[Screen It]

 

"TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN"
(2009) (Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox) (PG-13)

If you've come from our parental review of this film and wish to return to it, simply click on your browser's BACK button.
Otherwise, use the following link to read our complete Parental Review of this film.

QUICK TAKE:
Action/Adventure: A college freshman, his auto mechanic girlfriend and others get wrapped up in yet another battle between good and villainous shape-shifting, extraterrestrial robots where the future of humankind rests in the balance.
PLOT:
Several years ago, high school students Sam Witwicky (SHIA LaBEOUF) and Mikaela Banes (MEGAN FOX) found themselves in an unexpected battle between shape-shifting, extraterrestrial robots. The good Autobots, led by Optimus Prime (voice of PETER CULLEN), were trying to find a powerful cube known as the Allspark, and hoped to do so before their enemies, the Decepticons, led by Megatron (voice of HUGO WEAVING), used the same to turn ordinary Earth-based electronics into robots that would rid the planet of Earthlings.

With the help of military figures such as Captain Lennox (JOSH DUHAMEL) and Sgt. Epps (TYRESE GIBSON), Agent Simmons (JOHN TURTURRO) of the U.S. Government's top secret Sector Seven, and various Autobots -- such as Bumblebee (voice of MARK RYAN) who has the ability to near instantaneously convert into Sam's sports car, like the other Transformers with similar powers -- the good guys prevailed and Megatron was sunk deep into the ocean.

Now, as the humans and Autobots have formed an alliance to keep Earth safe from the Decepticons, Sam's saying goodbye to both his parents, Ron (KEVIN DUNN) and Judy (JULIE WHITE), as well as Mikaela as he heads off to begin his freshmen year in college. There, he meets his high tech roommate, Leo (RAMON RODRIGUEZ), but before the day is done, Bumblebee and Optimus Prime have arrived, with the latter asking for Sam's help.

It seems that one of the original Prime Transformers, The Fallen (voice of TONY TODD), has arrived and wants vital information that now resides inside Sam's head from his brief contact with a leftover sliver of the Allspark. With Mikaela joining him, Sam goes on the run with the aide of Bumblebee and jive-talking Autobots Mudflap (voice of TOM KENNY) and Skids (voice of TOM KENNY), and some unexpected help from ancient Transformer Jetfire (voice of JOHN TURTURRO).

From that point on, another massive battle looms on the horizon, with the U.S. military -- despite being hampered by the arrival of presidential liaison Galloway (JOHN BENJAMIN HICKEY) -- battling alongside the Autobots in hopes of defeating The Fallen and the recently resurrected Megatron.

OUR TAKE: 3 out of 10
Although there are plenty of humans to go around in the world, people have long had an obsession with creating robots, nay, androids, that are as human as possible. Even so, and despite great strides in such regards, we still have a long way to go in terms of realistic physical movement, speech, and especially personality.

In the movies, however, success has already been achieved, first through the portrayal by flesh and blood performers and later purely digital special effects. Interestingly enough, however, one of the most successful movies featuring robots was "Transformers" from 2007 where the title characters barely resembled people and instead looked like, well, robots.

Based on the popular toy line, the film grossed more than $700 million worldwide, but clearly was no favorite of most critics, especially since those Autobots and Decepticons had more believable human qualities (good and bad) than most of their real counterparts. Still, it was undeniably quite a show, and one really couldn't ask for more, at least in terms of bang for your visual bucks spectacle.

Except, perhaps a little soul, but returning director Michael Bay apparently sold his long ago down at the crossroads in exchange for long-standing and mostly mega success. And that's likely to continue with the inevitable sequel, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," that easily could have instead been subtitled "Bigger, Busier and Burned-Out" due to being more of the same, this time on steroids.

While the return of battling bots, bodacious babes and juvenile humor (not just one, but two views of dogs vigorously mating for your viewing pleasure!) might appease the same sorts who loved the original (namely adolescent or like-minded males), whatever small degrees of charm and fun were present the first time around have pretty much been obliterated by Bay and company.

None of which should come as a surprise considering the make-up of the original. Yet, call me Pollyanna if you will, but you'd still think that with the hundreds of millions of dollars and ungodly amounts of computer horsepower and processing time stuffed into this bloated and once-again overlong spectacle just a little more time, energy and maybe even money would go into creating a better script to accompany the visual theatrics.

Yes, it's undeniably impressive in the latter regard, but a little of that goes a long way, and without something substantial behind it, the overall effect becomes nothing more than pomp trumping circumstance. Screenwriters Ehren Kruger, Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman provide a semblance of a plot -- something to do with the usual villains needing one last piece to complete their megalomaniacal domain -- but it's just a bare bones skeleton upon which Bay hangs all of his gee-whiz visuals like so many gaudy Christmas decorations.

Much of the original cast returns, but there are no improvements in what's essentially more of the same. Shia LaBeouf is just going through the motions (about the only interesting thing with him is waiting to see how his real-life busted wrist issue is woven into the storyline), and the first view of co-star Megan Fox (bent over and partially astride a motorcycle in small denim shorts) is really all you need to know about her character.

Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson seemingly have less to do this time around on the U.S. military side and Kevin Dunn and Julie White again do their comic relief parents bit (this time she gets high rather than tipsy for laughs). John Turturro tries to liven things up a bit upon his return in the second half, but new to the fold Ramon Rodriguez does little as the protagonist's college roommate, and some jive-talking Autobots additions are certain to go down with Jar Jar Binks as shockingly racist computer-generated caricatures.

Considering that and the rest of what's offered, I'm guessing ol' Beelzebub is enjoying his buy one, get one free deal with Bay. You know, that's where the director will end up going you know where in exchange for his not unlikely but still disappointing success, while the rest of us are put through hell having to watch his output. If only the director would somehow transform into one of the many GM vehicles on display, that would mean we could trade him in for something better, have the government take over part of his workings, or simply declare him bankrupt.

Oh wait, we've already done that, at least in terms of artistry that doesn't involve special effects. Once again missing a golden opportunity to take a fan boy flick and turn it into something special or memorable, Bay puts a ton of eye candy up on the screen. But with too much of that and nothing to provide a balance, all it's likely to do for non-rabid fans is induce an overload headache.

Simply put, if you really enjoyed the first film despite of but fully aware of its flaws, you might have the same reaction here as most everything has been amped up several notches. For everyone else, it's just louder and busier noise that's occasionally visually spectacular, but ultimately empty and near completely soulless. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" rates as a 3 out of 10.




Reviewed June 22, 2009 / Posted June 24, 2009


Privacy Statement and Terms of Use and Disclaimer
By entering this site you acknowledge to having read and agreed to the above conditions.

All Rights Reserved,
©1996-2023 Screen It, Inc.