(aka The Iron Giant, Transformed)
Oh, the nostalgia! This latest installment (spinoff?) of the Transformers franchise is set in 1987, and man, did it feel like an 80’s movie. And not just a not bad 80’s movie, but actually a good 80’s movie. Yes, it felt a little like The Iron Giant, E.T., and a John Hughes movie all rolled into one, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. This was the Transformers movie that I didn’t want, and didn’t know that I needed. In all honesty, I didn’t really care for any of the other Transformers movies, but this one…this was something altogether different. Call it a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale franchise. Firstly, the casting was great. Hailee Steinfeld superbly played the angst-ridden teenager with a chip on her shoulder, John Cena had the audience wondering if he in fact did have a heart under all of those muscles, and Jorge Lendeborg Jr. was just a fun surprise. This movie had lots of laughs, lots of heart, and a killer soundtrack. And yes, lots of action, lots of robots, and obligatory robot fight sequences. But this was so much more than just another Transformers movie.