We all knew going into the theater that day that the movie we were about to see would be big, bold, and filled with more action than the average person could possibly stomach. Director Michael Bay brings Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen to theaters this summer, following the huge blockbuster success of Transformers in 2007.
The story of the last film builds in the sequel with the main protagonist, Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBouf) preparing for college. Besides having a shape shifting Camaro in the garage, Sam also bears the secret of the Autobots: a robotic alien race now enlisted by the United States military to hunt down evil Decepticons. When Sam discovers a remaining piece of the power-giving All Spark, the Decepticons give chase, calling upon The Fallen to destroy the Sun and bringing an end to the earth. Its up to Sam and his bombshell girlfriend Mikaela (Megan Fox) to uncover the secret of The Fallen and save the world from a dark end.
I went to Revenge of the Fallen expecting robots, things blowing up, and Megan Fox - I got what I was looking for. The first scene of the movie shows a military attack on an evil Decepticon robot disguised a bulldozer. As waves of marines and helicopters swarm toward the machine, it springs to life and rears up into a 300-foot-tall behemoth that cruises down a Chinese highway squishing cars like bugs. Five minutes have passed it and already seems like the climax of any other movie you’d see on a Saturday afternoon.
The explosions are battle scenes are without a doubt the most intense I’ve ever seen in a movie. Michael Bay Employed the actual US military, so from planes, tanks, submarines, and aircraft carriers to foot soldiers, what you’re seeing a lot of the time is the real deal. There’s enough dust, smoke and fire in the movie to block out the sun, and be ready for a full assault on a remote desert outpost. High-altitude jumps, a rail gun, Blackhawk helicopters, and assault rifles with a dozen accessories are enough to complete any guy’s movie checklist. It’s all there, and it makes for a good time.
Two expectations down, one to go. The scene introducing Mikaela involves her draped over a motorcycle, painting a design on the gas tank. A golden glow illuminates her as the camera moves across. It was a well put together shot. In fact, it was a slow-motion-inducing, jaw-dropping, girlfriend-punching-you-in-the-arm kind of shot. Visuals are spectacular in the film, whether they involve its characters or varied world landscapes. The level of detail found in the robots is incredible; and the animations during transformation from vehicle to standing bot are without a doubt from the very finest in Hollywood and ILM. Apart from the amazing lighting found in every shot, I found the seemingly constant camera movement particularly captivating. The level of care to keep the camera moving up, down and around at all times is remarkable. It’s quite fun to watch, and really helps to sell this movie as an over-the-top, blockbuster hit.
There are, however, a great number of times in the movie where things are a bit heavy-handed or completely overdone. One example that comes to mind is when the time comes for Sam to leave Mikaela. The camera circles the pair 720˚ (yes 720˚!) as The Fray’s Never Say Never blares “Don’t let me go” in the background. Much of the music in the movie seemed forced, including another appearance from Linkin Park, but it did implement what is currently culturally relevant. Comedic content is hit or miss, and it altogether saturates the movie. I had quite a few chuckles, such as Mikayla struggling to get Sam to say “I love you” throughout the movie, but was a bit surprised on a few profanities and racy punch lines that involve a pair of robots voiced in a very obvious, “urban” fashion.
I’ll come right out and say it, Revenge of the Fallen is not a good film. Sure, the visuals are great and the acting isn’t horrible, but there is absolutely no subtlety. It’s a point A to point B story fed to you bite by bite, with hardly any room for narrative development or character growth. But before you write it off from your weekend movie fix, hear this: it was a lot of fun. That’s right, the movie was wonderfully entertaining, and because of that I would recommend it to anyone looking for an exciting trip to a sci-fi action experience. One warning, at over two and a half hours the movie gets to be a little long and perhaps too intense for everyday moviegoers, so be prepared to commit some time to this one.
So how does one rate a bad movie that they liked? Maybe I’ll break the rules a bit and give it two ratings, the first for its quality as a film and the second for sheer enjoyment.
Official Score: 2.5 Stars out of 5
Enjoyment Factor: 4.5 Stars out of 5
Combined Score: 3.5 Stars out of 5
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