July 4 may be Independence Day, but to the movie-going public, it means something entirely different - it's the time of year reserved for special effects-laden blockbusters. From "Independence Day" to "Men in Black" to "Spider-Man 2," the holiday has been filled with legitimate hits (and a forgettable miss or two like "Wild Wild West"). This year we welcome "Transformers" to this elite group, which may just seem like a big robot movie, but is more than meets the eye to fans of the toys and cartoon series.

After their home planet is destroyed, hurtling the source of their unlimited power, the Allspark, crashing to planet Earth, two rivaling tribes of robots follow it. The Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, are here to protect Earth and stop the Decepticons, whose leader Megatron is after the Allspark. High school student Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) holds the key to the location of that Allspark so he is tracked down by the shapeshifting robots after purchasing a car which is a robot in disguise. With Earth in jeopardy of being destroyed by the Decepticons, Sam races to save the planet.

This movie contains some of the most seamless special effects ever seen. From the lighting to the shine of the robots' armor, the metal heroes/villains look absolutely believable standing next to their human counterparts.

The plot of the movie falters from the lack of a central focus. The story of Sam and his classmate, Mikaela (Megan Fox), is interesting enough but the story of a secret government agency or the attacked troops does not add anything to the plot.

The acting doesn't fit the action around the characters either. Watching a car turn into a robot for the first time, nobody seems too shocked by it. And LaBeouf plays the exact same character in this movie as he did in the recent "Disturbia," which only shows a lack of depth.

Fans of the cartoon will surely find many things to like about this movie and fans of Michael Bay's past movies (such as "Pearl Harbor") won't be disappointed - as evidenced by "Transformers" hauling in more money on a Tuesday than ever before. For everyone else, despite the outrageous special effects and the humorous one-liners, this movie doesn't transform itself into the great Fourth of July blockbusters that came before it.

{M3review

'Transformers'

{M3Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel

Director: Michael Bay

Run time: 2 hours, 24 minutes

Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, brief sexual humor, and language

Now playing at: College Square, Crossroads 12, Waverly Palace

**1/2 (out of *****)