Rewrite! is a 1 to 2 page makeover or addition to a scene to a major motion picture. It is a way for me to change something(s) that didn’t sit well with me in the final version of the movie.
WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD.
In preparation of seeing Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, I decided to look back at the first Michael Bay Transformers movie and give it the rewrite treatment. For what Transformers was, a tent-pole-summer-popcorn-michael-bay-action-pack-extravaganza , it wasn’t a bad movie, but I felt that the movie had an opportunity to be more. I felt that story, characterization, and emotion fell to the side of the pure spectacle of CGI robots fighting. (Which did look amazing, ILM!)
I think that the screenwriters and directors should have borrowed heavily from “The Iron Giant”, and the way I envision this treatment is more as an Stephen Spielberg/child-like-wonder story. Imagine E.T. but with CGI robots. Here Sam is a boy, rounding out the age of 10. He is an introverted child, who instead of playing with kids decides to stay at home with his LEGOs.
EXT. CITY PARK – NIGHT
The giant Autobot, OPTIMUS PRIME, bends over to look at the tiny cockroach of a human, Sam, that heroically stands before him.
Now eye to eye with the giant, Sam readjusts his stature. Sam reaffirms...
SAM
I said don’t.
Sam backs down a little.
SAM (CONT’D)
You can’t go out there (points to the city lights on the horizon) to fight. There are people there... They’ll get hurt. They might die. YOU might die.
Wow, ok that one was a little short. Just go see “The Iron Giant” and you’ll get the drift.