AMB Reviews

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen: 5/10 Stars

Release Date: June 24, 2009

Content Advisory: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, language, some crude and sexual material and brief drug material. Action is near nonstop. Explosions, gunfire, and robots fighting each other is almost always dominating the screen. Though it's frequent and intense, it's also mainly bloodless. A woman straddles a man on bed. Two dogs hump each other. Several stand-ins for f-words. and a salty scattering of milder cussing throughout. Several posters of bikini-clad women. A woman eats marijuana laced brownies.

Review:

My dad hated this movie and my sister loved it. Me? Well, I found myself right in the middle, neither liking or disliking it...

In Short:

"Transformers 2" is a Michael Bay film. That, in itself should be enough to tell you that there will be over-the-top special effects, lots of fighting and... explosions. Lots of them. This film, however, deals with Sam Witwicky who, after going to college, wants to live just a normal life. But that is impossible to achieve, however, when the Decepticons are brought back to life and now are after the information stored in Sam's brain to destroy the world. Though most movies use some CGI to tell an exciting story, this film uses a very thin plot to use a load of CGI. Overall, this film was entertaining, if overdone and overlong.

In Full:

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" takes place shortly after the first. The humans have befriended the Autobots who are now used to destroy any remaining Decepticons. But the ruler of all Decepticons still exists. And with one shard of the cube still remaining to bring back the rest of the robots, it will be a race against time before they take over the world. Sam Witwicky is heading off to college and is still hooked up with his girlfriend, Mikaela. And even though Sam just wants to live a normal life, the Decepticons are after what's inside Sam's mind. Looks like it's time for more explosions, robot fights, and gunfire. A whole two and a half hours of it. The movie itself serves no reason to exist, and was only made to show off an impressive CGI budget. It was entertaining at first, but after the first hour and a half, the constant action grew old.

Shia Labeouf and Megan Fox return as Sam Witwicky and Mikaela Banes. Shia Labeouf has come a long way since his starring role in Disney Channel's "Even Stevens." His acting has matured a lot, and I found his performance great for what little dialogue he was actually given for a main character. He spent a lot of the time running around and dodging huge robots, but when he wasn't, he did a fine job. Megan Fox, though a decent actress, seems to only be on screen to attract men with her belly shirts and short shorts. Though she plays a strong character, she also plays a very sexualized character and that brought down her whole performance for me. The cast is overall, however, is rounded off well and was one of its pros.

Speaking of pros... the visuals are both a pro and con to this film. Michael Bay wastes no time diving headfirst into the action, which starts off within the first five minutes of this movie. It was all completely unrealistic, over the top, and a lot of fun... for the first half. Your head can only take so many explosions before you start to get a headache. That's what's the problem. Though the CGI special effects are part of what makes this movie entertaining, it's also what makes it annoying. Bay should work on controlling and limiting his special effects. Eventually, it starts to wear down the storyline. And with a storyline about as thin as air, it starts to wear down quickly.

Besides the fact that this movie was way overdone, it was also way overlong. Clocking in at 2.5 hours, that's usually not too much to ask from an action movie. After all, Lord of the Rings 3 was 3.5 hours long and my eyes didn't stray from the screen once. This, however, is a different story. When the film reached 90 minutes, my head began to tinge with pain. At 2 hours, it was aching. And by the time the end credits finally rolled around, my head was throbbing. The movie didn't serve any purpose and because of that, it made my headache even more unbearable. There seemed to be no flow, no control, no order to the movie.

aAll of this being said... I have to say that I did enjoy some of Transformers. The beginning proved to be very entertaining. At that point, all of the CGI was exciting and new. Halfway through, however, it started to grow old. And when the final and supposedly exciting climatic battle rolled around, I simply yawned and grew impatient for everything to work out perfectly and the end credits to roll. It certainly was a predictable flick. It exists only to show off some impressive visual effects and nothing else. I could've watched the first Transformers and received at least a stronger plot. It's a completely 50/50, mediocre film that will be forgotten about in a year or less.