Film Review: Transformers 2
Looking back, I probably overrated the first Transformers film. Still, it was a decent action movie with some laughs. Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen does not change the formula at all, but is that really a good thing?
The old adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” can often be said of many forms of entertainment. The problem with Transformers adopting this philosophy is that the first movie was broken. The story was weak, and the battles were framed so tightly I could not tell if I was watching two fighting robots or an oil change instruction video.
I will credit Revenge of the Fallen on improvement in that area. This time around I was able to enjoy the battle scenes as they are always completely visible. The action overall shows a much more polished effort both in the computer graphics and the intensity of each battle. RotF also boasts the Michael Bay standard explosion rate (approximately 1 per second), so special effects fans will appreciate the technical achievements.
Unfortunately the explosions are the only part of the film that were given any attention. The story is non-existant. It is nothing more than a series of scenes that are either played for low-brow laughs or punctuated with terribly cheesy lines. The dialogue is so poor that at several points during RotF I looked around the theater to see if anyone was as shocked as myself at just how pathetic the writing was. I suppose since they were laughing hysterically the answer there was “No.”
The characters are so generic and the acting is so awful that I could not take any plot point seriously. In between the one-liners written by 12-year-olds and the story that can be figured out within the first 5 minutes, I suppose I was hoping for a performance that might stand out. There is no justification for the runtime (2 hours plus) considering there is absolutely no substance, and often times no attempt at any sense.
Revenge of the Fallen is a high-budget, low-intelligence popcorn flick destined for back-to-back’s on TBS every other weekend. Each time I think about it I realize more what a failure it really was, and with each sentence written I wonder how I could have already told others it was “ok.” Save your brain cells and avoid this movie.
4/10
5 Comments
Although I agree with a lot of major points of this review, I disagree with the score as well as your outlook on the movie. This movie isn’t supposed to have a good plot. It is a summer blockbuster. It is meant for you to leave your brain at the door and be amazed by the special effects. The action will drive you through the movie. To me, it did just that. I thought even on a lower quality video, the effects were impressive. There was almost constant action with some funny 1 liners. Bumblebee as in the first one came with some clever music selections and actions. My problem with this movie was it was drawn out WAY too long. Especially about 3/4 through the movie. It could have been finished in about 25 minutes but took almost an hour. I know it’s been a trend that movies have been getting longer but at 2 hours 20 minutes, this was too long.
@Mr. Baller Lower quality video=TS Rip
@Everyone else I haven’t seen it yet
@Mr.Baller I have no problem with the ‘leave your brain at the door’ style of action, but in my opinion Transformers 2 was too boring to achieve that. Everything was just too long and not entertaining. Movies like Live Free or Die Hard were great summer blockbusters that were action-heavy, but they avoided spending hours developing a story that did not exist. (I agree with you it was much too long.)
If T2 wanted to be a great action movie, it should have left out the “touching” moments between Optimus and Sam. It could have avoided the entire plot really, unless anyone was really concerned about the Dagger of Responsibility or Transformers-Heaven. I think it missed being the action movie that you think it was.
i seriously wanted to punch shia lebouf in the face for going to transformers heaven. i think the thing i hate most about these movies (besides the cheap sexual context) is how cheesy optimus prime is. why is the wisest person in the movie also a mac truck? redunkulous.
@rebecca That is one of the most hilarious and simultaneously most accurate comments in the history of this site.
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