More. That is the best one word description of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. It has more Transformers, more explosions, more minutes, more humor, more characters but all this more comes at the expense of a cohesive story and any attempt at character arcs.
The story is simple even though several obstacles are thrown in to make it seem complicated. The Fallen orders Megatron and the Decepticons to find the Matrix so he can blow up the Sun for power and Sam and the Autobots must stop them. The story has holes the size of Optimus Prime so it is best to not dwell on the details. The dialogue is as flat and uninspired as the first movie but Prime gets a few good lines in here and there. Really though this isn’t a movie you watch for story nor characterization.
The Transformers themselves, the real stars of the movie, get plenty of screen time compared to the first movie. Optimus Prime, who came across as capable but no match for Megatron, is redeemed getting several moments to shine that Transformer fans will adore and show new fans why he is the most beloved character of the franchise. However, despite all that extra time on screen there is no real growth or development of these CGI figures. Many come and go without an explanation and most are not even identified by name. As a consequence action scenes can become muddled as it can become difficult to keep up with who is doing what to who. This introduction of new characters also causes first movie favorites such as Ironhide and Ratchet to have only minutes of screen time in favor of new characters especially the Twins Mudflap and Skids.
This brings us to what is really the largest problem with the film, which is its humor. There are jokes with a farting robot, steel testicles, dogs humping and more. The humor, while funny in parts, is just as likely to offend, especially when coming from the Twins. The approach seems to be as if the pair watched only rap videos but the result may just come across as offensive or racist. The characters were clearly designed for kids but the problem is their jokes are often hard PG-13 with words that most parents would probably prefer they not repeat.
Where this movie shines is as pure eye candy. The CGI effects from ILM and Digital Domain is nothing short of astonishing. The Transformers details have been cranked up, their ability to emote much improved and the use of Transformations creative (Optimus’ introduction in the movie is amazing). The various fight sequences are gorgeous to behold in their detail and worth the price of admission all by themselves. There are drawbacks though such as Devastator. While impressive in scope, he is likely to disappoint many once get past the technical achievement in his creation. Megan Fox and Isabel Lucas have never looked better regardless of the chaos around them.
Director Michael Bay brings his best to the table of huge explosions and controlled chaos for a visual feast of action. The camera doesn’t shake as much as in the first movie but he goes to the 360 camera pan a bit too often, only once is it use actually inspired (when Sam and Mikaela are hiding), but otherwise it does not really accomplish much except to make it difficult to track the action.
The human characters, they don’t do much, which is fine. Sam is a plot device to move the action forward. Megan exists to be pretty. Tyrese Gibson and Josh Duhamel point the guns at objects and yell a lot. The only ones that make the most of their screen time is Julie White and Kevin Dunn as Sam’s parents who handle the adolescent humor with skill.
If it seems like this is one long list of complaints, it is not. This movie is the perfect popcorn flick with pointless story, likeable characters and an overload of visual fun. Check your brain at the door, sit back, and enjoy a wild and very entertaining ride. There are scenes, usually involving Optimus Prime, that will make you want to cheer out loud and watch the movie all over again. If you looking for two hours and half hours of loud entertaining fun, then Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is the must see movie of the year.
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I enjoyed the movie, but the twins were a waste of time and racist. Eliminate them and develop the other Autobots next time.
ReplyDeleteWell said!
ReplyDeleteGreat flick! I Loved it and your review nailed it. I couldn't have said it better myself, all the positives and negatives. I've already saw the flick twice and enjoyed every minute of it. Checked my brain at the door and let the eight year old boy in me giggle in joyous delight.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to Barricade?
ReplyDeleteThis was a knock drag out fight of a movie! The story itself was a bit rushed but over all you caught the point. The twins really were not that bad, would you rather have then talking like a snooty nose upper class white kids? country hicks? or the bad ass little bots that they are? I was in a theatre in which a good 65% of the crowd was African-American and I did not see anyone leave or be annoyed by the twin, on the contrary they seemed to love the characters. Yes, some of the language could be toned down but you have two young(I assume) Autobots, twins on top of that, and they are going fight and try to be bad ass as possible, so they are going to talk the words of the street. Now some of the Humor in the movie I could do without. The dogs humping was funny once, the second time it was annoying. Wheelie humping Mikelas leg was pointless, and our friendly S-7 agent Simmons underwear seen was a waste of film! The best scene was Sam standing before the original Primes and receiving the respect of the Primes. Overall I give it a 9 out of 10 with the humor really dragging it down to a 9.
ReplyDeleteI can live with the street talking robots and a fast plot, but seeing agent Simmons in his tidy whities is just too much to handle!
So I'm on my fourth watching now and the projector blew up in the middle of a thrilling action scene. Yes, we got vouchers to watch it again. Yay~! Let me repeat that...
ReplyDeleteTHE MOVIE PROJECTOR BLEW UP. IT WAS F*CKING AWESOME. THANK YOU MICHAEL BAY!
Loved the movie, with one exception, the lack of transformer character development. arcee and jolt (whom in the two times he was on screen looked like a cool character)are barely in the film, why have them if you will not show them. Same with most of the decepticons
ReplyDelete*****HELP OUT A FELLOW FAN FOLKS*****
ReplyDeleteGreat review. Thank you. I appreciate everything you said because I feel the same way and I wanted to articulate it. I have the same praises and concerns. Who wrote the review anyway? Identify yourself. My name is Vince, and I have some questions and I hope I could buddy up here with some fans who are as big of a fan as I am and answer some much needed questions for me as I was left a touch confused after seeing it last night;
(In no particular order)
1 -
When Mega flew into outer space was that Cybertron he went to? I liked the imagery and the darkness and the wires and the fluids and all of that. And was it my understanding that they all start out as those "hatchlings" I think? Sort of like newborns?? They should have dove into this more....
2-
What ultimately happened to, The Doctor, Jolt (I mean was he really even in the movie?), Soundwave, the stolen Allspark shard, Wheelie, etc.
3-
I agree with the reviewer. In an attempt to cram in as much a possible, a lot of what would have been great charachters and their development suffered. Sideswipe, Arcee, Jolt. Arcee was always presented in a blur and was never focused on, sideswipe also. She and sideswipe copuld have gotten 30 sec more each, no? Poor Rachet and Ironhide got stiffed too.
