Director: Michael Bay
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox & Josh Duhamel
Loud, dumb and often OTT, Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen is still an entertaining blockbuster with great effects and enjoyable action sequences despite its flaws.
Michael Bay has never been known as a director who is looking to engage audiences on an intellectual level with his films. Bay, director of Armageddon, Bad Boys and the first Transformers film, has always been more interested in the adrenalin rush that the action movie genre survives on. The Transformers franchise, whether it be the action figures or the various animated series has also rarely been considered cerebral with its often convoluted storylines developed mainly as a means to sell toys and fulfil an adolescent appeal in large robots fighting and things exploding. So Bay and Transformers are as perfect a match as their could be when adapting the franchise for the big screen and the success of the first film despite its flaws and criticisms was still impressive and managed to succeed in exciting older audiences familiar with the franchise from their childhood and entertaining newer generations of children. Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen was therefore inevitable and while what the first film did well is done better this time around, what flaws were present in the previous film are also more noticeable.
In the years since the conclusion of the first Transformers film, more Autobots (good Transformers) have come to Earth and have allied themselves with the US Military to combat Decepticons (bad Transformers) whose numbers on Earth have also increased. When one battle in Shanghai results in a threat that the Fallen is coming, the Autobots reveal to the humans that Transformers have visited the Earth before and that the Fallen is the last of those ancient Transformers and one who had been intent on destroying the human race and turning the Sun into a power source before he had been defeated. Whilst the Earth must prepare for the arrival of the Fallen and for a resurrected Megatron, leader of the Decepticons, Sam Witwicky (LeBeouf) is trying to leave the fighting behind and go to college when a shard of Transformers technology imprints him with the knowledge of where the Fallen can find the weapon he’ll need to destroy the Autobots and the human race. Drawn back into the world of the Transformers, Sam along with his family and his girlfriend Mikayla (Fox) find themselves fighting for their lives with Sam having to live up to his destiny to be a leader.
Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen is bigger, louder, longer and more entertaining film than its predecessor. Featuring an even more convoluted plot and thinner characterisations of its human cast than before it does compensate by having bigger and more impressive action sequences and better effects whilst also throwing more scenes and characters that make the film more appealing to older fans of the franchise. While some of the action sequences recall similar sequences from other blockbusters such as a battle between Optimus Prime and three Decepticons that recalls the Kong/T-Rex sequence from Peter Jackson’s King Kong remake, they are still exciting and well choreographed. Fan favourite Transformers such as Arcee (a female Transformer that turn into a motorcycle), the Decepticon Soundwave (here as a satellite rather than the boombox of his 1980s incarnation) complete with robotic panther Ravage are some satisfying touches as are the frequent arguments between Megatron and Starscream, another staple of the animated series. There is also an increase in the amount of humour in the film, or attempts at humour. While some can be successful such as Julie White as Sam’s OTT mother or the cranky and rusted Transformer Jetfire (complete with walking stick and aluminium beard) others attempts at humour fail miserably. The presence of a pair of Transformers nicknamed The Twins, are often so annoying that they recall Jar Jar Binks of George Lucas’ Star Wars prequels with characterisations that border on the offensive (as far as racial stereotypes can be applied to robots).
While audiences will be seeing the film for the robots and the action, the human characters and performances impress less and are often loud, two-dimensional caricatures as though this is the only way they can compete on screen with giant CGI robots. Whilst Shia LeBeouf is still entertaining as the reluctant hero Sam, other characters are less developed such as Sam’s college roommate Leo (Ramon Rodriguez) who merely fills the role of comedy sidekick or Megan Fox who continues to fulfil the role of good looking girlfriend though gets little more material to work with and Josh Duhamel, reprising his role as Major Lennox, gets much less to do than in the first Transformers film and is just support for Sam and the Autobots. Of course, Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen is less concerned with characterisation of its characters and more towards driving the story along from one action sequence to the next.
Overall, while possessing several annoying characters and not developing most of its likeable characters in a satisfactory manner, Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen certainly does succeed in providing thrilling action sequences and appealing to the core Transformers audience in showcasing the Transformers themselves. If audiences are looking for intelligent drama to accompany their action then they’ll be disappointed though if they’re looking for big thrills then Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen will certainly entertain.
Rating: 3/5
