The movie begins overseas in Qatar where the US military are the first to encounter one of the decepticons (the bad robots who are part of an alien, mechanized race who are able to disguise themselves as Earthly man-made machinery). We are given a very realistic flavor of what life is like in the army on assignment, and then, finally, the attack begins. Everything happens from the soldiers' perspective, and the disruption, confusion, and mayhem are brought to life in loud explosion, foreign tongue, and flying sand. The battle seems so real.

Contrast this with a scene later in the film when several autobots (the good robots) are seen prancing around the backyard of Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf). They are trying to avoid being noticed by Sam's parents who are about the most clueless parents in the world. The whole scene is so juvenile and ridiculous. Another aspect of the film that is hard to swallow is that it featured a girl who can drive. I mean, I can suspend belief that cars, semi-trucks, and planes can transform into alien robots, but a girl who can drive? (No offense to Danica Patrick).

And that really sums up the movie: intense action and realistic battle scenes intermixed with bizarre and puerile comic relief.

I for one, really enjoyed this film. I loved being able to re-live the euphoria of rooting for Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen who will sound familiar as he also did the voice for the original cartoons). The movie really makes you wait for him to appear, ratcheting up the anticipation each minute that he is not yet introduced). The action and speed were phenomenal, and I even appreciated LaBeouf's performance as the hapless teenager who stumbles upon the coolest car since Kit (although when "Bumblebee" reconfigures himself to be a concept version of the Camaro which is expected to be released in 2009, I realized that I much preferred the old-style "crappy" 2nd-generation Camaro version). And that brings me to my next point...

I was a bit turned off by the blatant commercialization. This movie was brought to you by HP (whose laptops were featured when an overseas soldier had a video chat with his family back home) and overwhelmingly by GM. It just sticks out like a sore thumb when EVERY car in the film is a GM model. I mean, I paid a lot of money for my movie ticket...why do I have to sit through a 2-hour long car commercial?

I was also very disappointed by this movie's moral fiber, or lack thereof. The language is terrible and the dialogue content is inappropriate for children. I would not show this to my 12-year-old daughter. The PG-13 rating is deserved and I'd say it is a strong PG-13 bordering upwards. And why? This movie is marketed to children. It should appeal to, and be appropriate for, everyone!

Finally, the speed. I love the pace of this film. I love the perception given that these transformers are far superior to us in reflex and ability. We just can't keep up with them. But I would have loved for just one moment to see in slow-motion the process of one of the vehicles transforming into a robot or vice-versa. It simply happens so quickly on the screen that it is over before it begins. One of the things that made the cartoons so exciting was seeing the transformations! And as a kid I would sit in front of the TV and transform my transformer along with it. Perhaps if I ever get the DVD I can slow it down and relive such a moment (although sadly I don't think I've kept any of my toys).

Complaints aside, for a few brief moments, the toys and cartoons of my youth seemed to come to life on the big screen, and for that I am grateful.

With this movie, there's more than meets the eye.