4)
That scene from thousands of years ago with the natives roaming the earth confused me. So all of the cybertronians looked like the fallen right? There was like a war going on and I assume that the fallen was attacking all of them, right? What were they here to do way back when becasue cyberton was in working order at that point in time right?
5)
In an interview Shia said that it will be explained who Bumblebee is, and why is he the way he is, and why is he so rambunctious. I'm not sure if that was all lost on me. I know that when they were mourning Prime when he was sitting out on the grass he said that he lives for sam and that he loved and cared for him and that he meant everything. Something like that?
Anyway, I'll have more. I appreciate answers. Thank you all. It's been a blast regardless!!
Vince
movie was great, but had in my opinion nat as many iconic scenes as the first one. the music was also less heroic and there was no montage!!! i love michael bays montages in movies, especially the one where the autobots arrive at the earth. but nothing in this one? shame on you! the twins were funny, but had too much screen time. the scenes with the parents were also a bit too much for me, the crying, drugged up mother and especially sams college buddy killed my nerves in this film. could have lived without wheelie, some fart jokes and the testacles of demolisher!!!
ReplyDeletebut overall, it´s a great summer popcorn movie i enjoied a lot and i will see it today the second time in theatres. can´t wait for the blu ray release with hopefully more scenes that were shown in the trailer before, but were not in the movie
Didn't like the multiplying characters! First, Demolishor and Scavenger are identical without explanation whether they are same or not. Next, Arcee is three or only one of three motorcycles. Plus, there's a scene where Rampage and Long Haul have combined with the other Constructicons to form Devastator but in another scene you see them fighting as individual bots. WTF!
ReplyDeleteto much sexual humor, it just offends people!
ReplyDeleteThe twins were fun the only person being racist is you for think that a robot with no skin color is black just because he talks a certain way. What if he was a surban white boy trying to be gangsta or what if they would of been redneck. Should the white people in the south be offended? Also, What about the new GI Joe I have seen the previews and Damon Waynes acts like the twins. Is GI Joe being Racist or is everyone that is critizing the Twins think that black people are dumb, can't read, and talk a certain way. I would be more offened about the people stereotyping the twins as being black think that is the way black people act.
ReplyDeleteHow are the twins racist? Is it because of the way they talk? Because I know a lot of people of all races that talk that way. It's a form of slang for a certain pop culture. If you think they are racist for speaking like that, then it seems to me that you are associating them with a certain group of people on your own. Sounds like the racism is in your head.
ReplyDeleteGreat film and I hope to watch it again next week!!
ReplyDeleteI had a thought.........wouldnt it be great if T3 was a live action remake of the original Transformers cartoon movie..........although Im not sure how they would make this follow on from T2 but they should deffo think about this.
Anyways back to T2. WOW!!!
great review, at least you're not screaming out BEST MOVIE EVER! like some other people on the comments. The film is deeply flawed for many different reasons (throwaway robots with not enough screen-time, terrible humour, bad acting), but there were some truly wow moments - as you said, Optimus' mid-air transformation, and also the sequence with Ravage was great.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the Twins had more screen-time than they deserved - they were annoying but not half as bad as Jar Jar Binks, and set pieces and characters that got fans pre-emptively excited were wasted (Devastator, Soundwave, Sideswipe).
I hope they don't screw up the 3rd one - it would actually be nice if they made a film that was both easy on the eye and actually interesting - is that too much to ask?
Did anyone notice the fact that the components of Devastator were in the town battle, while Devastator was still functional and climbing the pyramid!?
ReplyDeleteGOOD MOVIE AND EFFECTS. THE TWINS WERE FUNNY IN PARTS ALONG WITH SAM'S ROOMATE. HOWEVER, I AGREE THE STORY COULD HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED BETTER. THE HUMAN DECEPTICON TRANSFORMER? IF THEY CAN BE HUMAN THEN WHY TURN INTO A CAR, TRUCK OR PLANE? THEY WOULD BLEND IN BETTER THIS WAY. I AM ALMOST THINKING THAT BAY DID THE HUMAN DECEPTICON TO COPY TERMINATOR JUST LIKE TERMINATOR COPIED WITH THE HARVESTER.
ReplyDeleteOTHER THAN THAT THE FIRST MOVIE WAS BETTRE IN TERMS OF STORY AND EXECUTION. THE SECOND WAS BETTER IN TERMS OF FIGHTS. PRIME AND BUMBLEBEE HAVE SOME GOOD BEAT DOWNS.
lol The twins were funny i loved watching them as for Racist thats BS and you know it to many people cry racist over to many things. American gangster hmm Racist yeah..... Black man killing yeah well one of lthe twins was done by a black man so all you people saying racist go ^^%%$ your selfs im sick of this shit you know what is racist is BET.... If we had a WPT white people TV Blacks WOULD RAGE about it so yall can STFU
ReplyDeleteTo the first poster anon
ReplyDeleteyou must be the racist for thinking that. They are robots not people.
Tflive great review my friend. Thx for all the updates over the past years. You're the man! Keep it coming for the third movie!
What is there to develop? 2years has passed and we hit the ground with out feet running. That makes it perfect.
ReplyDeleteSO glad you brought up the lack of Ironhide & Ratchet - that was one of my biggest complaints!
ReplyDeletei wish they took away the twins and gave me screen time of iron hide and that corvette
ReplyDeleteI agree with this 100%. While it is a fantastic movie, I found it hard to follow knowing who was who and finding myself getting Starscreem and Megatron confused often. It would have been nice to take two minutes to be introduced to the new members of the team.
ReplyDeleteI saw it as well, and as much as I enjoyed "the awesome parts" of the movie, those twins were utterly useless the entire film. As a matter of fact they look better as cars then robots. That bad ass corvette was probably the slickest new character and the guy said like one sentence and aside from one real scene, he was nothing but filler. They dropped the ball big time. This could've been so much more (regardless of box office) to so many people if someone had the balls to restrain the person responsible for all of the films shortcomings, which is A LOT.
ReplyDeletePS. Kids would love the film and buy the toys REGARDLESS of the stupid humor and stupid characters. The excess was NOT needed. It's too bad that Optimus was the only thing with any sort of balls (no Devastator jokes please) or integrity in this film. And by the way, I was a mega-fan of the cartoon, toys AND the first movie. Good luck with the next one.
lol racist? are you crazy man?
