The Transformers – The Movie

A spin-off from the ’80s promotional cartoon series about alien robots who can transform into earthly vehicles (and weapons, and animals, and electrical goods…), this feature-length battle royale drops you in at the deep end: unless you have perfect recall of the TV show, the opening half-hour is a bewildering barrage of unfamiliar characters and ongoing plot set against an unceasing stream of shoot-outs and explosions. No sooner have the dastardly Decepticons laid waste to the heroic Autobots’ home base than a planet-gobbling colossus – voiced, sadly, by Orson Welles – threatens the whole lot of them. From here the film actually unfolds in a reasonably engaging manner; one dramatically sophisticated sequence contrasting the goodies’ and baddies’ responses to their leaders’ respective demises stands out. The anime-inflected look is generally impressive too, although the power-rock soundtrack is unsalvageable.