Rating: 5 Pulses

Rated PG-13

With a rich history spanning over two decades, creating a movie like the behemoth that is Transformers would be a daunting task for any filmmaker’how to please the fanboys and entertain the masses?

Putting it in the hands of director Michael Bay made for an inauspicious start to the project, a man whose previous works (Armageddon, Bad Boys, The Rock) forsake credible story lines and quality acting for testosterone-drenched action and cornea-burning explosions.

Fortunately, if Bay is good at one thing (and he is), that’s blowing up stuff. When dealing with rapidly changing robots reaching up to 50 feet high and a plethora of special effects, the man has cornered the market, especially in this case.

There can be no comparison made to the barrage of special effects in Transformers, not even in a summer laden with them, and the movie surpasses my expectations on all levels.

With a dry sense of humor and far fewer clich’d one-liners than one anticipates, the plausible plot is not too heavy to follow and the cast is easy on the eyes.

LeBeouf, known best for his Disney roots in ’Even Stevens,’ plays Sam Witwicky, a teen eager to get his own wheels. In addition to freedom, the car (a battered ’70s Camaro), unbeknownst to him, is a robot named Bumblebee who has come to earth to provide him with protection. Years earlier, his grandfather made a major discovery in the Arctic which now puts young Sam at the center of the battle between the virtuous Autobots and the cunning Decepticons, both searching for their creator, the AllSpark, which is hidden on our planet after the destruction of their own.

Transformers stays true to its roots with nods and winks to its folklore and references to its previous incarnations, even hiring back several of those who performed the voices in the 1986 animated feature, including the honorable Autobot leader, Optimus Prime.

In addition to the most stunning visual effects ever displayed on a movie screen, the film’s got heart and it’s more than enough to make you forget about the blatant product endorsements that are both overwhelming (GMC) and a little cheeky (PepsiCo). Let’s not forget this is a movie based on a Hasbro toy line. As viewers, we’re lucky we aren’t subjected to nothing more than a full-length commercial.

Instead, Transformers is relentless’a two-plus hour odyssey that’s nothing but pure, exorbitant entertainment. Enjoy the ride.