ReplyDeleteI have heard an awful lot about the "racist" depiction of the Twins. I think perhaps the viewer/critic that finds these characters racist my infact be racist him or her self. I have a job where I work with a racially diverse community and it is my observation that the language, accent, and behaviour of the Twins isn't a reference to african american culture but to urban culture. In short there are just as many white people that talk and act like that as black people. You see just as many white people driving down the street thumping the bass in their cars and with their hats side ways and pants sagging as black people. It is a culture that white and black people share along with any other race. So maybe if YOU immediately associate the Twins with a black male stereotype then YOU are infact the racist. Maybe they are impersonating Eminem? Just something to think about.
ReplyDeleteAnd on a side note, to all the critics that have slammed this film. Who is the greater fool? The man that spends $200 million to create a fun, all be it pointless film based on action figures that change from cars to robots or the critic(s) that expect said film to be high art?
I really liked the movie, too. I do admit, however, the the story is the same as the first, just with more robots. Which really isn't a negative. I too vote that the 3rd should sacrifice some of the new transformers to better develop the existing ones.
ReplyDeleteReally, what it comes down to is that everyone wanted more robots, and also wanted them to all have thirty minutes of screen time and each to have a back story to be developed. Well, if Bay did that it would have been a 12 hour movie. Most are already complaining that 2 1/2 hours was too long.
Still, this movie for me was just great fun. Lots of fighting and explosions, and some fun with Megatron and Starscream.
-PS: I'm sure Bay and the writers will take it in a different direction for the 3rd, but not sure if that's a good thing.
To put a stop to all those critics regarding ROTF, as Bay put it best, its about the transformers themselves not about the humans and story plot. In fact I thought the story plot was good but fell short at the end with alot of empty gaps not filled. For example, what happened to the matrix when Prime blew up the device that was going to destroy the Earth. Note the Fallen took it from Prime and started the machine and what about Megatron and the other decepticons? Bay is right that this movie was made for the fans, it was not supposed to be for an Oscar nomination for best picture of the year! Anyone can be a critic but its the word of mouth and profit that really speaks about movie. Its 2.5 hours of giant kick ass robots (which had more time with them than the 1st movie), explosions, action sequences that was like a fun roller coaster ride. For those critics who cannot contemplate the use of CGI and the advancement that was done that made their heads spin go watch something else at your pace. They really don't have any appreciation for Transformers, point blank.
ReplyDeleteThis movie is a means to escape from things that have been going on this and past year with the economy and bring back some childhood memories of this great franchise of robots that can transform into cars, jets, bigger robots, etc, ergo robots in disguise.
I plan to go back and watch it a second time this weekend because the first time around there is so much going on that you want to rewind and see that part right there again like Prime's entrance in the beginning of the movie (which was awesome), cannot wait for the special edition Blue Ray disc. On a final note, I do believe had the live movie followed the comic book adaptation of ROTF ending, the movie would have been way better to end.
A perfect Review, but certain human characters that are in the movie should be elimanted which have to much screen time. The Sector Seven Guy, and Sams new roomate Leo.
ReplyDeleteI usually don't post, but I do have to say that the movie was great with the exception of the twins. I thought they were pointless and only took away from the cooler characters. ex: sideswipe, ironhide, ratchet. I thought starscream was great. Overall the movie was good and would definitely go see it again.
ReplyDeleteExcellent review! I agree whole-heartedly!
ReplyDeleteAnd to those who claim the Twins are racist - would it not be considered racist to assume they are supposed to be black? They came of as a couple of younsters trying to talk tough to me. I've seen kids of all ethnic backgrounds do the same thing.
to call the twins racist i think not thy were great even tough i agree other characters could hav had more screen time
ReplyDeleteOh wow, I totally agree with you Mr. Blogger^^, too much scrotum (sp?) jokes, but the rest of the movie was amazing... be pickin' up the DVD in the netx months ^^
ReplyDeletePerfectly describes the movie. I wished they had half of the robots and developed them better. Also the pointless decepticons that all looked the same were stupid and stop reusing the same character molds! The constructicons were in 2 places at once. They were combined on the pyramid and fighting the autobots in their robot modes at exactly the same time.
ReplyDeleteI saw Transformers 2 twice yesterday back to back.
ReplyDeleteFirst I saw it in iMax but that was kinda a bummer because it wasn't the real iMax. I saw Star Wars when it premiered on the REAL iMax screen on Halloween night. So it had the huge screen and the crazy loud speakers. But I guess the guy who owns Harkins at the Arizona Mills Mall beefed with iMax so now he doesn't let regular movies get played in there cuz it cuts into his profits. So the iMax I watched it in had a superb picture but a weak sound system but the screen was way smaller than the REAL iMax.
After that, I checked it out on a regular Harkins theater in Chandler, AZ. The sound in the regular theatre was better than the iMax but I sat next to some dumb ass teenagers that would not shut up the whole time. I seriously almost snapped and told them to shut the eff up but I could tell they were kinda poor and I didn't want to embarrass them so I just tolerated it. I didn't get home until 12:30 AM.
I think the sequel was 100 times better than the first movie. Way funnier. Crazier action sequences. The fighting was awesome. I gave the first one a 10/10 but this second one was a 8/10 because there were certain things that bothered me.
::: Spoilers :::
One - They did a poor job of introducing the new characters. In the first movie they all introduced themselves to Sam one at a time. They could have done the same thing in the second movie when all the Autobots were in the hanger. When the jack ass guy who was appointed by the President showed up, that was a perfect time for them to introduce themselves. They could have foreshadowed their use later in the movie. Like have Sideswipe practicing his fight moves. And there was very little if any dialog between the autobots themselves. For example... who the hell was the Autobot that used the electricity to rebuild Optimus with Jetfire's parts?
Two - Too many silly characters. I think the Twins were fine, but Jetfire should have had a Gandolf quality to him. He was more like a clown than a wise old man. And then when he created a time bridge? Dumb... he is a Blackbird for pete's sake. He should have just went mach 10 and flew to Egypt with the people riding inside him. Sooooo dumb.
Three - What happened to the Twins? They just disappeared. Last time you saw them, they were walking under Devastator. And if they could combine as vehicles why not as an awesome robot so they could fight Devastator?
