Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is probably the most anticipated summer blockbuster since The Dark Knight. The first Transformers movie showed us some amazing CGI that would take a lot to be matched. Everybody knows the Michael Bay style of directing, and this is his first directing job since the first Transformers.
The first movie opened us up to lots of things. One of them was Megan Fox. Before then, she was relatively unknown. Since then she has been shot into some form of super sex symbol. She was voted the Sexiest Woman in the World last year by FHM readers. To be honest, this is something that is definitely exploited in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. In the first movie, there are a few obvious softcore-porn shots for the male audience. However in Revenge of the Fallen, there are numerous scenes. I counted at least two slow-motion/low-cut top running scenes (including diving into the sand with chest close-ups). The first time we see her, she is perched over a motorcycle, in probably the most awkward position anyone could hold when painting a design on a bike. It's pretty clear that the writers/producers/director knew that Megan Fox would be a big selling point for lots of people, and boy, do they exploit it.
Now, Shia LeBeouf. Since the first Transformers movie, he has acted in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Eagle Eye. Both of these are kind of, action-type movies. I never saw Eagle Eye, but I heard that it was actually alright. In Revenge of the Fallen, there seems to be a bit of influence from LeBeouf's character in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. He runs around with a slight bit of facial hair and wears a leather jacket. Also they end up doing a bit of archaeological work in Egypt, seems a little Indie.
The acting in this movie is alright. I think I would criticise the writing more than the acting. However Megan Fox is quite distinctly off-par. She seemed very stale and it was difficult to believe that she was her character. Most of the way through it I'm just thinking it's Megan Fox, not Mikaela Banes. The rest of the acting is alright though, not going to win any awards, but alright nonetheless. My problem is with the writing though. At points it is just so, ridiculous. The character of Jetfire has this one line where I just cringed. He's saying something like "They're going to kill you!" It's supposed to be epic. However right before he says "you", he looks right into the camera, implying that he's referring to the audience. What? I hate it when movies do that. The only movie I've ever seen it done successfully in is Fight Club (when Tyler Durden talks to the audience). There's also one point were the characters are in a butcher shop, and dead pigs are around. Sam (LeBeouf) makes an off-camera remark about Swine Flu. This was obviously edited in during post-production as the first teaser for Revenge of the Fallen was released well before the Swine Flu outbreak. It's just a pointless culture reference and it pissed me off.
I'll move on to the actual characters shall I? First the humans.
Sam Witwicky is moving to college, and his parents are finding it difficult to let go of him. When he gets there, he meets his roommate, called Leo. Leo is pretty much a stereotypical conspiracy theory nut. Except, he runs a website with two employees from the room he just moved into. Pretty impressive eh? Those guys must have planned it well so they all got into the same college.
Okay so Sam is typical here. There really is little to say about the character. Imagine Shia LeBeouf in pretty much any of the other recent movies he's been in. There you have it, Sam Witwicky.
One character that does bother me though is Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox). In this movie, she's a bitch. At the start of the first Transformers movie, she was a bit of a bitch. However in Revenge of the Fallen, she is a bitch right the way through. I really didn't like her in this. It's like, she knows she's good looking, and instead of being down-to-earth about it, she's a complete bitch and flaunts around like she's Queen of the world.
I'll move onto the Autobots now, I could go on forever about Megan Fox and how below-average she was.
I won't talk about the Autobots that were in the first movie, I'll only talk about the new ones.
So we have Mudflap and Skids (The Twins), Wheelie, Jetfire and Arcee. There are others, but these are the main ones that I'll talk about here. Mudflap and Skids are probably the most annoying characters in the entire movie. They are your typical "double act". It's rather tragically unfunny. Wheelie is a little toy monster truck. It develops a relationship with Mikaela (making her even more unbearable). Alright character though, to be honest. He had his moments which were funny. Jetfire was an old man Autobot, if you get me. Basically he walks around with a limp and a walking stick. Fairly ridiculous concept but he was rather awesome towards the end. Arcee was an Autobot that turned into three motorbikes. Didn't really do a whole lot.
Right, the Decepticons.
Obviously we have Megatron and Starscream who were in the first movie. We also have The Fallen, Soundwave and Demolisher (amongst others). The Fallen is the main bad-guy in this movie, although you don't really see him in action until the very end. Soundwave is considered a favourite amongst fans and they really changed him for this movie. He was one a robot that summed up Transformers. The original Soundwave had a cassette tape loader in his chest which ejects smaller robots. Now he's just a generic looking Decepticon. They've taken one of the most memorable characters and made him forgettable. Demolisher is seen in the trailer and looks really awesome to be honest. He/she/it features in the first main scene of the movie and it kicks off the amazing effects.
Talking about the effects. That really is one area that this movie does not fail in. The CGI is amazing, it really is. The movie is two and a half hours long, and it can be a bit tiring watching all the visual porn that you get, but it doesn't take away from how amazing it is. This is one of the major plus points to this movie. It is a visual orgasm.
Overall, this movie is good, if you like these types of movies. If you were a fan of the first Transformers movie, you'll like this one. It's not a deep movie. It has it's fair share of close-ups and slow-motion, and if that's your thing, definitely go and see this movie. I do recommend it for the stunning visuals. However do not expect it to be a moving experience.
This movie gets 4 Autobots (out of 10)
Go and see it if you like the visual porno and the slow motion action. It's not going to emotionally affect you, but you'll enjoy it nonetheless. A bit long at two and a half hours, you'll probably feel completely spent by the end of it.
Anyway, that's it for today. Expect more posts soon!
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