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Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Review

July 5th, 2009 |

prime I’ve got to admit. I really liked this movie. I wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I do now, but this movie is just a pure adrenaline rush from start to finish. Sure, the story may not be your unbelievable complex twist and turns like Dark Knight or dare I say it, X-men Origins: Wolverine, but I really think it was enough to keep me intrigued about the war between good and evil among gigantic robots from space.

The story of the entire film revolves around a character called “The Fallen” who seems to be one of the oldest yet menacing robots among the race of Transformers in the universe. The Fallen is out for “revenge” yet it seems like he’s just really pissed at everything that doesn’t have a metal skin or colored metal gray. Sam Witwicky, played by Shia Labeouf, is once again entangled in this conflict while he’s preparing himself for college and a long distance relationship with Mikaela, who is played by Megan Fox. The Autobots seemed to have formed an alliance with the military thus forming the “N.E.S.T.” unit that is dedicated in hunting down and disabling the remaining Decepticons on Earth. The problem is, someone from the government seems to dislike all the destruction going on due to this “hunt”. So, with Sam busy with his personal life and the Autobots dealing with a stubborn government, it does seem like a great time to attack Earth right? Well, not unless of course you have no idea where to look first.

The movie starts off with Optimus Prime once again narrating about the history of their race. A lot of things were revealed including the fact that humans of the ancient times had no sense of scale when it comes to intimidating their enemies. That introduction itself was intriguing but it doesn’t escape the fact that maybe it was better not to have it at all. Sure, they needed to introduce the main bad guy for the film but somehow I guess it would have been better if they shocked everyone with the bad guy right in the middle of film instead.

The movie then continues showing off Sam Witwicky’s personal life. His going to college, his unsteady relationship with Mikaela, and his humping dogs seem to sum up his personal life along with Bumblebee still hanging around his garage. The first film handled this very well but this time around, most of the sequences that involve Sam Witwicky and the humans around him seem to be forced and well, not really involved with the rest of the conflict of the film. I don’t think that these scenes weren’t needed but the writers could have given it more thought on how Sam really fits into the conflict and not really just mere coincidences. And besides, why would Prime mention that they need Sam more then Sam realizes it, when actually, Sam just stumbled upon most of the information that he gathered.

Story aside and knowing Michael Bay, I don’t think we really need to use our brains too much to enjoy this film. Revenge of the Fallen was supposed to be fun and a visual feast for everyone. It’s a blockbuster movie in it’s own respect and not a contender for the Academy Award (Although, if there was an award for most explosions in a movie, this would be the definite winner).

Revenge of the Fallen succeeds in giving what most of the fans of first movie are truly looking for. Action, more robots, more story and less focus on the humans are some of these things and ROTF delivers. The odd thing is these few things are the things that the fans of the first movie seem to complain a lot about in ROTF. So, next time people, be careful what you wish for. Or should I say, when you wish for something, you better know what you’re in for.

The visual effects in the film were phenomenal just like in the first film. Realistic looking robots and tons of explosions while being composited with live-action footage really make this film a visual spectacle. The animations were near to perfection especially for those awesome fight scenes. The problem though with the visuals was actually the same problem in the first film. It was hard to tell who’s fighting who except for Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. ROTF actually made this scenario worse since most of the Decepticons were colored in metallic grey. Well, even “The Fallen” was mostly grey which actually made it difficult at time to wonder if Prime was fighting an ordinary Decepticon or The Fallen.

It’s safe to say that Revenge of the Fallen is a worthy sequel to the first Transformers movie. It expands on the franchise’s mythology and also gives us more than what we got from the first movie. Sure, the story seems rather shallow or disconnected, but it’s not that hard to follow if you paid attention a lot more carefully than staring at Megan Fox’s amazing body. Revenge of the Fallen is not for everybody, but if you’re looking for a really entertaining ride, this movie is worth the price of admission.