TRANSFORMERS REVENGE OF THE FALLEN Review

A sequel that is as action-packed as the first installment but… the lame story, the usual Bay-esque shots, the over-the-top acting and the long runtime keep it from becoming the ultimate awesome summer movie. The giant robot fights and their transformations are still pretty damn cool, thanks to ILM and I don’t think I’ll get tired of watching Optimus Prime turn from a semi into its normal look with camera going around it in the process but this movie could do without its excess baggage.

Decepticon forces return to Earth on a mission to take Sam Witwicky prisoner, after the young hero learns the truth about the ancient origins of the Transformers. Joining the mission to protect humankind is Optimus Prime, who forms an alliance with international armies for a second epic battle. The Autobots believing that peace was possible finds out that Megatron’s dead body has been stolen from the US Military by Skorpinox and revives him using his own spark. The Autobots with reinforcements of their own, may have more to deal with then meets the eye. But what awaits is a bigger, more ancient nemesis with long overdue vengeance in its heart.

I shouldn’t be surprised, it’s a Michael Bay movie anyway, so what’d ya expect, right?! Once again, he makes sure that the camera is always on the hotties Megan Fox and Isabel Lucas like a perv who can’t stop staring. Bay knows his target audience and tries to please them by presenting images that remind you of MTV music video clips. Flashes of Fox’s thighs, lips and Isabel’s hair and eyes, a 13 year old boy who just hit puberty would think he died and went to heaven. If you like that kind of stuff, then this is your movie. I on the other hand, am wondering what other tricks Bay has up his sleeves because if this is all he’s got, then it’s getting very old. If I can sum up the movie in 3 words, it’s this.. explosions, explosions, explosions.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the first movie and TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN has additional cool robots in different shapes and sizes with various abilities. Yes, the depiction of The Twins robots is a bit racist, I can see it now with the gold tooth and the big ears and the talk and the fact that they can’t read, plus they’re the comic relief robots. You can’t get more racist than that and frankly I don’t understand why Bay had to stoop so low.

But other than that, I am definitely in awe of The Devastator which combines many automation and vehicles into one super massive robot that’s absolutely colossal. The opening scene is fast-paced and exciting, seeing Ironhide do his thing is a visual treat. The villains are more unrelenting this time around, they’re really keeping the good guys busy and on their toes.
I can’t say enough that the ILM VFX guys have done an amazing job, they always pull through and this sequel is another evidence of that. The carrier that got blown to pieces was a sight to behold. A beefed up Optimus Prime battling more than one enemy is a must-see. You can’t tell anymore that the actors actually just used their imagination most of the time to interact with the robots. Impressive work indeed. When I watched Devastator climbing the pyramid while John Turturro was doing the same thing on the other side, it looked so real, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. The mix between the two shots is near perfect.

I am however, very disappointed in the story, which baffles me even more because screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci wrote J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek which I thought was a better, more enjoyable summer movie.
I suspect Bay’s direction and the involvement of co-screenwriter Ehren Kruger might have something to do with how unbearable the story is.

It’s got a decent concept that could’ve been condensed into 2 hours tops or even less than that but instead.. they just have to drag on and on and on with unnecessary LOTR type journey from one location to another trying to solve an ancient riddle, at the same time the movie’s injecting themes of Shia’s character, Sam wanting to be a normal college kid plus him being scared of saying ‘I love You’ to Megan’s character Mikelah. I understand that it’s about an ordinary kid put in an extraordinary situation but it doesn’t mean that it has to be extra long.
The problem is the story just isn’t engaging enough, halfway through it’ll lose your attention, you’ll be looking at your watch frequently, wondering when the hell are they going to show the next action scene already.
Not to mention it has countless stupid, childish, sex-crazed jokes along the way, the next punch line is even lamer than the last. From innuendos to giant balls, what a cheap unfunny sense of humor that only works for those easily amused.
Overall, I wouldn’t wanna watch this movie twice and if I did, I’d fast forward it straight to the action sequences, everything in between is nothing but excess baggage.

* Place the cursor on the image below to check my grade for this film