Guilty Pleasures: When a non-fan goes flocking back to watch the Transformers

What’s so exciting about cars that transform into ginormous robots, you may ask. Well, truth be told, as someone who did not grow up watching the TV show based on Hasbro’s popular toys, the novelty of this transformation wore off somewhere during the first film itself. The films, as everyone knows, are not great in the story department either and have been universally panned for objectifying women. Well, hello Megan Fox and Rosie Huntington-Whitely! Yet, every time a new instalment in the franchise came out, I have been there to watch it on the first day itself. And that’s not even the worst of it; I have pretty much seen every re-run on television, and when OTT platforms edged out the cable TV subscription, caught up with the films there too.

So, can I explain this love for Michael Bay’s nonsensical films? It may seemingly defy logic, but the only reason I return to the franchise time and again is… Peter Cullen. Well, Peter is the Canadian voice actor who has been the voice of Optimus Prime since the TV show and continues in the upcoming seventh film in the franchise. Having him say, ‘Autobots, roll out!’, to me, is just as goosebump-inducing as Captain America saying, ‘Avengers… assemble’. Come to think of it, both of them even sport the same blue and red colours and put their lives on the line for the greater good of humanity. But well, this article is not about whether Optimus is as good as an Avenger. It’s about the voice, a voice that believe me, can make anything sound believable. Bumblebee, who’s always been the fan favourite and whose spin-off movie is the only one to receive positive reviews, comes a close second, but I’d rather watch Optimus, even though his leadership qualities seem questionable at times.

That may not be reason enough to endure through two-and-a-half hours of Autobots vs Decepticons heavyweight boxing/firing matches. Michael Bay’s distinctive ‘Bayhem’ – over-the-top action in slo-mo - can get tiring even for the most ardent fan, unless, of course, you are looking for a chuckle. Like for instance, in a scene in which pretty much everything is being blown up left right and centre, and the focus of the shot is Rosie Huntington’s Carley – her face a dead give-away that she had no idea of the level of CGI that was going to be around her and that she needed to at least twitch a muscle. But that’s the thing about guilty pleasures, you enjoy it even when you know how colossally bad it is. I’ve been scratching my head for the good part of an hour trying to think of any other reason this franchise ranks high up for me for repeat watching, and I just couldn’t.

Will I still watch Transformers: Rise of the Beasts when it releases sometime in 2023. Oh, hell yeah!