Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

After defeating Megatron and most of his elite Decepticons, the Autobots decide to remain on Earth and assist the military in locating and destroying the last of the Decepticon forces. During one of their missions, Optimus Prime learns that "The Fallen" will be returning and this raises a lot of concern. On the other side, Sam (Shia LaBeouf) is trying to live a normal life as a freshman in college. However, due to circumstances, he's dragged into the latest battle between the two warring factions. -summary

I have no trouble admitting that I enjoyed the first movie for various reasons. It had a rather large amount of flaws, but it was still possible to defend the movie from some critics, simply because the action scenes made up for the short comings and it did its job in delivering as a summer blockbuster. However, in the case of this sequel, there's just no way to cover up the sheer idiocy and poor direction. It's as if Michael Bay read every last review in the world on the last movie, tossed up the middle finger to everyone who had a beef with it, and actually worked harder to develop the "cons". No, I'm not talking the Decepticons, instead I'm going on about the things the critics hated the most. This sequel has far more forced comedy, even more stupidity, a much heavier military presence, longer ridiculous scenes, Sam's parents, I mean it's just bananas on how bad this movie really is. I don't believe I can ever watch it again.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen which was released in 2009 takes place two years after the first movie. There are new faces introduced and it has an interesting premise. The plot follows the Decepticons as they attempt to once again learn Megatron's location and revive him so he can take up leadership. The Decepticon working behind the scenes is a heavy fan favorite in the form of Soundwave. The Autobot ranks have grown a bit, and Prime is pretty much concerned about the fate of Earth, and he tries to reason with Sam that he's just as important in the war as he is. The plot had the makings of good fun, and at times, it appeared as if it was heading in the right direction. However, the execution was just horrendous in every aspect of film making. It's seriously frying my brain just to gather up my thoughts.

Now, what I liked about the movie. Once again, Bay brings the pain with the awesome action scenes when they finally get there. There's plenty of gun fire, and the Decepticons wreak quite a bit of havoc. The robot vs. robot scenes can be very good with some quick paced action, and one scene that truly stands out is when Optimus Prime takes on Megatron along with two of his warriors. This scene alone shows how dangerous Prime could be when all the cards are on the table. The final action scenes have a few more good moments with the robot action, and I think most action fans will get a kick out of them. The special effects are just too good, and I can't imagine anyone coming away hating all of these segments. Peter Cullen reprise his role as Optimus Prime, and I just can't see anyone else playing him. He's just the perfect fit. This time around, Bay recruited Frank Welker to play the voice of Soundwave. Unfortunately, his raspy voice acting resembles Soundwave from the episode Webworld, in which his voice is much deeper as opposed to the truly robotic tone he's famous for. Shia LeBeouf is not the horrible actor I've been hearing. He's actually the best one in the movie, once again, he feels believable in his role.

One complaint I heard about this movie was that Soundwave was basically useless, because he wasn't used right at all. This cannot be coming from fans of the animated series especially. Soundwave has always been Megatron's best warrior when it came down to covert operations, and I think Bay remained true to the character by using him in this way. To include, the appearance and use of Ravage created that nostalgic feel for me, and I thought the segment was pretty well done. There's also an interesting story element that is influenced by The Worse of Two Evils story arc from the comic series, where the essence of the All Spark, which was destroyed in the last movie inhabits Sam's brain. He is soon taken over and begins writing Transformer symbols that are completely unknown to him, and this plays a very large role in the plot.

Now this is where the movie has its issues, and good grief do they stand out. The forced comedy is unbearable. Sam's parents receive TOO MUCH screen time and the scenes are unbelievably annoying. There are plenty of takes with this weak comedy, and many scenes are just too stupid along with being VERY, VERY, LONG. The robots get in on the stupidity as well, spewing this atrocious dialogue that ranks in the very bottom of so called humor, that I know for sure parents will not want their kids to be hearing. I really don't understand Bay's fascination with jive-talking robots. This type of personality is not very appealing to the general public, it seriously makes pathetic humor even if it's dealt out in small doses, and Bay goes completely overboard with it. Character development is beyond terrible, outside of Soundwave and two very annoying characters since Jar Jar Binks, the viewer will not get to know most of the new cast. Megan Fox wasn't exactly bad, but this time around she's pure eye candy as opposed to having some type of purpose in the last movie. This is one film that is very hard to get through.

My personal pet peeve from the last movie pokes out its ugly head once again, and it's the over exposure of the American military presence. They're just all over the place during the action scenes, from on the ground combat to fire missions. I understand that Bay was paying tribute to the soldiers overseas, and as prior service I find that to be commendable; but when I was in the desert, I don't remember fighting against 30 foot robots though, and some of my friends whom are still in haven't mentioned anything about giant robots either. When I come into a movie called Transformers, that's who I want to see fighting.

In closing, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a miserable movie. The action scenes are completely overshadowed by the movies flaws, thus making it very close to being unwatchable. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone besides serious Transformer fans. The film is 150 minutes.

Pros: Robot action, special effects, Shia LeBeouf

Cons: Crackhead pacing, drug user plot execution, severe alcholic induced comedy