Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
2009
Starring: Shia LeBeouf, Megan Fox, John Turturro, Kevin Dunn, and Peter Cullen
Directed By: Michael Bay

**Caution: Review contains spoilers**

Well, lets get the plot out of the way first. According to IMDB, the plot goes like this:

Decepticon forces return to Earth on a mission to take Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf) prisoner, after the young hero learns the truth about the ancient origins of the Transformers. Joining the mission to protect humankind is Optimus Prime, who forms an alliance with international armies for a second epic battle.

That's pretty much it. Sure there's a little more to it, but ultimately the plot fails to be fully fleshed out to it's potential. Before we get into that, let's go back a little bit.

I never reviewed the first Transformers movie, but I liked it a lot. I had a few issues with it, seeing as I was a G1 fan (Generation One or Original 1980's Cartoon Series), but all in all it was a decent movie that I enjoyed watching. I ultimately felt that the biggest flaw was that the Transformers (except for Optimus Prime) didn't really have much character or personality.

Now I just saw the sequel and have mixed feelings. I feel that a lot of the things that were wrong with the first one got corrected here. However, with those corrections, more errors were made. I'm not being picky here either. Here the giant robots actually had personality and character, and a few actually were spot on as to their cartoon counterparts we all loved, but some had too much character.

A few of the robots felt like they attended the George Lucas house of Jar Jar. Some were downright annoying and poorly written, while some just resorted to foul language and slapstick comedy to move them along from scene to scene. This wouldn't be bad for any other movie, but in Transformers, it just doesn't work. I mean, at one point I just shook my head at the lame jokes and poor characters on the screen. That hurt my inner child a little bit.

Shia LeBeouf, I have come to realize, is a douchebag. Plain and simple. He's always the same character in every movie, and he's totally lost his charm. His characters are constantly manic, frantic, and slightly neurotic with odd facial spasms and ticks. After Disturbia, Transformers, Eagle Eye, and Indiana Jones, Shia LeBeouf just recycles the same characters around with new dialogue. It's kind of sad and pathetic that he's as popular as he is, and considering the little talent he posesses, it's sad and pathetic no one in Hollywood has noticed. He isn't all that bad, as he serves the purpose in each movie he's in, but don't expect him to have the long career that most in his shoes would have.

Other than that, the acting this time around is pretty solid considering the weak story. It's not poorly written, but instead just shallow plot points spread out over 2 hours and 20 minutes. Those plot points actually revolve around the action, so you can expect plot development about every 20 minutes or so. I didn't mind the length of the film, just the lack of a solid story. It was paper thin and just didn't do much for me. The character of The Fallen was totally disposable and unneeded. Considering he was in the movie a whole 2 minutes, he wasn't really necessary to anything. That's another gripe. Lack of screentime. There were like 20 new Transformers this time around and very few were shown longer than a minute or two. Why not add like 6 or 8 new ones and flesh out why they're there? Because it would be obvious and make sense and Hollywood is not known for making sense. One character from old that made it in was the female Autobot RC. RC is shown at the beginning for all of 10 seconds and then shown randomly at the end getting ripped apart for another 3 seconds. So, was this character needed for 13 seconds just to satisfy the fans? I don't think so.

On the plus side, Soundwave was there with original voice and it brought back that nostalgia from childhood. However, Soundwave and a few others were more than enough to satisfy. Did we need the wanna-be gangsta rapping Autobot twins Mudflap and Skids? Hell no. They were pointless and I had Jar Jar flashbacks for half of the movie.

With the negative out of the way, the movie actually was pretty good. Just not something very solid in the plot department. The action sequences were phenominal and totally elevated the action from the first film. Robots fighting robots with more than static punches was a major plus. Explosions, destruction, and lots of guns totally made this popcorn flick more than worth the price of admission. There were a lot of things I could pick apart, but apart from the weak plot and annoying robots, I'm not going to bother. The point is, I enjoyed myself and felt I got my money's worth. I'll more than likely pick up the Blu-Ray when it comes out, so that should say something.

All in all, good popcorn flick. Decent sequel, but not as good as the original. Had the story been fleshed out better, a few Transformers omitted, and less Shia LeBeouf facial spasms, this movie could have topped the first installment.



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