“One shall stand. One shall fall.” This is but one of the many famous lines (spoken by the character “Optimus Prime”) from the original Transformers: The Movie that was released in 1986 that resurface in this new live action movie version of the popular 1980s cartoon series. In a way, it indirectly conveys what is going to happen to all the rest of the summer blockbusters this year – Transformers shall stand, while the other blockbusters shall fall. This is, by far, the least disappointing movie of the summer blockbusters this year.

How can a movie about giant alien robots that transform into earth vehicles be taken so seriously? The answer is simple: It can’t be. But that is the approach that director Michael Bay (Armageddon, The Rock) took when making this movie, and it works quite well. Sure, the massive legions of devoted fans take this very seriously, but everyone understands that a movie about giant robots can only be about one thing: Having fun.

However, even though it is all about having fun, the film does have a plot. It starts off with the the leader of the Autobots (the good guys), Optimus Prime, narrating a prologue telling the back story of how they came to earth. Basically, it involves their source of energy, or life in general, known as the “Allspark” and the Decepticons’ (the bad guys) warring attempts at retrieving it to rule over Cybertron (their home planet) and everything else that stands in their way. The war eventually makes its way to earth, but "Megatron," leader of the Decepticons, winds up with the Allspark somewhere in the Arctic Circle, leading to both being frozen for thousands of years.

Fast forward to the present, and we find a teenager by the name of Sam Witwicky (Disturbia’s Shia LaBeouf), who is getting ready to buy his first car with the help of his dad, Ron Witwicky (played hilariously by Kevin Dunn). As it turns out, the car he winds up with is an Autobot named “Bumblebee” who is actually trying to get Sam to take him home. Bumblebee, along with every other Transformer that shows up in this film, is pursuing Sam because his great grandfather was a Captain on an expedition to the Arctic Circle, and he had found both the Allspark as well as Megatron frozen in ice. Sam only grew up knowing his great grandfather as a great hero, but one who went crazy, ranting about how he found a giant ice monster. Little did Sam know that it was all real, and was a part of an intergalactic alien war.

Needless to say, Sam gets caught up in the ride of his life, as he finds out from the Autobots that he owns a pair of his great grandfather’s glasses which happen to be designed to pinpoint the exact location of the Allspark. To put the plot plain and simple, they need to get to it before the Decepticons do.

Of course, what ensues is utter mayhem, as the Autobots and Decepticons duke it out right in the middle of Los Angeles in what has to be the most elaborate display of action and special effects in the history of cinema. These Transformers have to be the most photo-realistic robots ever to grace the big screen, as we can see when we watch them transform back and forth from vehicle to robot, with thousands of moving parts in between each transition. The Oscar for best special effects has already been won, in my opinion.

But what makes this movie work is not that the robots are so realistic and the action sequences are so incredible, but that it is also a really funny, laugh-out-loud-in-a-good-way kind of movie with characters you care about. Sam, for example, is a teenage boy who, amidst all the robot mayhem, is also trying to woo the heart of the beautiful Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox). And of course, his Autobot car Bumblebee tries to help him by taking control of the car and driving them to a romantic cliff-side view of the city, and playing various romantic tunes over the radio. At this point, Sam is not even aware that his car is a robot, so he has no idea what is going on and therefore is facing the most awkward situation of his life. There are just so many funny scenes in this film that it is difficult to talk about all of them here. Let’s just say that there is not a dull moment in this film, and most of the time it is because of the humor. Everyone, from Sam's mother (Julie White) to the typical car salesman (Bernie Mac of Ocean's Thirteen) all bring great comicality to this movie that has been sorely missing from many movies for so long. (Personally, I have not laughed this hard during a movie in a long time, and that is a very good thing.

I was also surprised at how funny and likable the Autobots were, and I believe this is the key to winning over fans of the cartoon (not to mention Peter Cullen reprising his role from the cartoon as the voice of Optimus Prime, as well as the original transforming sound effect from the cartoon that occurs when we watch these mighty robots transform). We are not supposed to take these robots completely seriously. Sure, there is a war going on, and we are supposed to care that they win this war. But the Autobots achieve the audience’s support because they are very likable, witty characters. Heck, even Bumblebee pees mechanical fluid onto government Agent Simmons (John Turturro) when he tries to arrest our heroes!

Saying all of this, however, there is one thing this film is lacking in, which is the presence of the Decepticons. When watching the film, you do not care so much until you leave the theater, since everything about what you are seeing is so exciting and fun. But then you realize that, aside from a few scenes during the movie, the Decepticons’ main screen time is in the last half-hour of the film. Main characters from the cartoon series, such as Starscream and Megatron are not really seen until then. In the end, while all the humor and various plot elements were enjoyable, some of the humor could have been sacrificed for more screen time for the Decepticons. Perhaps the inevitable sequel will make up for this.

But like I said, when you watch the movie, it really does not matter too much, since the entire thing is just so much fun from start to finish. It is yet another one of those movies that define the term “summer blockbuster,” probably better than any other blockbuster to date.

*Check out Episode 3 of the Get the Picture! (2007/07/07) Podcast as Dan Geer talks more about Transformers!