Four - If you can take out Devavstator with one shot off a rail gun? Why not Megatron or the Fallen for that matter?
Five - Duplicate Decepticons. I could not look past that. Never... were there duplicates in the Cartoon. Each robot was an individual. You cannot have more than one of the same Decepticon. If you can have 2 Bone Crushers, why can't you have 2 Megatrons?
Six - They failed to use Megatron again, for what he is... an awesome cannon. He should have transformed into some dope gun turret that the Fallen or Star Scream used to shoot back at all the tanks that were attacking. Or better yet, transformed into a great cannon to take the battle ship out before it hit Devastator with the rail gun. That would have left Devastator intact for a huge brawl with Super Prime.
Seven - And for all the awesomeness Optimous possessed, they failed to capture how bad assed he really was when he added Jetfires parts.
So with that said, this is my favorite action movie off all time but I feel that they didn't take advantage of certain things.
The Twins were not racist... They were just wannabes.
ReplyDeleteAbout the racism quastion, I'd like to quote a someone from the Newsarama forums:
ReplyDelete"All I've been reading is how racist this movie is and, frankly, it bothers me. As a black man who doesn't subscribe to the "hip-hop" culture, I don't appreciate being lumped into that group simply because I have African ancestry. I find it to be an unfair bias (or Racist!) to assume that all black people fall into the "hip-hop" culture or that said culture is only made up of black people. Wouldn't Eminem fall into that category? He isn't black.
And what about Tyrese Gibson's character? Isn't he one of the films primary heros? I didnt see him portrayed it any sort of negative light. For that matter, there weren't any ACTUAL African-American's protrayed in poorly in the film at all. The annoying characters in question are actually a green car and an orangeish/red car. If you assume they are "supposed" to be black what does that say about YOUR biases??
Sorry to vent, the more I read about the "racism" in the film, the more I get annoyed. It came out here."
Nuff' said.
I almost totally agree with your review. I loved the movie! The twins were dorks and needed to be toned way down. (Tho a few lines were funny) I understand that they learn from the internet and like Jazz, they choose a certain sytle. I just think that shoulda been explained. A few lines of dialoge woulda saved this movie's plot holes for sure. (Like maybe Jetfire sayin he had a first-aid kit in his cockpit to repair Sam's hand. Of the lead Army guy sayin how he some how survived the battle in the first part of the first movie...etc.) Over all tho I dug the movie. I just wish that the autobots like ironhide and sideswipe had more lines and screen time. And did Jolt ever say a word? And how did he get there?
ReplyDeleteBay sucks!
ReplyDeleteThe main problem i found was that because of the complexity of some of the robots you couldnt tell what was happening. This can be shown in the three against one fight sequence (In the forest) Although you can tell a bit what is happening much of the details are hard to spot.
ReplyDeleteThe scenes with Alice (Isabel Lucas) Were particulaurly (Cant be bothered to check spelling) problomatic as it is obvious Bay just wanted to use some of his cleavage and bottom shots to attract teenage fans.
Even though the humor was a bit much, it was still welcome in TF2. Without the humor, TF2 would've literally been 20 TIMES worse than Terminator Salvation.
ReplyDeleteAt 2 hours 30 minutes long, I guess you need to provide as much comic relief as possible to help the audience get through a movie with such an epic running time.
would any of you take your 5 yr old daughter to this movie? it seems a little to PG13 for someone that young....she loves the franchise..and wants to see the robots..but its a bit intense..
ReplyDeletei loved the first part ,even though a lot of people attacked it and i 've been waitin' for this one since then ,but this part is just a mess, u can't tell me "check my brain at the door" and if there is such thing well then there is a limit to mind insulting let's say like that of the first part even though for me it wasn't much and yeah the eye candy part was uncomparable but this is still a "movie" it must be solid to keep me watchin' or Bay could've just made a clip of Transformers until he knows how to make a movie , i knew Bay's movie retrospective after i saw Transformers and they were all movies that was actually of
ReplyDeletemy favourite ,but ROTF is a shock to me that i actually never saw it comin',not for a second that i thought that i will not enjoy this movie,and thats y i wrote all this that shows i'm not a hater at all i'd ve just trashed it and move on ,but i'm a big fan shocked, i don't know if any 1 agree with me ,but i know 4 some this is a better Transformers and Bay's best but
that's just not the way it is 4 me ,and also as an Egyptian i'm not gonna go through how a 2009 Hollywood movie still shows Egypt the way they wanted to be even though they came down here and didn't have just to imagine things and film them in Morocco or anywhere else
How is it racist when one of the voice actors was black and they were both given leeway when it came to their scripts. Basically they just made it up as they worked together.
ReplyDeleteDo you hear any old white men from England complaining about Jetfire?
This is the same crap over and over, this country is made up of a bunch of whinning 'tards.
The majority of rap in itself is racist, demeaning, cruel and exploitive of women. Are you complaining that Skids and Mudflap are perpetuating all the wrong things involved with the rap genre or are you just mad because you're white and you think it's intellectual to call them racist or are you mad because you're black and some white people find the banter entertaining?
Thank you! Exactly: this movie is made for the boom boom pow and the brain shut-off.
ReplyDeleteI was disgusted with how crude the movie was.. pathetic.. I was sitting there with my 6 year old son ( a HUGE transformers fan) and 9 year old daughter, cringing at the 7 or 8 *sack (ball, nut, scrotum) "jokes", the 3 dog humping scenes, the wheelie leg humping scene, the swearing by wheelie and ironhide.. Wow.. apparently the writers had some help from some 13 year olds with the "humor"..
ReplyDeleteMaybe was good fun, next time tough get rid of the lame, stupid humor and unnecessary and anoying characters.
ReplyDeleteWhere as I do agree that the Twins were largely a waste of time, I can't side with the staements about 'racism'. Their dialogue was a reflection of what is popular today. I can name several people I know that have gold teeth and enjoy reducing the English language to basic slang as Skids and Mudflap did, but they aren't black. Maybe 10 years ago it could have been considered a representation of one specific demographic, but it is way to mainstream today to be narrowed down to any one ethnicity. Kevin Federline anyone?
ReplyDeleteAnd seriously, what was with Arcee and her sister's? Did they do anything? Not to mention Jolt's 6.5 second cameo.
