The Big Picture: Untransformed

[maninahat]

However, if you're looking for the "difference" between appreciating these two nothing-to-do-with-eachother films, it comes down to where the appreciation comes from. I can find you other legitimate reviews - positive and negative - of "Sucker Punch" aside from mine that found something intellectually engaging about the film. This is NOT as true for the "Transformers" films (though I'm sure a few can be found) whose most passionate defenders tend to come down on the side of "I just want to turn off my brain and watch the fireworks!" "not every movie has to be high-art!" or some variation thereof.

But I'm sure that even you like to "turn off your brain" and watch utter crap from time to time. Perhaps a more clear example would have been that Piranha movie you once mentioned liking; the one you admitted was trash but fun? Is there an appreciable difference between liking that trashy movie and liking Transformers? And would it be reasonable to generalise that people who like that piranha movie are also too dumb to be trusted with automobiles, despite you (a smart person) also enjoying that movie?

Whether or not you enjoy a movie "ironically", or "intellectually" or "explosiony", it all shows up the same in the ticket sales - you might find Sucker Punch full of compelling ideas, the guy next to you might have watched it purely for the costume designs. I don't see how it is reasonable for anyone to come along and call you a couple of cretins just for having those preferences.

 

[marurder]

Incidently, Transformers 3 was THE biggest movie in China last year. And most of them saw it dubbed into Chinese, so dialogue really isn't that important when making money. (watch any movie dubbed into Chinese it sounds AWFUL - bad lip sync, and voices don't fit any actor or situation at all)

here's a tip for mr bay:
KEEP...
HUMANS...
OUT OF IT......

But how to make it relate-able to the masses!??!

 

[PunkRex]

Im PunkRex,
And thats bloody depressing...

 

[PunkRex]

Fun fact: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" is the direct result of the first Transformers movie doing well, take from that what you will.

It is? , please explain further!
(Not that I don't belive you I'm just curious)

Proberly to do with popularity with Hasbros older shows. Transformers does well as a movie, therefore a TV show gets made, Hasbro makes money, so try the same with another of their francises (in this case MLP), Lauren Faust offers after her Galaxy Girls proposal gets shot down (I hope that gets made some day) by Hasbro, Magic is made!

 

[QCX]

Welcome to Costco I love you

 

[honeybakedham]

The live-action films are far from the worst thing to ever happen to Transformers.


And the next movie (which I hope gets marketed as "Trans4Mers") is scheduled for two years from now. Two years is a VERY long time in Hollywood-Land. A lot of things can happen.

For example... in two years, maybe they could all come to their senses...

Seriously though... I don't care. Every movie that gets made pays someone. Not just big name actors and producers... but grips and gaffers and assistant camera operators. Greensmen, CG artists, craft service people, make up artists, and so on down the line are all middle class folks making a living, buying groceries, and paying mortgages because someone had the good idea to greenlight a project that has a good chance of turning a buck. I hope they never stop making (insert franchise of choice here) movies.

Fortunately, the film industry makes several hundred films a year, a few thousand globally, so if you hate Transformers (I know I do) you can choose another film you'll probably like.

But then there are the fans. I keep hearing people complain about Transformers not getting it right. What does that mean? It's obviously my opinion, but this is a trilogy of big budget FX spectaculars based on a low budget cartoon infomercial for cheap plastic children's toys from the 80s. What could have been done wrong? Just throw some robots on the screen... toss in some nationalism and a speech about our hope for peace, add a hot chick, and release.

And Bob... Shia Labouf (did I spell that even close to right?) didn't ruin Transformers. He did as good a job as anyone could do in a film made for adult men trapped in their nostalgic 12 year old minds. Hell, Liam Neeson is a brilliant actor, and there isn't a single frame in all of Phantom Menace where he manages to look a single CGI character in the eye.

Who cares? I'm gonna be watching the better movie playing in the next theater anyway. Now what I would care to hear a lot more about is the accounting and backroom dealing that guides Hollywood decisions. That stuff is fascinating.

 

[honeybakedham]

What happened to making a trilogy, then not going back to it for 10 years or so? Are entertainment corporations so much more greedy now than they were 30 years ago?

Why?

What is the magic in the number three? Why should a franchise vanish for a decade after each "trilogy"?

And no... the entertainment industry isn't less or more greedy (assuming the act of running a for profit business means the same things as greed), but they are technically capable of doing things now that they could not do back then.

There is really no reason I can think of why we can't have a Batman movie every few years. If you enjoy them, that's more likely a good thing than a bad thing.

Remember folks... it isn't art vs. commerce. Art IS commerce.

 

[Snotnarok]

I'm sure I'm going to get glares for this but, I liked the Transformers movies. ...The parts with the robots and fighting of course not for the story. But I'm sure that's where most of the complaints are for, the story. Oh well.

 

[Wriggle Wyrm]

Most of the time, I?d be disgusted that another one of these wretched films is being made but for some reason I can?t shake this feeling of schadenfreude. It?s mostly directed at Michael Bay for getting typecast in a rut, at Hollywood for being forced to whore itself out even more to pay its bills and at the stupid masses that line up like pigs to wallow in this crap.

All I have to say is kudos to Bob for a great episode.

