Transformers

Last night I watched the Michael Bay Blockbuster flick "Transformers".  Yeah I know, pretty rockin night for a 27-year-old right?  Oh well, I was all alone so I was having fun with it I guess.  Anyway, this was the second time I saw this movie.  The first time was with my buddy Justin who sat me down in front of his TV and forced it upon me.  He had seen it a few times prior and said it kicked ass and that I just had to watch it.  Knowing his previous track record of action movie watching (he LOVES them), I quietly obliged.  Justin has a big screen TV and surround sound, so the action part of the movie did not fail to disappoint.  After it was over, my reaction was pretty much, "Meh, that was okay I guess... the action and CGI are cool but the plot sucked.... oh and Megan Fox is not bad to look at for 2-1/2 hours."

About 20 years ago I used to be addicted to playing with my Transformers toys.  I had a bunch of them and it was so much fun to turn everyday human items like cars or boom-boxes into evil-fighting robots.  Of course I liked the Autobots and had them all, because I'm a fan of the good guys....  but again, of course, I had a few Decepticons that the good guys could beat up.  I am not unfamiliar with the plot of the toys and the later ensuing television cartoon, nor was I unaware of what to expect with this movie.  At first viewing, I simply was just of the opinion that it was very average because of the balance of what was good being good and what was bad being bad.

For some reason last night (probably because there wasn't much else on between hockey games) I saw this movie was starting and decided to give it another shot.  I watched the whole thing from beginning to end, without stopping (it was on HBO).  I watched it on my own big screen and with my own surround sound cranked up, so I knew I'd at least enjoy the action scenes.... OH, and I'd get a good look at Megan Fox!!!  So after the second time around I can honestly say that the plot wasn't as bad as how I originally judged.  There was a decent story buried in there that I overlooked when watching it at Justin's.  Perhaps it was because my full attention was not on it at Justin's (I was leaving to go back home that day) or because last night I was so tired from doing nothing and sitting inside sheltered from the rain all day, that anything would have entertained me...  

This phenomenon happens to me a lot with movies, however - mostly comedies (i.e. Anchorman, Napoleon Dynamite).  I watch it once and think, "What the hell?!  That wasn't as funny as everyone says!!"  Then I watch the movie another time or two and it gets better.  Maybe I pick up more, maybe I go into it with little to no anticipation as opposed to that first viewing.  I don't really know, all I know is that it happens.  Weird, huh?

PS- Movies that DID NOT fall under this phenomenon and that I thought were GREAT the first time, regardless of hype, were:  Superbad, Stepbrothers, Dumb and Dumber, Ace Ventura, and so on.