Still, a great show.
Yup I agree. Despite many flaws... This movie is just purely for fun, entertainment, and most of all escapism.
ReplyDeleteThe Nemesis (I assume, The Con's derelict spaceship) is very cool, very Alien (HR Giger) infact! Ravage and the tiny balls, especially when they combine and transform (nice nano-tech detail).
ReplyDeleteWhy didnt Sam mention to Optimus he'd found a shard of the Allspark? Just because the film is popcorn and effects doesnt mean it has to be incoherent and bambling. really it doesnt. The tomb of the Primes behind a couple of inches of plaster at Petra? How the stars pointed to Petra and how obviously that means that the Matrix resides there?
Oh yeah, and the fight between Prime and the Fallen should have longer, more to it.
Awesome robot effects though, just how i'd have wanted it as a kid. Exactly!
Good stuff!
Rutger1
It was great. Awesome robots, great action, and plenty of lulz. If you treat it for what it's worth — an action film based off a mid-80s Saturday morning cartoon — it's highly entertaining. I do agree that many of the Transformers aren't properly developed and have minimal screen time, and that's really my only problem with the film. Overall score: 4 out of 5 stars.
ReplyDeleteAs a side note, I wonder if people would've groused about "offensive stereotypes" if Skids & Mudflap sounded like some white hillbilly redneck Larry the Cable Guy clone. I would presume not. Personally, I'm with Reno Wilson, Mudflap's black voice actor, on this. Also, I'm sick of this PC nonsense (and this is coming from a hardcore liberal). This is just a repeat of The Phantom Menace 10 years ago when people were all like "ZOMG! Teh Jar Jar, Watto, & the Nemoidians are racial sterotypes. Shame on George Lucas!"
I like the twins. Keep them!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great review! Yes there were some drawbacks, but Michael Bay wasn't looking for an Academy Award per say. Revenge of the Fallen was exactly what it was supposed to be...A kick butt action movie! I enjoyed it and I've already seen it twice and I'm going to see it again in IMAX tomorrow. It was Transformers!!!
ReplyDeleteBeing a black guy myself, I find it funny that people are having such a hard time taking the twins for what the clearly are, A JOKE. They are, to me, no where remotely near racist. Just to goofballs inserted into the story for laughs, nothing more. So what they said "bust a cap in yo ass". No one speaks like that in real life, they are obviously walking parodies. However, what I find insulting, is the fact that people look at them and automatically think Black People. They were funny and I liked them a lot. People need to take the stick from up there butts and enjoy things. Not one black person that I know who saw that movie thought that thought the twins were racist. Funny, yes. Corny,yes. Ugly, yes. Goofy, yes. Racist, um no. It's like when Robert Downing Jr. Played that black guy in tropic thunder, all people talked about was how they couldn't believe that he played a "black face" character and how it was tasteless and a poor choice. The fact that he was effing halirious went over some people head. Come people enjoy the movie. The twins are not and were not meant to be racist, last a checked black people are not the only ones who talked like that and I'm pretty sure you won't hear us talking that way.
ReplyDeleteTo all the parents out there wondering if it is ok to take your 5-12 year old to see this movie, the answer is NO. Absolutely. Not. To the other folks who are bitching about having taken their 5-12 year old kid(s) to this movie and being upset because it was too dirty, you are illiterate and stupid. The movie says PG-13. You should have been to enough movies by now to understanding what that kind of rating means.
ReplyDeleteJust because your kid likes Transformers does not mean they get to go see the movie. This is not the cartoon (actually it is none of the cartoons that you or I or your kids grew up with). This is different. It is for teenagers and adults. You were warned.
When I was 10 I wanted to see "No Holds Barred," one of Hulk Hogan's movies. I liked pro wrestling. The movie was PG-13, mostly because Tiny Lister (the huge cross-eyed black dude from Friday and the Dark Knight) killed some people and threw them into a fire. My parents would not let me see it, even though I really liked wrestling. See how simple that was? Idiots.
Is there anyone out there besides me that likes the first slightly better than the second? TF2 just seemed just like the first, but essentially WITH MORE OF IT. It was kind of a letdown the writers didn't improve the character development and dialogue which is pretty pathetic... The action scenes are great, but that can't carry the film on it's own. It needed some heart, character development, and for god's sakes BETTER WRITING. Some of the humour could have been limited, because it just killed a lot of time.
ReplyDeletethey should expose sideswipe and jolt as the twin, not that 2 little idiots. devastator's death is the worst. they could give the chance for the remaining autobot (ratchet, ironhide, jolt, sideswipe) to take out devastator. like ratchet, ironhide, jazz killed brawl (tf1's devastator).
ReplyDeleteThis movie is called Transformers not space robots.
ReplyDeleteThere where very good transformation scenes but not enough of them.
Just made some quick reads on most of these comments. Here are some of my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely loved it. Like what most posters said, perfect feel good movie, specially with these current economic hardships most of us are going through. Brings me back to when I was kid, when there were no pressures, no hardships, no cares, anyway, you get the picture. If only for a moment, one wishes to be a kid once again, well for the past 2 transformer movies, I definitely felt like one.
Only to wake up the next day facing the truth, and the real world. lol....
Fans asked for more robots, MB definitely answered. And for some people wanting more storyline/characterization for each of the new bots, I think that is asking for too much. We'd end up with a 3 or 4 hour movie, if MB decided to that - (which I don't mind at all). I think this creates more room for characterization for the 3rd movie. Example, MB can definitely build on Sideswipe, and also Soundwave.
On the racist issue, I think that's BS. Like what most posters here are saying to those accusing the twins' scenes of racism, get a grip on yourselves!!! These are robots, how can they be racist. If anything, they sounded like 'Eminem', and we all know that 'Eminem' is WHITE!
As for the plot /storyline, I think it is just right. Remember, this is a movie about an 80's cartoons!!!! You can't make it too complicated. Remember, kids are going to be watching this, just like we watched the cartoon when we were kids.
And speaking of kids, leads me to the humor content, I think it is also just right. Agree there were some adult humor, but you have to realize that MB also had to cater to adults, not just the kids. C'mon people, don't be too politically correct. Again, this is just a movie, and I'm sure MB was looking at equally pleasing every audience type.
