Storytelling is to the fore in this Transformers spin-off, where the CGI is used as it should be — to create robots, not airbrush aging actors. Elegant, somewhat sultry Hailee Steinfeld underplays the central character — kind of a blend of Edward Furlong’s and Linda Hamilton’s characters in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, to which it occasionally pays homage — with outstanding effect. The heroine’s ’80s music obsession sets up one or two perfecto jokes, like VW Beetle-alike Bumblebee’s cassette player spitting out The Smiths, followed, in even more ballistic style, by Rick Astley. Whilst lead action-man John Cena resembles a cartoon even without prosthetics, the rest of the human cast is closer to appearing real, and the actress playing Steinfeld’s mother an excellent match. I would imagine that the robot battles look like the most amazing thing you’ve ever seen, if you’re six — but, even for adults, who may at times feel like their faces have been pressed up against the screen of a video game, these sequences do not outstay their welcome. Far the most acceptable face of Transformers so far.
FATAL VISIONS 