Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Directed By: Michael Bay
Starring: Shia Le Beouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, John Turturro
What’s It About
Let me give it a shot. So apparently Transformers have always lived among us. In 17,000 B.C., a group of evil Primes built a machine that was then incased within the pyramids, which when activated with the Matrix of Leadership key, would drain the suns power and destroy the Earth but would create Energons which are then used to give power to the All Spark. A battled started among them, the key was hidden, and the world was safe… until 2009. A Decepticon known as The Fallen is back and wants to kill Sam Witwicky (Shia Le Beouf) because he holds the key to get to the Matrix of Leadership and… ahh forget it! I know you don’t care about the storyline. It’s about a bunch of cool looking robots fighting each other, and stuff blowing up! There!
Thoughts
Forget about trying to understand the plot. If you’re going to watch this film, you know you’re only going because you want to see cool automobiles that transform and go at it with other machines. If you go with that intention, you will have a good time. I realized early on that I had to let go of any expectations involving the story. Once I did, I found myself enjoying this flick.
This Transformers sequel is on robotic steroids! There are well over forty robots, ranging from cars, motorcycles, RC’s, aircrafts, construction vehicles, trucks, SUV’s, and humans. Yes, you read correctly, humans! Apparently, Terminators live in the same universe as Transformers! While this was the only major gripe I had with the robotic characters, (I mean come on! If they have the ability to transform into humans, then why the need to be vehicles?), everyone else kicked major butt! Some of my favorite bots were Arcee, the female motorcycle Autobot, and Sideswipe, a Stingray Corvette. Though they have minor roles, the few scenes they’re in look cool. By the way, I was relieved to see Megatron and Starscream’s relationship going back to the days of the cartoon and comic book series.
Michael Bay is the man when it comes to high caliber action sequences and with ROTF, he must have felt like a kid in a candy store! He blows up everything! A factory in China, BOOM! The Eiffel Tower, KAPOW! The Egyptian pyramids, KERPLUNK! Oh, and the robot fights are more brutal and bad ass this time around. There was one scene where a head was literally ripped to shreds by an Autobots hands. Bay took full advantage of the salary he was allowed to have for this sequel because every CGI effect or character mixes in perfectly with all the live action shots and if you thought the first one had amazing fight sequences, you haven’t seen anything until you witness the forest battle between Optimus Prime and three Decepticons! On a side note, I read in other reviews about how it’s hard to tell who’s who during battle sequences. I honestly didn't have that problem. The camera is better paced this time around and it allows for the audience to see the robot mayhem in all its glory.
While ROTF is fun to watch, there are many sour points that do not allow it to excel beyond its predecessor. Besides a plot that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, you also have two bots (Mudflaps and Skids) who have already begun to stir controversy over their portrayal, too many sexual references (You should be more responsible in what you put in a movie if you’re going to have a toy line which is obviously aimed at kids.), and characters which you don’t really care about. There are plot lines that get built up only to go nowhere. One example is the Witwicky parents being kidnapped to use as bait to lure Sam, yet you could almost swear that the Decepticons took the parents to keep them safe because they just hand the parents over to Sam! Why go through all the trouble tearing down Paris to find the parents, if all you’re going to do is hand the parents over without some elaborate scheme? It seems that all the effort was put into the action because that is pretty much the ONLY aspect of ROTF that worked well.
Do not expect this to be an epic Transformers masterpiece. The first one was better because it was the story about a boy and his car, which is a concept most boys can relate to. This sequel has nothing for us to gravitate to other than the metal on metal action. There isn’t more than meets the eye in this flick.
Memorable Moment
Optimus Prime’s battle in the forest against three Decepticons! It comes halfway in the film and it is by far the best fight sequence. It almost reminded me of the King Kong fight against the T-Rexes.
FYI
Sam injuring his hand and wearing a bandage over it was written in last minute to protect Le Beouf’s hand which had just gone through surgery due to a car accident.
Score
6 out of 10
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