The Transformers: The Movie

A film that only interests those who know the animated series, but which marks the end of Orson Welles' work.

I saw this film by mere chance. Later, I was surprised to see how well regarded and highly rated it is. It is based on “Transformers”, an animated series for children and teenagers that was quite successful in the 80s and 90s, but which I have to confess I never saw. Recently, Marvel invested millions in live-action films and revived this universe. I haven't seen them in full yet, but this is where I get to know the characters better. What did I expect from this movie? A bit of easy entertainment, assuming the movie would at least do the work of better introducing the characters and story. That's not what I found.

In fact, this is an “inward-facing” film, that is, it is aimed almost exclusively at an audience that already knows the animated series and the characters. Therefore, there are no explanations or introductions, anyone who wants to understand something should go and see the series. Three points down, I thought: I don't feel obligated to watch the series to understand the movie, I can just watch something else and send this movie to the trash can, where it belongs.

Despite everything, I saw the film, and after reading a little about the animated series on the Internet, I understood that the film kills a lot of characters that, until then, were central to the plot, and that the film was released between two seasons, introducing characters who would play a relevant role later. Not being an expert, I wonder to what extent the film was not a kind of publicity move, either for the new season or for the merchandising that is usually associated with this type of television material.

I won't waste my time describing the script, which involves a giant robot that devours planets and the war between the Decepticons and the Autobots, robotic races of alien origin that fight each other. What I can say is that, in addition to being an uninteresting film that will not captivate those who don't know the series, it has a very confusing and far-fetched plot.

The graphics and animations have that kind of quality you find in a lot of animated material from the late 80's, and it made me think about possible influences of Japanese and Korean "anime" on American production. Moreover, just a word to salute the effort that Orson Welles must have made to give voice to one of the creatures, at a stage when he was practically at death's door. The distinguished actor would die days after having recorded the material that was used in this film.