Transformers, Again

I so loved the Transformers movie that I bought it on DVD as soon as it was available. I don’t do that often. I own less than two dozen movies, and half of them are on VHS.

So I pulled it out the other day and watched the movie again. I saw it three times in the theater, and once at home (right after I originally bought the DVD). I loved it all those times, and this fifth time, too. But this time, I saw the plot holes big enough to drive Optimus Prime through.

I still absolutely and thoroughly enjoyed the movie, but this feeling confuses me. Normally when I see seriously stupid plot items, I’m jolted out of the in-movie world. And once a movie has jarred my willing suspension of disbelief out of alignment, it’s hard to get back into it.

For instance, when Megatron awakens, the humans decide to take the All Spark out of the heavily protected Hoover Dam and out into the open in a city filled with civilians. This is DUMB. Absolutely stupid. It’s a huge plot problem. But why did I not care the first four times I watched the movie?

Is it that the coolness of giant, transforming robots fighting just overwhelmed my little geek brain to the point where I just missed plot problems? Quite probably. Does this mean I can be “bought off” of plot problems by cool action? But I’ve noticed plot problems in other movies with cool action.

Maybe it’s just that my price tag for plot bribery is giant, transforming robots?

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com