I grew up playing with the Transformers action figures as a kid in the ’80s. I can remember my mom taking me to the 1986 animated movie in the theater. I first heard about this year’s live-action movie over three years ago in a comment on an unrelated web site, and I couldn’t wait for it to come out. I went to see the movie with my dad and brother when they were visiting, and I couldn’t have been happier with it!

There are plenty of ways to adapt an animated series or a comic book to the big screen badly, but not as many ways to do it well. With most animated series or comic books, the underlying premise is usually ridiculously unrealistic — in this case, alien robots have come to Earth to engage in a war that could destroy our planet and species. For an adaptation like this to be good, everything after that initial premise has to be believable.

This was definitely the case with Transformers. The special effects for the cars transforming into robots — undoubtedly the most important effect for this movie to be believable — was done seamlessly. The story (again, after accepting the initial premise) was logical, gripping, and well-told. Even the acting was pretty good, which I never really expect in a movie like this. The current 8.2 rating on IMDb might be a stretch, but the comments like “Best Cartoon Adaptation Ever” might not be.

(Is it possible that we’ll some day get to see the old Transformers television show on DVD? Wouldn’t that be great?)