Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen- Review

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bonesaw

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Edited By bonesaw
Sequels are viewed as many things: something to move the overall story forward, develop characters that didn't get much recognition in the first movie, and possibly to tell another story that takes what questions were left unanswered in the first movie and addresses them at some point in a way that makes sense to the overall plot line of both of the films.  However, movies that focus less on story and more on just straight up wanton action in destruction while having a decent story to keep things moving while putting more emphasis on thrills and outrageous fights to keep the audience truly mesmerized throughout.  The first Transformers did an adequate job at approaching this philosophy with a battles happening nearly every five minutes throughout the entire film, where literally everyone and everything that got in the way the onslaught of two enormous robots that simply just wanted to beat the crap out of eachother.  It seemed completely ridiculous at first but once you realized that the movie actually embraced this aspect of the movie to its fullest it actually turned out a pretty entertaining film.  However, the problem with the sequel is that it tries to expand way too much way too fast with several different story line occurring at once which somehow coincide with each other towards in the end in a way that feels rushed and poorly designed even from the beginning.  Couple that with sub-par acting from Shia Lebouf and his female counterpart(who always seems like she is being forced to like him, instead of actually caring about him), a predictable story line that fails to impress, and a couple of good laughs here and there and you have pretty good idea of what Revenge of the Fallen is all about.
I could go into to great detail about how all of the little plot points and individual story lines all come together somehow in the end that doesn't make any sense at all, instead ill just say that the main story line is pretty much a dud throughout the film and thats the one that really only matters anyway as the others seem simply there to just past time until the next battle between huge robot A and huge robot B.  Basically, the story follows the decepticons as they attempt to revive their master who was decimated by Optimus Prime in the first movie.  However, in order to bring him back they need a shard that from the cube that was supposedly destroyed in the first movies but somehow ended up in the hands of Sam who decided to keep it as a souvenir because he's a dumb ass.  And Really, thats what this movie is all about, Sam running from the decepticons as they attempt to steal the shard, while he runs from them for most of the movie to protect it.  It doesn't stop there though, but i won't go into it because A) you can probably guess or figure out what happens after Megatron is brought back (i know you didn't see that one coming), and B) it doesn't really matter much anyways because everything ends how it "should" anyway which is most frustrating part of the entire movie.
Acting wise, there really isn't much to say other than its pretty average for the most part and ranges from decent to atrocious especially in the beginning.  However, the voices of both the decepticons and autobots are done exceptionally well for the most and really keep the movie from being a complete wash thanks to the acting efforts of basically all of the actual people in the film.  But of course the first movie was never known for great acting and engaging story anyway, it was known for its exhilarating battles that were truly mesmerizing to watch as metal is literally turn to shreds and building simply collapse under the devastating power of transformers as they battle for supremacy.  Yes this movie still has fair amount of that but its not on nearly as big of a scale as the last movie, and isn't nearly as frequent or entertaining because it sometimes takes a back seat to the debilitating story, which is unfortunate there are alot of impressive battle sequences especially the one between Optimus Prime and three decepticons that is absolutely insane and captivating that seems to end almost to quickly and before you know it your right back to watching Shia run from the decepticons which is especially underwhelming when just watched an epic battle between a bunch of massive machines and are now forced to sit back and watch as Shia and his dumb roommate run around trying to figure out what to do next
Even the crazy battles between the transformers starts to wear thin as most of the battles throughout the movie start and end two quickly and lack the insane destruction sequences in the last one where buildings were toppling left and right and every single robot was battling face to face in the middle of a huge city that was basically used a destructible sand box that contained all of the action that made it both entertaining and easy to follow while keeping you on your toes as Megatron and Optimus Prime duked it out.  Now what you get are a few great battles that last a few minutes at the most it seemed, which in occurred in the middle of the desert in Egypt of all place where all you get is a couple of toppling pyramids for mass destruction
But i digress, this movie isn't horrible, really its just a slimed down version of the first movie, with most of the same characters albeit a few new additions which are sometimes a hit or miss depending.  There are also a few moments of hilarity particularly between Shia's parents at the beginning when he prepares to leave for college.  In the end though even these things can't keep the movie from simply from being average and its lucky to even be in that range at all.  Ultimately what this movie does wrong is that tries to be something its not: a movie that has both action and a great story to keep you entertained.  On paper this sounds great, but seeing it attempted with such mediocrity on the big screen with a full theater, it makes the overall experience more underwhelming than it should be.  So, if you were a huge fan of the first movie and are alright with seeing more of what the first movie had to offer than you'll probably be satisfied with its shown in the this movie as least initially. However, if your looking for a movie that truly out does what the first movie did, than you'll be sadly disappointed with the this movie in almost every way.  Its almost like see a piece sitting in front looking all beautiful and delicious only to realize after you take the first bite that someone stuck a huge turd in there with it.  And that my friends is the worst type of cake to experience
2.5/5.0