 

[Right Hook]

Bob you honestly can't want them to portray Hawkeye in the same way as he is in the comics. I mean look at that! How could you take that guy seriously?

I kinda agree, I feel like they should have put a mask on him at least though. oddly enough they've shifted comic Hawkeye to look more like the movie one anyway which is even more annoying.

Spoiler: Oh you guys don't like movie Hawkeye having a different costume? Hang on...problem solved!

 

[Kanatatsu]

This was so snotty and condescending it makes me want to give Bob a swirly just on general principle.

 

[ManInRed]

They're letting Michael Bay make another Transformers movie? No, no, no. Though it does explain why the Matrix didn't work last time.

THAT man lacks the touch to given that kind of power. So I will choose not to accept this aspect of reality. Bah-weep-Graaaaagnah wheep mini bong, there IS only one Transformers movie... Yes.

The question that once haunted my being has been answered. The future is not fixed, and my choices are my own. And yet, how ironic...
...For I now find I have no choice at all.

 

[fozzy360]

What's amazing about Bob is that he still doesn't seem to understand the notion that a person's taste in films isn't necessarily indicative of the their intelligence or intellectual capabilities. To say otherwise and to use it as fact is incredibly ignorant. I do question someone's tastes if the legitimately enjoyed that last two Transformers films, but I'm not about to question how smart they are. One has very little, if anything, to do with the other. I can understand Bob's anger towards the fact that Transformers is as successful as they've been, but to marginalize people's intelligence because of it is downright stupid.

 

[C.S.Strowbridge]

I choose to remain cautiously optimistic.

 

[Gunnyboy]

I still think the first Transformers was great, and captured the essence of the show and mythology as well as you could.

 

[Vausch]

I still do not know why he is harping on the green lantern it was not that bad all things considered.

Actually, it was. I don't think it was as terrible as Bob made it out to be, but it was pretty darn bad. I went into the movie fairly unbiased and had a friend with me that had never read a single comic and she hated it too. Yes, I knew who the Green Lanterns were, had a basic rundown of the story, and understood a lot of the lore, but I haven't gone through the entire history of the comics (yet) and was going to pick at them for not getting a character's hairstyle right.

And yes, it is understandable for different opinions, but there are times when a film can just be provably bad. This was one of them.

I tend to hate subpar films but I found GL to be ok at best the worest thing about it was it was draggy. It was hella better than Ghost rider/Batman 4(the one before bale)/Xmen 3/Spiderman 3(and reboot >> lulz),All the TF films,ect,ect,ect,ect,ect.

I just have seen far worse and far better.

I'd have to say in terms of terrible, it's much worse than Spiderman 3 (I liked it, I know the flaws and what was missed out on, but I hold it much higher than other "bad" superhero movies) and I'd put GL about on par with the 90s Captain America. See, the biggest problems I had with it were what they did to Parallax, they never expound upon the rings' weakness to yellow, the CGI is very sub-par, the entire movie looks like it has a green film over it, we never find out what happened to Amanda Waller, they let Hal keep the most powerful weapon in the universe after quitting the GL corps, Sinestro has NO REASON to take the yellow ring (you can't even say it's because he wants power, that is NEVER given any foreshadowing and reason), and as an added kick to the teeth the movie is way too loud at the "ABLOOGY WOOGY WOO" moments. I'm not even talking like the theatre was too loud, it had to be the sound in the movie itself because it was just as bad when I saw it at home.

 

[Marmooset]

Respect the material???

BWAHAHAHAHA!

It's Transformers! A weekday afternoon cartoon/toy product line!

 

[ZexionSephiroth]

"The person is great, but People [as a group] are dumb..."

Our best scientists are still searching for a solution to that problem. So untill one is found, I propose that all people wait till the critics give it a verdict before going to see it. That way, they'll not get as much income from people trying to find out for themselves if it's good.

Or we could all mob iTunes with purchase orders for Scot Pilgrim at the same time until they get the money they deserve... 'cause, you know, numbers can sway the favor.

 

[SadakoMoose]

As much as I find myself agreeing with Moviebob, I am dead tired of this "Marching Morons"/"Idiocracy"/"Brave New World" us versus them crap.
I know that it's easy to look at "the masses" and make these big lump generalizations.
I know that it makes the crap parts of society easier to explain and therefore easier to handle.
I know that it makes it feel better to have un-popular opinions or be a fan of a niche genre, or "someone with a brain" (however you choose to define that last one)
but the world is god-damn complicated and the explanations that DO exist aren't always the ones that leave you feeling like your a member of the Brotherhood of Evil God Damn Mutants.
Entertainment is subjective, and what you get is what you get.
Can entertainment be criticized then? Yes, and as well it should be, but that doesn't mean you get to create some kind of BS narrative about "leaders" and "followers" or "idiot nation" or whatever.
The only real reason to do it, is because it FEELS good and it makes things easier to swallow, when the real problem isn't figuring out how to swallow something, but to figure how to not swallow it in the first place.

"Steppenwolf" > "Brave New World"
Any day

 

[Flunk]

I was expecting a terrible movie for the third one and I was right. At least it wasn't as bad as the second one, did that movie even have a plot? Oh well, I'll probably just not bother watching the 4th.

Also that Rock movie sounds awful, I you would have to pay me to watch that and I bill out at $125 an hour.