Transformers 2: The Search For a Cohesive Narrative
It occurred to me that my short blurb on Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen was a little too short and not entirely informative. I blame the fact I saw it at midnight and then got home at three in the morning, meaning I wasn't at my most coherent. After seeing the movie a second time at a much more reasonable hour of the day, I feel I can give a much more informative opinion of the movie.
The first question that I'm sure is on everyone's mind is whether or not Transformers 2 is in fact the best movie of the summer?
No, it isn't. Please remember which Transformer movie this is a sequel to, and set your expectations accordingly.
This isn't to say that Transformers 2 is a bad movie, or even a bad sequel. In a nutshell, the sequel takes everything from the preceding movie and amps it up a few levels.
For example, not only does the opening action scene feature more Transformers then the entirety of the last movie, but the action itself is more epic and ludicrous. We're talking a gigantic Decepticons tearing through a city and Optimus Prime air dropping from a C-17. Later on, Optimus takes on three Cons in a fight that completely overcompensates for the lackluster dustup between Megatron and him in the first movie.
By the same token though, all of the non-action scenes have become even more painful to watch. I managed to glaze over most of it the first time I watched the movie, but the second time through it felt like an eternity. The movie never misses a moment to make a lowbrow joke, even going so far as to literally give Devastator a pair of a balls. And while the first movie had more then it's fair share of wacky, yet arguably pretty racist characters (I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that Epps was the only positive black character in the last movie), this one manages to top that by introducing a pair of Autobots that are that make Jar Jar seems like a Sesame Street Muppet. More on them in a bit.
As for the plot, it's basically an excuse to string the characters along through various exotic locals and fight scenes. A lot of it doesn't make sense, and it often feels like you're missing something. Such as the sub-titular Fallen, who comes out of no where, and yet Megatron seems to have been working for him the entire time. And no, there is nothing from the vast catalog of Transformer's extended mythos to logically justify it. Heck, even Unicron had to basically had to strong-arm Megatron into working for him back in the 80's, but I'm starting to get off topic.
One promise Micheal Bay made good on is that there are substantially more robots to be seen in the movie. I mentioned the opening scene already, but the that doesn't cover half of the new robots that get to show up in the movie. I mean, there's obviously the Construticons (all six of them), but there's also Ravage and Soundwave (whose even voiced by Frank Welker, though the he's missing the voice modulation of the original). However, this is offset by the fact the only ones who get any substantial screen time besides Prime, Bumblebee and Megs/Starscream, are the two new robots, who are guaranteed to offend you and/or drive you insane five minutes after they appear on screen. Honestly, the most positive thing I can say about the twins is I think they're are supposed actually supposed to be a white trash/poser stereotype. Your millage will vary though.
As for whether or not the movie deserves your hard-earned cash I would say yes, with provisions. If you completely loved Transformers 2007, and think I am just being over sensitive on some of these issues, then by all means, see it now. Heck, some of you with that attitude might even have already seen it. However, if you were surprised that the previous movie was watchable and took a while before you completely warmed to it, then I would suggest that you try for a matinee, if not wait until it hits a second-run theater.
All in all, while I will say that I enjoyed the movie for the most part, I would not hesitate to trade it away for a Transformers Animated season 4.
The first question that I'm sure is on everyone's mind is whether or not Transformers 2 is in fact the best movie of the summer?
No, it isn't. Please remember which Transformer movie this is a sequel to, and set your expectations accordingly.
This isn't to say that Transformers 2 is a bad movie, or even a bad sequel. In a nutshell, the sequel takes everything from the preceding movie and amps it up a few levels.
For example, not only does the opening action scene feature more Transformers then the entirety of the last movie, but the action itself is more epic and ludicrous. We're talking a gigantic Decepticons tearing through a city and Optimus Prime air dropping from a C-17. Later on, Optimus takes on three Cons in a fight that completely overcompensates for the lackluster dustup between Megatron and him in the first movie.
By the same token though, all of the non-action scenes have become even more painful to watch. I managed to glaze over most of it the first time I watched the movie, but the second time through it felt like an eternity. The movie never misses a moment to make a lowbrow joke, even going so far as to literally give Devastator a pair of a balls. And while the first movie had more then it's fair share of wacky, yet arguably pretty racist characters (I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that Epps was the only positive black character in the last movie), this one manages to top that by introducing a pair of Autobots that are that make Jar Jar seems like a Sesame Street Muppet. More on them in a bit.
As for the plot, it's basically an excuse to string the characters along through various exotic locals and fight scenes. A lot of it doesn't make sense, and it often feels like you're missing something. Such as the sub-titular Fallen, who comes out of no where, and yet Megatron seems to have been working for him the entire time. And no, there is nothing from the vast catalog of Transformer's extended mythos to logically justify it. Heck, even Unicron had to basically had to strong-arm Megatron into working for him back in the 80's, but I'm starting to get off topic.
One promise Micheal Bay made good on is that there are substantially more robots to be seen in the movie. I mentioned the opening scene already, but the that doesn't cover half of the new robots that get to show up in the movie. I mean, there's obviously the Construticons (all six of them), but there's also Ravage and Soundwave (whose even voiced by Frank Welker, though the he's missing the voice modulation of the original). However, this is offset by the fact the only ones who get any substantial screen time besides Prime, Bumblebee and Megs/Starscream, are the two new robots, who are guaranteed to offend you and/or drive you insane five minutes after they appear on screen. Honestly, the most positive thing I can say about the twins is I think they're are supposed actually supposed to be a white trash/poser stereotype. Your millage will vary though.
As for whether or not the movie deserves your hard-earned cash I would say yes, with provisions. If you completely loved Transformers 2007, and think I am just being over sensitive on some of these issues, then by all means, see it now. Heck, some of you with that attitude might even have already seen it. However, if you were surprised that the previous movie was watchable and took a while before you completely warmed to it, then I would suggest that you try for a matinee, if not wait until it hits a second-run theater.
All in all, while I will say that I enjoyed the movie for the most part, I would not hesitate to trade it away for a Transformers Animated season 4.