Well it took me forever to get around to seeing this film (it’s down to two showings a day now I think) and there were richer pickings on offer this summer in my opinion, but when Raj told me in the pub the other night that he had “seen it twice” and he’d “see it again” I thought it’d be a good way to make the most of an Orange Wednesday.

I’m one of those people who pays lip service to the Transformers cartoon in the eighties, but honestly, I can’t really remember too much of it. I remember the merchandising and toys more than watching the programme. Optimus Prime, the Deceptacons, the Autobots – are all familiar though – as is the basic but enjoyable fantasy concept of mechanical objects turning into something living.

This isn’t an intellectual film that plays out complicated characterisations, but that doesn’t matter in the slightest. You come to see this if you want to be swept along, not challenged.

The two main assets of the film are the humour (which is spot on, both obvious and subtle throughout) and most certainly the eye candy. It wasn’t unintentional to cast a leading lady as a hotpantted greasemonkey me thinks (thinks back to Gone In 60 Seconds). Nor was the choice to pick some damn sexy cars. The combination only makes me despair at the thought of all those MAX Power girls who wouldn’t consider picking up an oily rag let alone hotwire a pickup. The zesty Camaro sort of puts my “Matchbox” Polo to shame (though it does give me hope that it might one day flash blueish and morph into a Mustang).

The special effects are stunning and the camera work showcases the true graphic reality/hyper-reality fluidity achievable movies now – I think it’s fantastic. I would have left the cinema thoroughly convinced that the robots were completely real had it not been for a barrage of of unashamedly cheesy lines that clearly drew a direct decent from the action genre of the 1980s. I think the piece de resistance for me had to be “you’re a soldier now” – brilliance.

It’ll be a shame if they make a sequel to Transformers, but it is inevitable of course. It will only be following the tradition that started twenty five years ago when a box office smash is followed by two equally high grossing films that nobody actually enjoyed or rated. Be that as it may, it doesn’t devalue this film which is a piece of happy action, and my only regret is that I didn’t see it on IMAX.