Oh, how it pains me to do this...

So tonight I will finally see Transformers in the movie theater.

Well, that's not entirely accurate. I've already seen Transformers the Movie in the theater. I could not cross the street nor write in cursive at the time, and my brother almost abandoned me because my parents forced him to bring me along. I saw it, though. Fortway Theater in Brooklyn, NY. August 1986.

I'm saving my "Which was better?" debate for later merely because I hold out hope that tonight will be more than a pretty, 2-hour Michael Bay blow-'em-up fest. My friend Nick (who works at Paramount and has had a sneak peak) as well as my brother who brought me that fateful afternoon (who can't stop mentioning that Spielberg's an executive producer) insist I reserve judgment. Fine.

So now, I sit and ponder why this movie's such a big deal to me. Transformers doesn't represent my penultimate uber-geek moment in my 26-year existence. I stopped reading the comic book, I don't collect the toys, I didn't even buy all of the TV show sets on DVD. This was never a "geeky" thing.

I did, however, watch it religiously with two brothers and one sister. We all collectively sat in front of the living room TV, my first experience with appointment television. Yes, Hasbro was selling toys - we didn't know that at the time. Instead, it became this thing - this bond of sorts. We watched our shows together, then wrote and acted out radio plays using just the theme song. It's this thing that doesn't happen anymore - but should. That bond remains in smaller forms - my brother brought me to Transformers the Movie in the theater, and later gave it to me on VHS so I'd have it to complete a bet at my senior prom. I gave it to my little brother when he received his first DVD player (also known as Playstation 2). We've all pledged to introduce my nephew to it when he's of age.

It was never about the nerdiness of it. It's the nostalgia. It's why tonight I'm hustling to be there to watch it with my two brothers and sister (and about 20 of our closest friends). To have that moment again...

It makes the risk of a Michael Bay crapfest that much more worthwhile.

Review and thoughts to follow.