Whether it’s being meme’d for its ending scene with Linkin Park’s “What I’ve Done” playing in the background, or referenced for how well the special effects have aged compared to today’s standards, there’s just something special about the first Transformers movie. It’s got the polish of a Hollywood action blockbuster, but at its core, it’s another coming-of-age story with some of 2007’s hottest stars. Throw in some spectacular setpieces, explosions, and top-notch humor, and you’ve developed a core memory for every teenager at the time who’s now pushing 40.
Transformers holds up more than any other Michael Bay film, and if you haven’t seen it in a while, you need to check it out on Netflix before it leaves the platform this Christmas.
Transformers is the story of an ordinary teenager who gets swept into an ancient cosmic war when alien robots bring their conflict to Earth. Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) thinks he’s just trying to buy his first car, but the purchase pulls him into a high-stakes clash between the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons. As the two factions battle over the AllSpark, an artifact capable of creating or destroying life, humanity becomes the unwilling battleground. Caught in the chaos alongside Sam is Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox), a classmate with her own hidden strengths. Together, they’re forced to confront a threat far bigger than themselves and protect the future of the planet.
The 2007 live-action Transformers film launched a major Hollywood franchise, spawning five theatrical sequels. These include Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), Dark of the Moon (2011), Age of Extinction (2014), The Last Knight (2017), and the spin-off Bumblebee (2018). However, the franchise never got better than its first film, and arguably began to decline once the series moved past Shia LaBeouf to focus on the 42-year-old Mark Wahlberg. It was never able to recreate the lightning-in-a-bottle magic of the 2007 movie. LaBeouf brought a youthful high school energy, and Fox was every teen boy’s dream girl. Tyrese was also building his reputation as a blockbuster franchise player before The Fast and the Furious relaunched and became a massive hit. On top of that, parents who grew up with Transformers in the 1980s were excited to introduce their kids to the world of Autobots and Decepticons. More than anything, however, what carries Transformers is the coming-of-age story at its heart.
I couldn’t tell you a single thing about the overarching plot involving the AllSpark, but I can recall LeBeouf’s entire arc because it was so relatable and full of funny lines. I couldn’t tell you what happened in the military-focused B-plot beyond the action, but I remember how awestruck Sam looks when Bumblebee first transforms in front of him, and how incredible the CG was for its time. There’s the teen story, the military story, and the hacker’s story. Each faces the looming threat of the Decepticons, and each holds its own strength. When these threads come together, they click perfectly, building momentum for a thrilling and explosive final act.
What ties it all together is Bay at the helm. With his penchant for glorifying the military and creating spectacular explosions, this film is right in his wheelhouse. For better or worse, Bay also captured a confident, youthful male gaze in every shot of Fox, but in some ways, he also gave her more to do than her male counterpart. Although Sam overshadows Mikaela in nearly every scene, she’s arguably got more depth to her character than LaBeouf’s everyman hero, with some fans even arguing she deserves to be the film’s protagonist. At the same time, it’s worth noting that Fox has since accused Bay of misogynistic behavior, including pressuring her to gain weight for the film because he “doesn’t really like skinny actresses.”
Ultimately, the rest of the franchise failed to withstand the test of time like the first film because it couldn’t recapture that youthful, coming-of-age summer blockbuster energy, even with Michael Bay still directing the next four entries. Everything about the 2007 movie — its cast, tone, and timing — came together in a way that proved impossible to replicate. A majority of the Transformers franchise is on Netflix as well, and may be worth a watch, but we wouldn’t be mad at you if you just stopped after the first.
