The Review of Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen

A brief intro:
Released on 24 June 2009, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, is the much anticipated sequel to 2007’s Transformers. The 2nd film, of what could well be an on-going movie series in future, sees the return of the alliance between Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg, whiles Shia Labeouf reprises his leading role as Sam Witwicky. The show retains a majority of its original cast including Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, and Tyrese Gibson just to name a more recognizable few.

Apart from a very familiar Autobot and Decepticon lineup, there were numerous additions to both sides with the Autobot additions staying true to their automobile nature, and the Decepticons continuing to take on much more aggressive forms as seen with the introduction of the Constructicons. Vehicle manufacturers wasted no time in utilizing the films immense advertising potential and it was obvious in the appearances of updated car models, concepts, and shiny new construction machines.

The storyline is pretty much reflected in the films title, as it revolves around the Decepticon’s having their revenge, and how the Autobots have formed an alliance with the military to stop them. And yea, apart from Sam Witwicky’s college life, and the revelation that the Transformers existence on earth dates all the way back to pre-historic periods, there really isn’t much else of a story going on.

Critics however weren’t amused and wasted no time in condemning the film with mostly negative remarks. However, I think their views should really be ignored as the film achieved the highest Wednesday opening gross in history! And the 2nd highest opening day gross of all time, behind The Dark Knight.

What we liked…
Action, action and more action! The film has a rather long running time of about 2 and a half hours, but it never felt dull at any moment. It was edge of your seat stuff from the opening narrative to the end credits.

Shia LaBeouf’s really good performance in the film is a major plus point as well. It was an exceptional showcase of all his acting abilities and is a definite sign that he will be among the Hollywood greats.

The Revenge of the Fallen fully and awesomely displayed what Transformers fans loved from its original cartoon days, which was a whole lot of robot VS robot carnage! And although the show does appeal to boys and girls alike, it’s safe to assume that it was primarily made as a male show and it did that pretty damn well. Megan Fox in tight shorts on a motorbike, a Decepticon in the form of a seductive college, awesome testosterone pumping vehicles, explosive military firepower, etc.

The skew is pretty obvious isn’t it? (Josh Duhamel was perhaps the only of eye candy for the females!)

What we didn’t like too much…
Some of the jokes slipped into the script were pretty funny and did well for the comedic aspect of transformers, although some very lame lines did beg a few questions. However, it’s slightly difficult to consider it a “flaw” because the original Transformers cartoons did incorporate jokes in them.

One thing we couldn’t help but think about:
The generation that grew up with Transformers is all grown up now, and would be able to relate to the more “adult” content the film had. Unfortunately, we felt that the film felt slightly immature.
Then on the other hand, the prospect of transforming fighting robots would be very appealing to a young kid, however, the sexually suggestive scenes involving Megan Fox and Isabel Lucas (who plays the Decepticon disguised as a hot college girl we mentioned earlier) really wouldn’t be appropriate. >
So there was perhaps an attempt at appealing to both crowds, however it is a rather blur line which perhaps shouldn’t have been crossed.

So…
We’d assume that most Transformers fans would appreciate the film as a whole, however, not everyone is a Transformers fan and this is the crowd that would most probably be left with a more negative memory of the film.

For us…well… Let’s just say we can’t wait for a Transformers 3 to be rolled out!

Our rating.
8/10