Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
The movie starts out two years after the first one, with Sam on his way to college, and the Autobots fighting with the US Army against rogue Decepticons. Bumblebee still guards Sam, and has to step in early on in the film to stop an army of kitchen appliances brought to life by an Allspark shard. The parents apparently know about Autobots and handle the incident pretty well. Sam's mom seems more upset about her son going off to college than her house being blown apart when the attack occurs.
Optimus Prime's reaction to damaging The Sphinx's nose..."My bad."
I loved the first Transformers. I went to it slightly against my will during my time in D.C. and came out feeling Optimus Prime was my hero and thinking every car, truck, and plane I saw was a robot in disguise. So, like everyone else on the planet, I was very excited for the sequel. My first hint that it might not be as great as I had built it up to be was the review I saw in The Orlando Sentinel. Roger Moore gave it one star. Except for absolute crap movies you don't even bother to see, it is rare to see a film get one star. I read the review and it seemed that he felt Transformers 2 was all explosions and CGI effects and no substance. For the most part, I agree.The movie starts out two years after the first one, with Sam on his way to college, and the Autobots fighting with the US Army against rogue Decepticons. Bumblebee still guards Sam, and has to step in early on in the film to stop an army of kitchen appliances brought to life by an Allspark shard. The parents apparently know about Autobots and handle the incident pretty well. Sam's mom seems more upset about her son going off to college than her house being blown apart when the attack occurs.
Sam is quite happy to finally be free from all the robot drama since he is going to college, and he even refuses to bring Bumblebee with him. This was very disappointing. If I had an Autobot that turned into a sleek car, I would not chuck it away. I don't care if it drew attention. It's a freakin' Autobot, people! I digress. The move in to college is a bit ridiculous. Sam's mom is crazier than she needs to be, as is Sam's roommate, Leo. Leo is in most of the movie, but he doesn't ever seem too important. Mikaela is still dating Sam, but their relationship turns into long distance when she decides to stay at the auto shop with her dad. Megan Fox is shamelessly used to heighten the sexuality of the movie. Every shot she is either in a low cut top, hot pants, short skirts, or leather. Ridiculous. Unfortunately, Mikaela has some competition when this psycho comes into the picture:
Let's just say, this chick is the definition of the Transformers' slogan "There's more than meets the eye." Sam can't escape his destiny for too long, and after only two days, he is thrust back into the fight between the Autobots and Decepticons. Sam is imprinted with the Allspark's information of where a great source of power is, and somehow all the Decepticons figure this out and hunt him down. The Autobots defend him as long as they can, but some sacrifices have to be made. Reaching this powerful device before the Decepticons seems to be the main (and basically only) plot of the movie. Mikaela and Leo join Sam on his journey, along with Bumblebee and The Twins, two new Autobots who come off as offensive racial stereotypes in the movie (They are funny, though). Agent Simmons also ends up joining the group, making up for his incompetence in the first film. He still brings humor to this movie, but this time, he adds heart, too.
The movie was okay. It could have used a lot more plot, and I would have appreciated more scenes without the robots. The first movie took a lot of time to develop relationships between the characters, and even managed to give the pointless Mikaela a back story. There is rarely a scene in this installment with just humans, and the robot's have less personality simply because there are so many in the film. I feel like Michael Bay just wanted to spend all his money on making as many different CGI robots as possible. Granted, the robots looked fantastic. I especially liked all the older decepticons that had little feather things around there mouths. They reminded me of piano keys for some reason the way they moved so methodically.
I had a really hard time telling apart Autobots and Decepticons. I'm grateful that most of the Autobots are colorful, but Ironhide and a few others are dark and hard to pick out. It makes it difficult to decide which side is winning (especially when some of them start switching sides!). My favorite robot was this one:
It made me think of when Boo says "Kitty!" in Monster's Inc. This Decepticon is nothing too special, but I always could pick it out of a group. It reminded me Beast Wars for a second, which made me a little nostalgic for those mornings I tried to figure out that complicated kid's show. I also liked Wheelie (the robot that Mikaela became attached to), but you don't really know what happens to him because all of the sudden he isn't in the movie anymore. That happens with the parents, too, but right when you remember they exist, they are thrust back into the action (literally).