The CG and special effects are incredible...this movie should have been so much better
The CG and special effects are incredible...this movie should have been so much better


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bonesaw

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#1  Edited By bonesaw
Sequels are viewed as many things: something to move the overall story forward, develop characters that didn't get much recognition in the first movie, and possibly to tell another story that takes what questions were left unanswered in the first movie and addresses them at some point in a way that makes sense to the overall plot line of both of the films.  However, movies that focus less on story and more on just straight up wanton action in destruction while having a decent story to keep things moving while putting more emphasis on thrills and outrageous fights to keep the audience truly mesmerized throughout.  The first Transformers did an adequate job at approaching this philosophy with a battles happening nearly every five minutes throughout the entire film, where literally everyone and everything that got in the way the onslaught of two enormous robots that simply just wanted to beat the crap out of eachother.  It seemed completely ridiculous at first but once you realized that the movie actually embraced this aspect of the movie to its fullest it actually turned out a pretty entertaining film.  However, the problem with the sequel is that it tries to expand way too much way too fast with several different story line occurring at once which somehow coincide with each other towards in the end in a way that feels rushed and poorly designed even from the beginning.  Couple that with sub-par acting from Shia Lebouf and his female counterpart(who always seems like she is being forced to like him, instead of actually caring about him), a predictable story line that fails to impress, and a couple of good laughs here and there and you have pretty good idea of what Revenge of the Fallen is all about.
I could go into to great detail about how all of the little plot points and individual story lines all come together somehow in the end that doesn't make any sense at all, instead ill just say that the main story line is pretty much a dud throughout the film and thats the one that really only matters anyway as the others seem simply there to just past time until the next battle between huge robot A and huge robot B.  Basically, the story follows the decepticons as they attempt to revive their master who was decimated by Optimus Prime in the first movie.  However, in order to bring him back they need a shard that from the cube that was supposedly destroyed in the first movies but somehow ended up in the hands of Sam who decided to keep it as a souvenir because he's a dumb ass.  And Really, thats what this movie is all about, Sam running from the decepticons as they attempt to steal the shard, while he runs from them for most of the movie to protect it.  It doesn't stop there though, but i won't go into it because A) you can probably guess or figure out what happens after Megatron is brought back (i know you didn't see that one coming), and B) it doesn't really matter much anyways because everything ends how it "should" anyway which is most frustrating part of the entire movie.
Acting wise, there really isn't much to say other than its pretty average for the most part and ranges from decent to atrocious especially in the beginning.  However, the voices of both the decepticons and autobots are done exceptionally well for the most and really keep the movie from being a complete wash thanks to the acting efforts of basically all of the actual people in the film.  But of course the first movie was never known for great acting and engaging story anyway, it was known for its exhilarating battles that were truly mesmerizing to watch as metal is literally turn to shreds and building simply collapse under the devastating power of transformers as they battle for supremacy.  Yes this movie still has fair amount of that but its not on nearly as big of a scale as the last movie, and isn't nearly as frequent or entertaining because it sometimes takes a back seat to the debilitating story, which is unfortunate there are alot of impressive battle sequences especially the one between Optimus Prime and three decepticons that is absolutely insane and captivating that seems to end almost to quickly and before you know it your right back to watching Shia run from the decepticons which is especially underwhelming when just watched an epic battle between a bunch of massive machines and are now forced to sit back and watch as Shia and his dumb roommate run around trying to figure out what to do next
Even the crazy battles between the transformers starts to wear thin as most of the battles throughout the movie start and end two quickly and lack the insane destruction sequences in the last one where buildings were toppling left and right and every single robot was battling face to face in the middle of a huge city that was basically used a destructible sand box that contained all of the action that made it both entertaining and easy to follow while keeping you on your toes as Megatron and Optimus Prime duked it out.  Now what you get are a few great battles that last a few minutes at the most it seemed, which in occurred in the middle of the desert in Egypt of all place where all you get is a couple of toppling pyramids for mass destruction
But i digress, this movie isn't horrible, really its just a slimed down version of the first movie, with most of the same characters albeit a few new additions which are sometimes a hit or miss depending.  There are also a few moments of hilarity particularly between Shia's parents at the beginning when he prepares to leave for college.  In the end though even these things can't keep the movie from simply from being average and its lucky to even be in that range at all.  Ultimately what this movie does wrong is that tries to be something its not: a movie that has both action and a great story to keep you entertained.  On paper this sounds great, but seeing it attempted with such mediocrity on the big screen with a full theater, it makes the overall experience more underwhelming than it should be.  So, if you were a huge fan of the first movie and are alright with seeing more of what the first movie had to offer than you'll probably be satisfied with its shown in the this movie as least initially. However, if your looking for a movie that truly out does what the first movie did, than you'll be sadly disappointed with the this movie in almost every way.  Its almost like see a piece sitting in front looking all beautiful and delicious only to realize after you take the first bite that someone stuck a huge turd in there with it.  And that my friends is the worst type of cake to experience
2.5/5.0

The CG and special effects are incredible...this movie should have been so much better
The CG and special effects are incredible...this movie should have been so much better


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gingertastic_10

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#2  Edited By gingertastic_10

john turturro was excellent i thought. there was many parts near the end that got on my nerves. like the random slow motion stuff. i liked the movie. i got my moneys worth.

