Movie Review: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

When you watch a movie like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen you have to almost forget about being critical and do your best to submerge yourself in the fanboy lust that Michael Bay has thrown on that screen. This is not a movie about complex characters, intricate plot details, or even a coherent story. Instead, this movie, as well as the original, is about one thing and one thing only: giant robots that fight each other. Once you realize that there will be no story, no likable characters, not a sense of continuity, you may be able to enjoy this film. Before I continue any further let me say one thing. If you thought the first movie was the best thing ever made, you are soon to have a new favorite film to put on your all time favorite list, next to Pirates of the Caribbean and The Mummy movies.

I could have reviewed this movie in two different ways. The first being a fanboy review and the second a review for everyone else. I fall somewhere in the middle of that range. Director Michael Bay has taken everything that made the first movie so successful and brought those elements to a bigger, bolder, more intense scale. We have more robots, bigger robots, meaner robots, bigger explosions, fancier camera work, more shots of Megan Fox looking hot, and new epic locations. The movie makes everything as big as possible. It wants you to think, “wow this movie is huge. Look at the size of those robots!” (If you watch it on IMAX, you will be saying that.) The eye candy is all there, but after two plus hours I left the movie feeling completely unfulfilled.

In Revenge of the Fallen, Sam Witwickey (Shia LeBeouf) is heading to college. He is trying the whole long distance relationship thing with Mikaela (Megan Fox) and has to leave Bumblebee at home because freshman can’t have cars on campus. Everything is changing for Sam except one thing. He is about to get involved in another epic battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons. The Autobots are working with the U.S military to stop any Decepticon threats to the nation. With the introduction of The Fallen and the return of Megatron, our country is no longer safe. This time around the story involves the “all spark” which can turn anything into a robot. Sam must protect it because it could be used to bring Megatron back. Where the first movie had that stupid cube, this has the all spark which is equally as dumb. Early in the movie the all spark causes all the appliances in Sam’s family’s house to start attacking them. Bumblebee has to come to the rescue and destruction is inevitable.

The characters in the sequel seem to have become very annoying. Especially Sam’s parents who are so obnoxious that every scene they are in becomes painful to watch. When Sam’s mother comes to visit him at school she eats some laced brownies that cause her to run around campus completely insane. Joining Sam and Mikaela is Sam’s new roommate Leo (Ramon Rodriguez) who brings some much needed laughs to the film. Returning for the sequel are Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson who reprise their roles as marines sent to fight the Decepticons. Duhamel and Gibson are never really used that much in the sequel. There is far too much else going on to give them any screen time. Also returning is John Turturro who played Sector 7 Agent Simmons in the first movie.  With so many characters and robots the movie suffers from a run-time which is about 45 minutes too long. That is actually being generous. Bay could have wrapped this up in 90 minutes flat.

What worked in the first film could have worked in the sequel. Instead Michael Bay wanted to see how big he could make things and because of this the film suffers. It loses the important aspects that made the first film work. The most obvious part is the role of Optimus Prime. The fearless leader of the Autobots is not present in over half the film. I don’t want to give anything away, but the story with Optimus Prime ultimately hurt this sequel. There then becomes too many Decepticons, and at one point I had a tough time keeping track of who they were. Bay wanted to jam pack this movie with so much stuff that it ends up being the movies ultimate downfall.

The movie does have a few strong points. The obvious being the special effects. They are better than ever and I recommend you see this movie on the IMAX screen because it will take your breath away. The full screen shots of the fight scenes will really excite the fans. The first act of the movie was rough, the second act was by far the strongest, and the final act was what everyone wants to see. Autobots vs. Decepticons in Egypt. The movie attempts to find a plot about an hour in when the Decepticons begin to hunt Sam because he possesses the all spark. He becomes the most wanted man alive and has to run for his life. That is effective storytelling, but the movie quickly moves on from one thing to the next that you forget what you just saw. That is how Bay wants it to be. Everything is on an acid trip. There is no time to tell a story.

The first movie attempted to tell too much story and lacked the action that fans wanted to see. The sequel is the complete opposite. It has absolutely no coherent story and far too many fight scenes. Now that I think about it the movie didn’t really have too many fight scenes as far as numbers go. The fight scenes it had just went on way too long. It spent most of the time building it up, only to fizzle out in the end. Critically speaking this movie is a complete mess. Fanboy speaking it lives up to the hype but doesn’t achieve the quality of the first film. I guess I will have to settle somewhere in the middle for a rating.

Fanboyz Grade: C-