--monmon, suprise AZ
Great review. I loved it, but would have liked to see more Siedswipe and Arcee. The Twins weren't as bad as everyone said, but they didn't need as much time as they got. Optimus laying the smack down throughout the movie was worth all the negatives. I loved it.
ReplyDeletehey u all .. if u monkey this movie is not perfect to u .. but if u a human absolutely this movie is perfect to u ... nothing to talk this is the biggest movie in this summer
ReplyDeleteYou know, the racism issue never occurred to me until I heard third-hand about the accusation in a review. This was days after I'd seen the movie. Thinking back, what a load of absolute crap. And it seems people are focussing too much on the non-point, too...
ReplyDeleteI've said all I'm going to say on this movie in the UK screening threads around the 19th June. For the next, they could do worse than follow the Beast Wars approach: small teams on both sides. Characterisation would be maximised (excuse the pun) on BOTH sides, and a death on either side would be an event, not a side-effect of having too many generic cannon-fodder Frenzy-bots and protoforms in your movie.
I've got a storyline in my head which I would love them to tell, but I won't mention it. It'll never happen...
There's nothing I can say that hasn't been said a dozen times in this post already but I agree with it all.
ReplyDeleteThis blog, the content and conversations therein, I think was a big contributor to getting my hopes super high for the movie. Bay did not let me down. It was every bit as good as I hoped it would be. Sure there were a few down sides, like not enough Sideswipe bad-assness, or making Devastator a wuss with nads (really?). But bottom line is this is definitely the best movie this year, and easily one of my favorite movies of all time, possibly beating out the first one.
I think we definitely owe TFLive Blogmaster a round of applause for running a fantastic site, with great content and discussion. Out of all the TF sites, this was the only one that I checked on a near hourly basis to get info and find out what the fans were saying (or arguing about). The site is awesome, you did a great job moderating, and the other peeps here are great! I look forward to the build up for #3!
saw it today, a bit disappointed.
ReplyDeletewill add my gripe about Autobot characterization.
Prime border on bloodthirsty. was it really within his character to rip a person's face off and punch them through their chest?
the helpless Demoishor at the beginning, couldn't he have shown some remorse instead of the point blank execution?
movie wise Demolisor was only hiding, not shown to be causing any harm so that scene was not justified at all.
2009 Movie Prime, you are no 1986 Prime, thats for sure.
Just saw it and i liked it alot. I still dont see how people are calling the friggen thing racist.Come on the guy that voices spongebob plays one of the twins and he was acting like a child that is about 14- 13 and it isnt racist at all... but the best part was the introduction in my opinion.. and here are some questions.
ReplyDelete1. WTF happened to arcee and her other friends? did they blow up?
2. little bit odd sitting next to my brother whos ten in the theater watching alice on sam... kinda awkward would bay not keep that in the next film?
3. so... did all of those protoforms come from those egg sacks?
4. was that cybertron where megatron flew?
5.optimus primes death was kinda short... and a little too much exaggerated..
6. ok why were there so many of the SAME EXACT transformers. 2 of every transformer that makes devistator. seriously... there could have been 2 devistators the way this movie was... so 2 scrappers, long hauls, etc.
7. so did the doctor die along with... all of the protoforms? or did he escape.
8 what was all of the organic 'juice/blood' coming out of all of the transformers? is it like... oil? or something or was it slime like from ravage when *spoiler* he was ripped apart from bumblebee (which was awesome)*end of spoilers*
9.who did they rip apart to repair megatron?
10 so that was jolt that got sliced n diced?
11.is it me or does this movie resemble this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRS90V8BQGo
JUST KIDDING but there were alot of explosions.. lol
12.so fallen destroyed. megs damaged badly. starscream alive. all of the autobots are... alive i think? and so whose the next movies enemy going to be? unicron?
13. who was the blue transformer? on the autobots team?
14.who was the decepticon that looked exactly like blackout?
To all the critics = gutted! ROTF is already quickly becoming one of the most powerful openers at the box office.
ReplyDeleteI've been a fan of TF's since 1985, this film has no flaws. Why? Because i don't want to look for them. I'm taking this for what it is, and it's nothing short of awesome.
anon 8:28pm -
ReplyDeleteWTF bro! Put spoiler alert next time.
although i still find movies apealing even after finding out all the information before watching it, i still like to be surprised!
lol damn Optimus...
i liked when Megatron killed optimus. (effects and event)
ReplyDeletei also liked that megatron lived even though he lost his arm
and... NO AUTOBOTS DIED (permanently) this time...WTF?
Explain to me why we can't have eye candy AND a coherent and interesting plot? These are not mutually exclusive concepts.
ReplyDeleteIn Short...
ReplyDeleteLoved the action,
Humor was funny in parts (could do without some of the innuendo though),
The blurring action shots were a bit annoying, BUT NOT ENOUGH TO KEEP ME FROM SEEING IT IN IMAX A SECOND TIME!!!
Optimus was Killer, and so was Jetfire!
So... what was the deal with Sideways??? never actually saw him in robot form...
Oh well!
THIS IS THE MOVIE OF THE SUMMER!!!
Man I'm an Asian metal head thats grew up with bunch of guys that that talked in slangs. Now even me, I talked like a gangster sometimes. The twins way of talking are just like teenagers wanted to be cool or in, this does'nt mean that they are black. Hell if you go to every highschool here in America probably 70% of the teenagers talk that way.
ReplyDeleteI saw the movie and I loved it from start to finish. There was so much visual goodness with the Transformers that all the little flaws wasn't as bad as some people and critics make it out to be. This was the best movie I've seen ever. Mudflaps and Skids reminded more of two immature 13 year olds (of any race mind you) than a black person. That whole racial thing was ridiculous. The movie was great, it was an extra long cartoon episode in my opinion and even had animation errors like the old cartoon.
ReplyDeleteThere's some aspects of the movie that I could have gone without like the skin shots or there's few jokes here and there we could have gone without but overall a good solid summer blockbuster popcorn eating movie.
In the row in front of me there was a little girl, 4-5 years old...I felt sorry for that little girl having to sit through that movie. There is no was in a million years I would have taken my 4 year old to that movie. As much as I like my little 4 and 2 year old to share in my love for Transformers, I would have never taken her to that movie. The movie is PG-13, come on now! One thing though, the language and the soft porn scenes...is it really PG-13?