I gotta point out I was very impressed with Shia LeBeouf. He injured his hand in a car accident during the film (off set), and was highly recommended to stop shooting until it had healed. He knew the film was dependant on him, so he sucked it up and continued anyway with a bandage. You can see this bandage in the film after they fall teleporting. Shia would have had to amputate fingers if he hurt his hand again, and with all the running and explosions in the end of the movie, I think it is a miracle his hand made it out in one piece. That's dedication.
I won't tell you whether or not to go see this movie because most of the world has already seen it anyway. I would give it two stars. It was poorly written without enough dialogue and character interaction, but it was exciting to follow. The special effects are always intense and loud, so be prepared. People in the theater I went to had babies that cried a lot towards the end prompting me to wonder why anyone would bring infants to a 2 1/2 hour action movie. Please don't be that kind of parent.
Oh! One final compliment. In my first post of the blog, I mentioned I loved Green Day's performance of "21 Guns" on the SNL finale. That song is played for awhile in the beginning of the film, and I believe it plays in its entirety during the credits. Great song. Stay and listen if you can.
Let's just say, this chick is the definition of the Transformers' slogan "There's more than meets the eye." Sam can't escape his destiny for too long, and after only two days, he is thrust back into the fight between the Autobots and Decepticons. Sam is imprinted with the Allspark's information of where a great source of power is, and somehow all the Decepticons figure this out and hunt him down. The Autobots defend him as long as they can, but some sacrifices have to be made. Reaching this powerful device before the Decepticons seems to be the main (and basically only) plot of the movie. Mikaela and Leo join Sam on his journey, along with Bumblebee and The Twins, two new Autobots who come off as offensive racial stereotypes in the movie (They are funny, though). Agent Simmons also ends up joining the group, making up for his incompetence in the first film. He still brings humor to this movie, but this time, he adds heart, too.
The movie was okay. It could have used a lot more plot, and I would have appreciated more scenes without the robots. The first movie took a lot of time to develop relationships between the characters, and even managed to give the pointless Mikaela a back story. There is rarely a scene in this installment with just humans, and the robot's have less personality simply because there are so many in the film. I feel like Michael Bay just wanted to spend all his money on making as many different CGI robots as possible. Granted, the robots looked fantastic. I especially liked all the older decepticons that had little feather things around there mouths. They reminded me of piano keys for some reason the way they moved so methodically.
I had a really hard time telling apart Autobots and Decepticons. I'm grateful that most of the Autobots are colorful, but Ironhide and a few others are dark and hard to pick out. It makes it difficult to decide which side is winning (especially when some of them start switching sides!). My favorite robot was this one:
It made me think of when Boo says "Kitty!" in Monster's Inc. This Decepticon is nothing too special, but I always could pick it out of a group. It reminded me Beast Wars for a second, which made me a little nostalgic for those mornings I tried to figure out that complicated kid's show. I also liked Wheelie (the robot that Mikaela became attached to), but you don't really know what happens to him because all of the sudden he isn't in the movie anymore. That happens with the parents, too, but right when you remember they exist, they are thrust back into the action (literally).I gotta point out I was very impressed with Shia LeBeouf. He injured his hand in a car accident during the film (off set), and was highly recommended to stop shooting until it had healed. He knew the film was dependant on him, so he sucked it up and continued anyway with a bandage. You can see this bandage in the film after they fall teleporting. Shia would have had to amputate fingers if he hurt his hand again, and with all the running and explosions in the end of the movie, I think it is a miracle his hand made it out in one piece. That's dedication.
I won't tell you whether or not to go see this movie because most of the world has already seen it anyway. I would give it two stars. It was poorly written without enough dialogue and character interaction, but it was exciting to follow. The special effects are always intense and loud, so be prepared. People in the theater I went to had babies that cried a lot towards the end prompting me to wonder why anyone would bring infants to a 2 1/2 hour action movie. Please don't be that kind of parent.Oh! One final compliment. In my first post of the blog, I mentioned I loved Green Day's performance of "21 Guns" on the SNL finale. That song is played for awhile in the beginning of the film, and I believe it plays in its entirety during the credits. Great song. Stay and listen if you can.
No comments:
Post a Comment