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Everyones_A_Critic

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I haven't heard a single good thing about this movie.

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MeierTheRed

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#4  Edited By MeierTheRed

A lot of people seem to be walking out of the movie.


Just did a search for fun on Twitter
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Wolverine

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#5  Edited By Wolverine

Yeah I didn't even like the first one much so I doubt I'll like this one.

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#6  Edited By SoFuLL

Only good thing about the transformers franchise : Megan Fox is hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot!!!!!!

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iam3green

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#7  Edited By iam3green

sounds pretty good. i liked the first one it was good. the second one from all of the reviews that i have read seem like it is a bad movie. i'm going to be seeing this movie sometime this week to see what all of the talk is about. ii'm hoping that i will be impressed like the first one.

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cloneslayer

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#8  Edited By cloneslayer

i was just nailed by the wall of text.

but i liked the movie, fighting robots go!

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deactivated-5884be30433ec

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John Turturro was fine. Unfortunately his lines of dialogue were so incredibly cheesy.

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freakin

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#10  Edited By freakin

So far I've only watched the first hour and 30 minutes on a shitty Cam version I downloaded and thought that was good.  I'm going to watch the rest in theaters though, hopefully the last hour isn't where it all falls apart.

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kmdrkul

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#11  Edited By kmdrkul
@gingertastic_10 said:
" john turturro was excellent i thought. there was many parts near the end that got on my nerves. like the random slow motion stuff. i liked the movie. i got my moneys worth. "
Megan Fox running in slow motion was one of the few highlights of the movie to me.
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#12  Edited By zombie2011

This movie was terrible, there were so many random robots everywhere yet the only robots i remember were those damn gangster ones. They were in every damn scene. This is basically the entire movie.


The movie spent way to much time focusing on the humans. The movie would spend half and hour following Shia around doing boring ass stuff, then cut to a 5 minute scene of a bunch of  deceptions just walking around or coming to earth.

The transformers that were introduced in the first movie that most people remember are barely even in this one.
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freakin

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#13  Edited By freakin

I just got back from seeing the whole movie, in the theater, and I actually loved the movie.  I actually watched a lot of the old series and even the newer ones a few years back, basically G1, G2(the one that started after the original cartoon movie) and a bunch of the new ones where I'd say a lot was lifted from like say Megatron's many transformations.  I hesitate to say what exactly I loved about the movie... but... ah hell:

=SPOILERS=

.
..


..

..

.

The moment Optimus transformed into a much more powerful version saved the ending fight scene to me, it was something that you'd have to watch the newer cartoons to get the reference, also a lot of the random robots brought back memories from I think G2 where there were just a ton of robots everywhere.  Though it's good they stopped short of actually putting the humans INSIDE the robots which happened in one series of cartoons which I think killed the old series for awhile.  Just I liked a lot of the little touches, I thought soundwave was great and his little jaguar brought back some good memories.  The fallen was straight from the G2 cartoons, basically what they evolved the judgement bot from the cartoon movie in the junk planet.  There were things I didn't like though, like the goofy robots were definitely something that was in the cartoons but were kinda dead weight, I also thought they didn't do enough with Devastator, cool to see his appearance but ultimately a let down.  Anyways I really dug the movie and maybe it is for the hardcore fans more than the casual.  All that matters to me is I really liked how clearly a lot of time was spent watching all the old cartoons and trying to mix in a lot of I guess you would call 'history' of all the cartoons I've seen. 

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#14  Edited By jeffgoldblum

The worst of many problems with this movie is that it was about 45 minutes longer than it needed to be.

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#15  Edited By mordukai
@zombie2011 said:
" This movie was terrible, there were so many random robots everywhere yet the only robots i remember were those damn gangster ones. They were in every damn scene. This is basically the entire movie.

The movie spent way to much time focusing on the humans. The movie would spend half and hour following Shia around doing boring ass stuff, then cut to a 5 minute scene of a bunch of  deceptions just walking around or coming to earth.

The transformers that were introduced in the first movie that most people remember are barely even in this one.
"
A Michael Bay Film huh...let me see. explosions, camera shake,  mostly saturated by orange colors, 2 dimensional characters, a plot I could care less about, bad sound design...did I miss anything?. If You've seen one of his movies before then no need to watch his new ones, they are pretty much the same. To quote Mark Kermode "Michael Bay is a film maker with pornographic sensibility" . This video pretty much summons up my feelings towards this movie and any Michael Bay movie.