Bumblebee before his high budget, GM-sponsored transformation....
And after...... Tres chic.
If the original cartoon series on which it was based was really half-hour toy commercials, this movie is best described as a two-hour car commercial. If you’ve been following the movie news at all, you know that GM worked extremely closely with director Michael Bay, and as a result, the Autobots are all GM vehicles. As mentioned, Bumblebee, once a VW Bug, now starts out as a ’75 Chevy Camaro, but later reformats himself (after one character wonders "So for a super advanced robot why does he turn into a piece of crap Camero?") into the very nice 2008/09 Camaro. Optimus Prime is still the classic Peterbilt semi, Jazz has gone from a Porsche to the new Pontiac Solstice. Ironhide is a GMC Topkick, and robot medic Ratchet is a Hummer H2 Search and Rescue vehicle. The Decepticons, meanwhile, are predominantly military vehicles, such as an M1A1 Abrams MBT, an F-22 Raptor, and an MH-53 Pave Low helicopter. One notable exception is Barricade, who is disguised as a Saleen-Modified Ford Mustang Police Cruiser, and Megatro himself, who transforms into an alien starfighter, having crashlanded on Earth and was frozen in the Arctic millions of years ago. A bit before Henry Ford's time, perhaps....
 Decepticon Barricade as a slick, and menacing, Ford Mustang police cruiser. "To Punish and Enslave" indeed.... |
As I said, this movie is a two hour long car commercial, punctuated with explosions. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I will make a prediction though. However much GM paid to get their lineup featured so prominently, it’ll be worth it. I’ll also bet that the new Camaro sells like hotcakes after this, and that its most popular paint scheme will be Bumblebee’s yellow with black stripes. Heck, it made me want to go buy one then and there, a sentiment shared by my father who saw the movie with me. He, by the way, at age 49 absolutely loved the film too.
Heartily recommended; two thumbs up for car, robot, and military buffs alike.
Now I just need to figure out a way to afford one of those new Camaros….
