World War Blog: Film Forum (A Declaration of War Vol. 1) Part 1

Today, I declare war on Ehren Kruger and Michael Bay's Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011), because ever since I saw this summer blockbuster, I cannot seem to get this horrible taste of subpar mediocre plot driven rubbish out of my mouth. My family and I needed to plan a mental voyage in the realms of fantasy and escapism, so we viewed it on Saturday, July 2^nd, while today is the 20^th, I can’t seem to cleave this bad flick out of my skull. There are political jabs towards Republicans, partisanship bias towards Democrats, immature name calling towards a past actress (Megan Fox), the character assassination of Optimus Prime, the lack of narrative, heavily plot driven, thin dialogue, the objectification of Rosie Alice Huntington-Whiteley, and over saturation of special effects. Yes that’s all a mouthful, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. This film is intended to draw families in droves, especially, a targeted demographics of males between 13-36 year olds, to introduce and re-introduce the nostalgia of the eighties cartoon characters from Hasbro, but is this a trap to get you in the theater so that a production can relinquish sophomoric immaturity, a fantastical narrative with a sprinkling of political and current events, to poke jabs at our government administration, mock our military, or to lift up the administration without any real political stance to add strength to a foundation of debate?

Let me start with the partisanship bias and prejudice within the film, I will have to admit that political discussion of current events and viewpoints are necessary, and can create a positive discourse when the writer uses a moment within the narrative that gives rise to movement of the character’s arch, the setting of its world, or if one is going to satirize the political figures, legislation, or injustices, then by all means, please take to the stage, release your opinions, queries, and indulge us, but do not treat us like we (the spectators) are mindless fools, to use this form of entertainment to create a forum of discourse without a proper foundation. Aren’t you (the audience) tired of the film industry trying to sprinkle their political prejudice and bias, just so they (those responsible) can have a moment of spectator acceptance? Is this subliminal narcissism, the allegorical pat on the back? Has political correctness made us weak? I think so, because we as Americans are afraid to use our First Amendment Rights to express our views, so that we do not offend anybody. We tiptoe around specific topics that need to be addressed because we do not want to seem like lunatics or fanatics, but what about being human? What’s wrong about being human? Being human isn’t so bad.

Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci the screenwriters responsible for Star Trek, Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, stood behind their work with a level of respect, integrity, passion, and love for the Transformers franchise and overall canon. There have been reports where they (Kurtzman and Orci) would bring their Transformers figurines into meetings to act out certain scenes when they pitched their stories. In an interview found in the May/June 2009 issue of Creative Screenwriting, they (Kurtzman and Orci) expressed how they felt about writing the sequel to the first Transformers movie. They did not want to write one because they felt that they dished out a great screenplay jam packed with all of the stops, but Paramount had already greenlit a sequel after the amazing box office success of the first one, and with all that being said, doesn’t that tidbit of information make you wonder why a third installment was made? There is nothing wrong about cashing in on a successful product, especially, since movie making is a business none-the-less, but where is the integrity and love for the product being sold? When one creates a product that has integrity then usually the product almost sells itself. Hasbro’s Transformer toy line as well as the cartoon on the HUB (Hasbro’s Cable Network) is creating fans as well as future consumers on a daily basis, so there is nothing wrong with product placement within the movie, but when you turn the movie into a two hour long commercial, then…yes, I do have a problem with that. For example, during the fighting sequence between Optimus Prime and Shockwave, Optimus Prime did not have access to his trailer which held a jet booster pack inside of it, and he was upset that he could not get to it which would have given him some sort of advantage over his foe unless he had it. Yes, this is the mighty leader of the Autobots. If he does not get his big accessory then he will have a hard time defending Earth, boo hoo.

Speaking of Optimus, the greatest flaw within the flick is also the great character assassination of Optimus Prime. Kruger has scripted him to being immature, whiny, weak, and murderous. Optimus is quoted saying, “I will kill Megatron,” and “I will murder you.”  I was extremely appalled when I heard that, more so, when my children heard that. They view him like one of the great mythological heroes of old.Growing up watching the cartoon, I can remember watching Optimus Prime beat Megatron with tactics and strategy, but when it came down to violence, Optimus Prime would occasionally beat up his antagonist Megatron, but he would not threaten his life or try to eradicate his foe, no matter how atrocious or heinous Megatron’s world domination plots were.  I would even cheer Optimus and the Autobots on as they faced the Decepticons in combat while holding my favorite Auotbot toy. I can honestly say that the torch has been passed down to my children as I see them do the same thing when they watch Transformers Prime (a new cartoon series on the HUB), and that is part of the nostalgic nuances that make these live action remakes of cartoons so awesome, especially, since the level of technology has risen.

I have so many important questions to ask Michael Bay and Ehren Kruger about this production effort like: “Where are the values? What was the theme? Why mock the United States Armed Forces, was it really necessary? Did they have to over stimulate and celebrate mechanical machismo? Can they justify the sex appeal, sexual innuendos, and the objectification of women in the guise of a family movie?”