Transformers

Variety Jay Weissberg

Big, loud and full of testosterone-fueled car fantasies, Michael Bay's actioner hits a new peak for CGI work, showcasing spectacular chases and animated transformation sequences seamlessly blended into live-action surroundings.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

Transformers is a wet dream for fanboys, with vehicles that whiz and whir into alien robots, spectacular sci-fi stunt chases, glistening military hardware, overheated computer software and brainy, hot girls who love Popular Mechanics.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

It's all about the sheer visceral rush of mega action.

LA Weekly Luke Y. Thompson

The movie's biggest misstep is a complete lack of the classic Transformers theme song. How do you not use the coolest ’80s toyline-turned-cartoon music ever?

Empire Ian Nathan

The script may have rubbery legs, but the action is rock-hard. The surprise is the lightness of touch: treat as a comedy for best results.

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

Even more ridiculous than it sounds.

Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan

LaBeouf is likable and grounded, two things you need from the lead in a film like this, although his female co-stars seem to have been cast based on how well their Maxim covers would sell.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

Just about everything connected to this movie is a tie-in, except for the popcorn. And even then I'm not too sure.

USA Today Claudia Puig

Yes, it's loud, explosive and silly, but it also perfectly embodies the concept of a summer blockbuster with its simple good-guys-vs.-bad-guys plot, cheeky humor and flawless special effects.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

A classic Michael Bay mega-movie. Interested in plot and character development? Move along. You're blocking the view.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

The most surprising thing about Michael Bay's much-anticipated, blockbuster-bound Transformers is how funny the movie is.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

It's a heavy-metal opera with humor.

Premiere Eric Alt

Grab some popcorn and make a pit stop, then sit back and enjoy it. You signed up for a movie about giant robots.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

The whole thing is too giddy to be taken seriously and too much of a confection to leave much of a lasting impression. But for 140 minutes, at least, it should give non-fanboys at least an idea of what all the fuss is about.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

The energy never lets up, and two committed, unfussy leading actors are an improvement over other summer flicks.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Everything comes down to an epic battle between the Transformers and the Decepticons, and that's when my attention began to wander, and the movie lost a potential fourth star.

The New Yorker Anthony Lane

In previous movies, Michael Bay dabbled wearily in Homo sapiens. At last he has summoned the courage to admit that he has an exclusive crush on machines, and I congratulate him on creating, in Transformers, his first truly honest work of art.

Slate Dana Stevens

The final scene is pure teen wish fulfillment: Imagine making out with your girlfriend on the hood of your sentient Camaro, as your own personal robot bodyguard looks on fondly (all right, that part's a little creepy).

Washington Post Desson Thomson

It's a wonderfully playful experience.

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

Depending on your expectations for Transformers, rear-ending theaters this July 4th, you’ll either be ecstatic or horrified to learn that the movie hits on all three cylinders in convincing fashion.

Wall Street Journal Joanne Kaufman

For almost two hours of car chases and car wrecks and extraordinary animated transformation sequences that meld fluidly with live action, the welcome mat is out for Michael Bay's cheerfully dopey saga.

Village Voice Nathan Lee

Transformers is mercilessly inhuman and completely hysterical from frame one.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Bay, at heart, isn't a fantasist; he's a literal-minded maestro of demolition.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Some kind of mess...terpiece.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Partly impressive, partly inane buck-banging toy of a movie.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

The climax of Transformers contains all that is proficient and slick and all that is drecky and soulless in Bay's work.

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

A movie of epically assaultive noise and nonsense.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Deafeningly loud and proudly silly epic.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

8-year-olds of all ages, prepare to storm the multiplex!

The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson

Turns the franchise into a terrible '80s comedy.

Time Richard Corliss

The film has just enough collisions to be a crashing bore.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Transformers is about as clever as an unplugged blender.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Transformers' multiple earthling story lines are tedious and oddly lifeless, doing little besides marking time until those big toys fill the screen.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Louder, flashier, and more hollow than anything else out there.

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

Not a movie, just one gigantic commercial for Hasbro.