Review: "Transformers."

Michael Bay + giant alien robots? It's gotta suck, right?

Wrong. Wrongwrongwrongohsowrong.

After seeing Transformers this afternoon, I really can't understand what I ever saw in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer or Pirates of the Caribbean 3. (Spider-Man 3 was still great.) The last time I felt this elated after a movie was The Fellowship of the Ring.

Transformers may be the best Summer blockbuster ever. If you think giant transforming alien robots are cool, guess what: they are. They are so very cool.

I was expecting train wreck. I was expecting to enjoy the nostalgia and the sheer whiz-bang of seeing frickin Optimus Prime on the big screen, but to give the story a pass. No need. The story is simple but fun, the action is unprecedented, there's actual human interest in an earnest and believable performance by Shia LeBeouf, and the movie is quite funny.

It's all about adults being reminded of childlike delight; thrills, chills, spills and 50-foot-tall robots. It feels like a triumph for my entire generation.

And Peter Cullen is still the voice of Optimus Prime. Perfect.