Autobots Assemble!

Aliens invading our planet Earth has been well documented, described, talked about in Hollywood, from every possible angle, envisaging seemingly improbable yet possible scenarios, tapping onto various hidden emotions. These aliens have taken various forms, their colours varying from green to blue, with fangs or without them, some dwarf-like puny and some huge. But Hollywood is not even close to being done with this concept yet. And nothing gives this concept that bigger-than-life feel than Michael Bay's Transformers series. What started off in 2007 with the release of Transformers and the beginning of the fight between Autobots and Decepticons on our planet, culminated in such a rip-roaring success with $708 million in worldwide revenues. To not have a sequel, was simply out of the question. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen released in 2009, again pitting Optimus Prime with Megatron as humans watched and scurried and did their best to help the good guys (which are the Autobots, in case you are one of the few ones still to catch the movie), and outdid its predecessor with $836 million in worldwide revenues. The third instalment has released this weekend titled Transformers: Dark of the Moon, that toys with the reasons behind the landing of Apollo 11 on the moon - to search for an alien ship atop the moon! Obnoxious, right? But Michael Bay's series has played with that word whole-heatedly so far, and has still emerged succesful. Even though reviews of the movies in this series are never great, the bucks earned in fact are quite the opposite. So why does this series sell so well? The Megan Fox

loyalists would like to name their goddess to be behind this. And some would point out Shia LeBouf's simplistic, annoying but likable acting to be the key. But it is not just that. It is the backdrop that Bay has created. The gigantic robot-like aliens bringing their battle to earth wherein the race of humans simply appear like midgets, the deep booming voices of Peter Cullen and Hugo Weaving, voicing Optimus Prime and Megatron respectively (we got Leonard Nimoy as well in the third one, yay!), the slick movements of these giants when they coolly convert between fast cars and giant robots back and forth, the never-ending fight scenes that make you shout like a child for the Autobots to win, and in the midst of all the chaos, a simple guy (like you and me) and his good-looking girlfriend, showing the simplest of human emotions that we all crave to have in abundance when it matters, courage! This is what the first two movies was all about, and again, this is what the third movie is about. Will it continue to work? The movie released early on Wednesday, and has grossed about $97 million in its first 3 days. So that is not bad. Plus the worldwide revenues would continue to be steaming hot. My advice to fellow movie-goers would be to go to the theatre to enjoy the show, the battle cries mixed with a bit of wit. Go out there to save the day, to be a part of the campaign to save earth, to root for the Autobots and bring the end of Decepticons! Let the child inside of you enjoy the adrenaline rush, and I bet, you will figure out that it was fun after all...

While the latest Transformers movie would be attempting to match its predecessors, there is someone who has already done that. Say hello once again to the beloved Captain Jack Sparrow! Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides had reported the weakest numbers in the franchise at the US box office. But when you are such a massive global brand, the international markets take centre stage. And in this case the spotlight remains very much on the fourth instalment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise that has grossed more than $1 billion in worldwide revenues, something done only by 7 Hollywood movies before it, which incidentally includes Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest at #5. Remarkable feat indeed! And this makes Johnny Depp the only actor to have three movies in this elite club (Alice in Wonderland being the third, apart from the two movies of the Pirates in the Caribbean franchise). Way to go Johnny! Will Transformers: Dark of the Moon come close to matching it? The war cry has been called out... Autobots Assemble!