Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has everything you would want from a summer blockbuster. It has action. Lots of action. You have the big fight sequences and explosions happening all over the place. Any chance Michael Bay gets, he blows up something. It is bigger and louder, but not better than the first one.
Now before I get in to some problems I had, I want to say I liked the movie. It’s summer fun and it’s entertaining. It is the definition of a summer blockbuster. It’s not a “thinking” movie, and it’s not supposed to be.
But I found this one to be less interesting than the Transformers. In the first one, the movie was developing characters and introducing the good robots and the bad ones. Shia LaBeouf was funny in the first one. Megan Fox is beautiful. She be leaving men speechless! But in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen they offer nothing new. LaBeouf’s character lost his sense of humor and his mother got it instead. And she wasn’t that funny. Josh Duhamel and Tyrese have nothing significant to say, especially Tyrese.
So all these actors who did well in the first one were pushed aside to make time for more robots and more explosions, and more fighting. So while I could criticize the acting, I will not go in to it because they are only partly to blame. They didn’t have much material to work with in the first place.
And the movie was two hours and 30 minutes. Plenty of time to get in to the characters, but Bay relies on the first one to take care of that. So if you have not seen the first one then you are screwed. But, shame on you because the first one is fantastic.
As I said before, the movie is two hours and 30 minutes. The story takes about 10 seconds to explain. Sam (LaBeouf) has signs in his head – it’s a map and Megatron wants it so The Fallen can rise again. That’s it. The Fallen barely plays a part and is barely in it. So much time to tell a simple story. I have to say that time was used a lot better in the first one for sure.
Now it may seem weird for a person to complain about all the action in a movie, especially a Transformers movie. But when that’s all that is being offered, it gets old. Anything in a movie that is repeated, we soon get tired of. Now some of the fighting sequences are cool. Specifically, the battle that happens in the forest is really cool. If you got to see it in IMAX then you know exactly what I’m talking about.
Besides too much action and not enough story, there are a thousand new robots introduced. I couldn’t keep up with half of them. There are so many small ones and they all look alike. Also, this movie really tries to be funny by using the robots instead of the people. It doesn’t work. There are two twin robots who always have something to say, and they are funny. At first. But then they just get annoying like LaBeouf’s mother in the movie.
And it’s unnecessary to have so many new robots. There are a few big ones that will not go unnoticed, but I can’t say that for the rest of them. It’s an issue of having too much in one movie.
Transformers kept my attention and is impressive. I didn’t even know if I would like it. But it surprised me and I really enjoyed it. And this sequel didn’t deliver on what the first one did. Bay tries to put more action and more robots to make up for the lack of story and material.
Don’t forget. I liked this movie, but I see it as a disappointment because it feels lazy. They had the formula right when the first one came out, but the sequel was an excuse to have senseless action when it wasn’t necessary. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen appears to have more, but it does not.
I want to end on a positive note by saying this movie is awesome in IMAX. Even when some things seem unnecessary, it is still cool to see them on the largest screen possible. It makes the movie seem more epic than it really is. That is a compliment to IMAX.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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