Not That I Need A Reason

Transformers is awesome.

I've seen it twice already. I may go see it again in theaters, and I'll definitely watch it twelve times when it comes out on DVD.

I spent a long time trying to figure out why. I have two posts, 500 words, trying to explain why. Like I had to justify myself. Pointing out all the reasons why it's good, all the aspects of it that are good.

Except that's not why I like this movie. I could go on and on about the acting, the writing, the music, the cinematography, whatever. It's good, it's not good, ultimately, it doesn't matter. Because that's none of that is why I like the movie. It may be what allows me to like the movie, but it's not why.

I like this movie because I can honestly imagine hanging out with the Autobots. Doing this, just chilling, whatever. I can imagine enjoying being around them.

It hit me, as I was trying to explain why I like this movie, that this is what defines the stories that I truly love. Hulk, Hellboy, Animorphs. There are others. X-Men satisfies this criteria, to a somewhat more limited extend, and Oblivion probably falls in this category. Maybe Reboot. But those are the main ones--and now Transformers falls solidly in that category.

These are stories that I desperately want to be real. I feel like that in a general way about a number of things: robots, AI generally, (friendly) aliens, space travel. (This is why I read science fiction. I want it to be true.) But these are specific stories that I want to be true. These are characters that I want to be real. These are people I want to meet.

That's why Transformers is awesome.