Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen
Michael Bay brought us one of the biggest movies, both at the box office and pure scale with Transformers back in 2007. It was a true showcase of modern day CGI, not overdone featuring a fun and action packed adventure. Two years later we see the release of the sequel, Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen but can Bay make another compelling movie with the Autobots and Decepticons?
I found Revenge of the Fallen to be a mixed bag. Some parts of the film were a vast improvement and really fleshed out the characters, especially Sam’s parents who really provided some of the best humor of the movie. New character Leo really stood out on screen, and even managed to steal some of the limelight from LaBeouf.
On the other hand one thing that really let the film down in my opinion was just how over the top it really was. I know many of you are sitting there thinking “how can Transformers be anything BUT over the top?” but during the first film, I never once thought to myself “wow, the Transformers look fake”. This time round there is simply TOO many transformers, hell EVERYTHING becomes a transformer in this film. Instead of having a compelling story with meticulously choreographed action scenes, this is just a blur of close up metal shots and a bunch of yelling. A lot of the time you will find yourself not even knowing who is who, and ultimately it lets the movie down.
The story is ok, Sam discovers that a sliver of the All-Spark has been residing in one of his jumpers, and upon touching it he gains the knowledge that the cube contained. The Decepticon leader plans a full scale assault on Earth and resurrects Megatron to find Sam and gain his knowledge, which will lead them to a device buried on Earth thousands of years ago. This device was built to harvest our sun, so the Decepticons can have the lifeforce to keep their race alive.
It’s a strong enough story to keep it going, with a cast that provides a lot of comedy, and manages to keep you on the edge of your seat for a portion of the movie.
The movie has a long run time, 147 minutes. I’m all for long running movies, but I constantly found myself wondering WHEN this film was going to end. It just never wound up and ran way too long.
Overall if you are a fan of the first movie you will enjoy this, but ultimately it’s just missing some of that energy that made the first movie so great.
6/10
