an artist who is rarely impressed by anything it was nice to feel like a kid again. This is what it must have been like to see Star Wars for the first time in the theater. I just walked out thinking, "How did they do that?" I'll probably see it 3 more times (one of which definitely has to be with my brother...we used to play with Transformers all the time) and, when I go visit my parents, I'm going to dig those little beauties out. Hopefully my mom didn't throw them away. I'll be super-pissed.

Now they need to make equally-as-kickass movie versions of He-Man (the obligatory 8Os Dolph Lundgren version sucked royally), G.I. Joe, Thundercats (I heard this one might actually be coming sometime soon) and Silverhawks. I'm not holding my breath for that last one since it's a little obscure but I loved that cartoon when I was a kid. I injured my neck one time when I was about 8 when I was pretending to be Quicksilver (he's the super badass leader) and it's never been the same.

So, there you have it. My childhood received a little tender loving care via an enormous movie screen and, frankly, I'm better off for it. Thank you Michael Bay. And thank YOU Optimus Prime.