Anyway, great Transformers action, I thought Jetfire was pretty cool, the twins were cool and it seemed this was mostly the Megatron, Starscream, Optimus, Bumblebee show. 8/10 for me!
Augh..the twins were not racist..everyone has a gangster slang these days...drop the crap..everything these days has to be considered racist on the top of the list..the movie kicked major butt and i cannot wait for the next one! Let's hope starscream makes his move against megatron..
ReplyDeleteI really like the Optimus Prime 2009, his aggressive action would really bring down the decepticons; the 1986 Optimus Prime, because of his non aggreessive stand against megatron and the decepticons made them lose cybertron and thus prolonging the war...
ReplyDeleteRevenge of the Fallen made $35 million on Friday!!!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/transformers-2-midnights-16-million/
OK, I finally got to watch it my fourth time with the projector BLOWING UP.
ReplyDeleteThis time, I watched it at the Century Winchester 22 theater. This very specific theater is known for a fucking LOUD sound system. It's also where I watch TF1 and Dark Knight.
And you know what, I REALLY enjoyed myself this time! I swear if you really take the time to check your brain at the door and actually just ESCAPE from everyday life, you'll have a great time. I'm tired of hearing all these dumbass negative reviews. I had a great time! I'm definitely going to see it again tomorrow (Saturday) with more friends.
This is definitely a MUST-SEE MOVIE of the year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!XDXD However I don't get why people are saying that the twins are racist, they are plainly alien robots. Besides more fighting from the robots,I also like to hear more of their voices cause' some of the transformers' voices are just awesome such as Optimus prime.
ReplyDelete"What happened to Barricade?" - Anonymous
Oh yeah,what happened to him? I almost forgot.
to anon 2.26. 11.25am... to answer your problem with alice, you mean you don't mind seeing megatron or optimus transform into giant men walking and beating each up other? the only explanation i can think of is that there are different sizes of tf, so i guess alice's size closest to a human, hence its "disguise". seems logical to me. the transformers are really just camoflauging themselves.
ReplyDeleteto ominous red, jetfire opening up the space bridge is way faster than his sr71 mode, don't you think? they are kinda in a hurry and jetfire's an old timer, probably forgot he could transform and might have some problems transforming seems logical too. keep seeing his parts dropping off. haha.. and i think you should watch the movie again to refresh your memory on the op-jf's combined mode and how op utilised jf's part. 1) he flew, rite? 2) used jf's gun to blow up the sun harvester, rite? 3) used jf's afterburner to shoot megs, rite? what more would u have them done? transform into a flying trailer?
to deceptifreak, i guess you are right about op's more brutal approach. i wouldn't call him bloodthirst. just shows he got wat it takes to be the commander on the field. imagine you are op, would you be ok to have big-ass demolisher running(rolling) around? it's kinda like "We are at war, soldier! kill or be killed" attitude.
i'm not going to defend the twins-racist thingy, much has been said already. but the language, and sexual representation throughout the movie could have been toned down. i do agree it's pg13, but kids are dying to see this film after watching the first one. so it should've been toned down.
i have no complaints abt the lack of depth of character or some of you would prefer character development of the bots. wat is there to develop anymore? the show mainly focus on op, bumbleebee, megatron, starscream and the rest are just eye-candy. op is more of a fighter now than the first movie. how's tat for development. (i felt bliss when op took on 3 bots). it would have taken an hour more to develop each bots' character.
i am only not happy with the dialogues. especially when galloway or morshower explaining everything to us like we can't decipher from watching the film. i too would ask, what happened to the twins after their fight with devastator, have they been stomped? i guess this leaves a question mark as to were they and two other arcee-bots were totalled in the movie to be seen in the third installment.
i may have missed out the alliance comic prequel, but can anyone explain the fallen's sudden appearance inside the nemesis, ON THE MOON, not cybertron. isn't he like trapped inside a sacrophagus/relic?
oh yea, by the way, for those who do not know who's the blue bot near the end tat joined jf's part to op, tat's jolt. i guess you are not a follower of transformerslive, that has been doing a good job at keeping everyone updated.
-ivan, greetings from malaysia-
i loved the little bits:
ReplyDeleteJetfire's transformation in the end battle, where he flies in and cuts Mixmaster in half with his axe\walking stick "let me show you how we brought the pain in my day!!"
Prime transforming in to Jet Prime and boosting off to kick ass "lets roll!"
There are countless others that stand out.
I think that the first 80 ish mins were incredible, and as close to a perfect Transformers movie as you could hope for. Where it fell down for me was after the Decepticons revealed themselves and Sam went looking for Robowarrior etc. This whole bit could have been shortened and the whole matrix of leadership taken out:
The Fallen was waiting for Megatron to kill Prime so he could re-locate and complete the machine and he can't get into the Pyramid wihtout knocking it down anyway.
Sam and co find use Wheelie to find Jetfire, who takes them to Egypt, as he knows where the machine is and says they need to stop the Decepticons unearthing it.
The military drop Optimus off and setup as normal, just as the Decepticons arrive.
Sam gets shot and ends up in a coma...set up for 3rd movie as he still knows everything that's in the Cube.
Jetfire sees the body of Prime and sacrifices his spark to bring him back (rather than just his parts), as only a Prime can stop the Fallen.
Prime saves the day.
So you take out: matrix search \ driving around Egypt \ back story with tomb of primes \ alot of Robowarrior roaming thats about 20mins of crap.
It also sets up the finale better in that the military and other bots become the central characters in defending the pyramid to hold off the decepticons, and when Prime comes back it's more of a suprise and badass moment!
The movie would have been perfect if only they didn't cut what the novel features on various scenes. If the movie was 10-15minutes longer to fix those moments where the storyline has flow issues while the novel doesn't suffer of this problem, it would have been perfect despite the jokes.
ReplyDeleteIt's way better than the first movie but its structure is unusual and could create problems to the audience. Why didn't they follow the novel instead?
The scene of Bumblebee and Sam in the garage... why did they cut it since the Showest footage sneak peak ? There was no need to cut anything there, it was perfect the way Bay presented it at Showest. Why that cut? It would have helped a lot!
would any of you take your 5 yr old daughter to this movie? it seems a little to PG13 for someone that young....she loves the franchise..and wants to see the robots..but its a bit intense..
