Mayhem, matrimony mark two new releases

By Steve Persall, Times Film Critic
Published June 28, 2007

Light an early fuse on Fourth of July fireworks with two major studio releases arriving before the holiday.

The big boom is Transformers (PG-13), coming out Monday, based on toys and cartoons that enthralled children in the 1980s. Now those kids are of disposable income age, and director Michael Bay (Armageddon, The Rock) will stop at nothing to fulfill the sci-fi fantasies that plastics and cheap animation couldn't.

Shia LaBeouf (Disturbia) and Josh Duhamel (TV's Las Vegas) lead the human race, caught in the middle of an intergalactic feud between Autobots (yay!) and Decepticons (boo!). Each metallic species has the ability to shape-shift from robots to motor vehicles, with devastating powers.

Bay never met an eardrum that wasn't worth bursting, or an eye he didn't mind blinding with pyrotechnic mayhem. Transformers is right up his alley.

A review will be published Monday in Floridian.

Meanwhile, License to Wed (PG-13) opens Tuesday, as Robin Williams takes another stab at proving he's still comically vital and commercially viable.

Williams plays the Rev. Frank, whose irreverent approach to marriage preparation counselor stuns his latest clients, Sadie Jones (Mandy Moore) and Ben Murphy (John Krasinski). The Rev. Frank sets up a battery of oddball challenges to see if they're truly compatible, intruding into their personal lives more than necessary. License to Wed sounds like a solid argument for living in sin.

A review will be published Tuesday on Page 2B.

[Last modified June 26, 2007, 17:36:26]