ReplyDelete*********************************
My 5 year old daughter has been just as excited as us to see this movie, even screaming in excitement every time a commercial comes on lol. BUT, after my husband & I went to see it opening day, I decided I am NOT taking her to see it. #1, It's CRUDE. I'm ok with a few light swear words, but all the sexual "humor" is just waaaaay too inappropriate. Secondly, it's too long. I can see her being antsy after the first hour or so.
I plan on getting the DVD for her (and us lol), & fast forwarding to all the good parts so she can at least see the action! Poor girl has been wearing her bumblebee mask & cannon for weeks now, & her entire bedroom has been redone in Transformers, so I can't let her down completely! But to answer your question, NO, T2 is not appropriate for young kids, & I'm all for letting HER decide if she can handle something (She loved Dark Knight & Iron Man lol), but with Transformers 2, I have to take a mommy stand & censor it for her.
for all you critics out there, how many of you have actually made a movie about giant robots that did not suck and grossed millions of dollars in the box office? you comment on things like story and humor and how rushed it was, or that you would have to check yer brain at the door to even enjoy it, well i ask you how would you have done it? perhaps the better question is could you even do it and be a success? well?
ReplyDelete^^^
ReplyDeleteInteresting. You let her see a dark film like DK, but this movie is off limits? Strange.
Anyway, great review. well said!
The Twins are being made into too much of a big deal. They are posers, plain and simple. Why jump on this movie when Tropic Thunder did a blackface character? People didn't jump on that too much as they are doing this movie.
The sexual humor? it's no different than what iv'e seen on Family Guy, Simpsons, Pro Wrestling, TV, etc.. It was tame and childish enough to be funny in my opinion.
Here's my review:
ReplyDeleteThe only reason Transformers is doing what is doing in the box office is because of the all-star cast from the 80's that made Transformers what it is.
Bay is ruining Transformers and making horrible movies with horrible direction. Decepticons are not bugs. Why does ravage puke marbles that turn into a paper thin metal rooster? Then a human transformer shows up for what reason? Why would any Decepticon show up as anything other than a human if thats possible? What a terrible idea that should have never been in the movie. Dinobots are too hard to explain, but yet we have robot roosters, human transformers and megatron willfully enjoys his #2 position taking orders from the fallen? WOW Bay you ruined something special for us and brain-washed the fans and made them like your hollywood eye candy garbage flick.
And by the way, Optimus Prime does NOT execute decepticons in G1... so how can any true fan think prime in ROTF reflects G1?
I'll take you ALL on!
ReplyDeleteTo anonymous @ 3:12PM -
ReplyDelete1.The bugs were decepticons ... they were called Insecticons.
2.The marbles are a part of Ravage, they can separate into smaller forms to get into secure areas. Ravage is an infiltrator, so are the robots that he controls.
3.The pretenders (the robots that take human form) were in the cartoons (not sure if it was G1 though), and they have to be the right mass to change into a human. If Optimus did it he would be a 30foot human. Not exactly what you would want when trying to "fit in". Bay said he would not use mass shifting.
4.The Fallen's story was actually taken from Transformer history, wasn't in the cartoons but the comics so most don't know that.
i live in india so it hasnt released here yet but difinitely gonna see it! i dont think the twins are racist..... they are aliens!!!! they have metallic shells insteasd of skin!
ReplyDeleteI just can't believe that people like the movie. Bay just just fucked transformers up and everybody loves it. You people are crazy.
ReplyDeleteEven though SOUNDWAVE only had a few scenes and didn't do much he still was BAD @ss. One of the decipticons you don't want to F with.
ReplyDeletejohn turturro's character stole the scene for me..he was funny as hell!! hope he'd still be in transformers 3..forget about the roommate though, they could have casted someone better
ReplyDeletewasted money: The pretender,Wheelie,shot of Devastator's balls,Rampage and Long Haul in the city fighting.
ReplyDeleteThat money could have been used on: Sideswipe, Arcee, Replacing Long Haul and Rampage with Thundercracker and Skywarp. They could have just used Starscream's image and then recolored. They didnt have lines in the city scene so....it would have worked I think. I mean Dev's cant be combined if the same robots are miles away fighting and getting killed at the same time.
Also, Buying a vocoder for SOundwave so he sounded correctly and not Dr. claw from Inspector Gadget.
I still liked the movie though.
This is the first review that I have read that I agree with. I really don't think anyone thought the movie was perfect. For the third I would love more character development on the robots.
ReplyDeletethis is probably the first review that i have read that sounds like the person was not already in a bad mood when they went to see the movie. they actually paid attention and could actually admitt that the movie had some mistakes and negative parts while still liking it overall. i agree with this review in everyway and i especially agree with the HUGE lack of character development which to me was the biggest problem with the movie(along with the look a like decepticons). in general i enjoyed the movie even though i thought the first was a little better but neither of the movies were really ones that you would go see if you wanted a movie with a solid plot-what most critics do not seem to understand. the movies were made to have AMAZING CGI action scenes connected by an average plot. and to all critics out there reading this...you all need to just forget about the ideal "movie" and for once in your life just go to a movie to enjoy intense action sequences and amazing special effects instead of worrying about a plot and whether or not it has the worlds best acting. you can say it was a horrible movie all you want but how about you just check out its statistics and see what matters the most...how many people continue to go see it
ReplyDeleteand to add to my above comment how many of you critics have ever made a successful movue based on giant transforming robots..think about it
ReplyDeleteFilm criticism hardly has purpose to a general audience, dare I say NO purpose to general audience. It's only worth something to future filmmakers or movie buffs, who need to know how and why certain things work. Listening to critics' consensus is just listening to a smaller populist crowd, who'll NEVER be able to accurately know what's good for YOU. One can learn something important even from bad films, no one can predict where fresh knowledge can come from. If I followed Ebert on what to avoid half my childhood would've be thrown out the window. He's shunned some really inspiring, imaginative movies. Critics need to stop making these half-assed useless reviews aimed at the general audience that will never care, and start writing complete analyses for those who do. A walkthrough from shot to shot of what it made you feel and why, if you call yourself a "film critic".
ReplyDeleteOh snap, I mean to post that on your Roger Ebert diss post. Sorry
ReplyDelete