Who's going to see Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen?

[Jekyll]

http://io9.com/5301898/michael-bay-f...e-an-art-movie I might go see this movie just because of this review.

 

[LexSenthur]

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/...IEWS/906239997 Ebert had a pretty funny review. Now I have even less reason to see the first one.

 

[TheFoo]

So, I saw it. Well, no, it's not a good movie, but it's far better than the reviews give it credit for. Also, as a Transformers junkie, I found it far more entertaining and satisfying than the first film.

They flesh out Optimus Prime a lot more, and delve into the Transformers mythology, explaining the legend of the Primes and the significance of the Matrix of Leadership. Certain key characters from the original cartoon, who were portrayed as empty vessels in the first movie, were given back their personalities. Starscream is truly Starscream now, not just a robot that turns in a jet. He whines and snivels and connives, vying for power behind Megatron's back, but cowering when before him. RJman--the portrayal would make you very happy.

There are a lot of stupid jokes that could only be funny to 12-year-old boys or jackass adults. I can see how this could easily ruin the movie for a casual watcher. But, if you like the franchise, and want to enjoy the movie, you can ignore them easily enough. There is actually a lot of good humor in the movie, but my wife and I found ourselves laughing when nobody else was, and stone-faced silent when everyone else was hackling.

Sam Witwicky (Spike, to us followers of the original series) was a great surprise. I hate to say it, but Shia Lebeouf plays him to perfection. For part of the movie, he's being tormented by Cybertronian symbols beamed into his brain, and starts going crazy. Very funny stuff, and not at all annoying.

Optimus Prime gets much more attention this time around. However, Michael Bay has no sense of cinematic drama whatsover. Monumental battles don't get the proper treatment. Fists and limbs fly in front of the camera, but you can barely tell what's happening. Usually, it's only made obvious at the end, when one Transformer is alive and the other is dead. But he doesn't ever pause or slow down for the audience to contemplate any of the deaths that occur. There is no mourning or grief. No solemn pause or moment of silence. There are no long, establishing shots between two Transformers facing each other down, moments before they go at each other. The final showdown is sadly anti-climactic and over far too soon.

Devastator was a disappointment. He's essentially a mindless Godzilla-creature.

So, yes, Michael Bay is terrible. The movie is enjoyable if you like the Transformers and their story, or if you like rapidfire violence and big explosions. But if you don't fall under either of those two camps, you'll feel like you've wasted two-and-a-half hours of your li.fe.

Still, most of the critics are way off. They talk about the movie as if it is a flaw not to focus more on the human characters. In truth, humans were never that important to the Transformers story. Spike (now Sam), was just a sidekick, along for the ride. The Transformers were the stars, and they weren't just machines. They had individual personalities and distinctive ideologies. So, while the critics complain that the 'robots' were on screen too much, I would like to have seen even less emphasis on the humans and even more on the Transformers.

I'm going to see the movie again, but only because the battles were so quick-paced and dizzying that I didn't catch everything that happened.

 

[unrated]

Megan Fox will be on Letterman tomorrow with Johnny Depp.

 

[bramiro]

I envy those people who have seen the movie already. A fan of the cartoon series and I liked the 1st movie a lot. Can't wait to see the show and will watch it with friends this Saturday. I heard the constructicons will make an appearance. I want my dinobots as well!

 

[Tardek]

...cyber-micturition...

This is a reference to something in the first movie. I don't get it. What does it mean?

 

[toothsomesound]

Originally Posted by mafoofan

So, I saw it. Well, no, it's not a good movie, but it's far better than the reviews give it credit for. Also, as a Transformers junkie, I found it far more entertaining and satisfying than the first film.

They flesh out Optimus Prime a lot more, and delve into the Transformers mythology, explaining the legend of the Primes and the significance of the Matrix of Leadership. Certain key characters from the original cartoon, who were portrayed as empty vessels in the first movie, were given back their personalities. Starscream is truly Starscream now, not just a robot that turns in a jet. He whines and snivels and connives, vying for power behind Megatron's back, but cowering when before him. RJman--the portrayal would make you very happy.

There are a lot of stupid jokes that could only be funny to 12-year-old boys or jackass adults. I can see how this could easily ruin the movie for a casual watcher. But, if you like the franchise, and want to enjoy the movie, you can ignore them easily enough. There is actually a lot of good humor in the movie, but my wife and I found ourselves laughing when nobody else was, and stone-faced silent when everyone else was hackling.

Sam Witwicky (Spike, to us followers of the original series) was a great surprise. I hate to say it, but Shia Lebeouf plays him to perfection. For part of the movie, he's being tormented by Cybertronian symbols beamed into his brain, and starts going crazy. Very funny stuff, and not at all annoying.

Optimus Prime gets much more attention this time around. However, Michael Bay has no sense of cinematic drama whatsover. Monumental battles don't get the proper treatment. Fists and limbs fly in front of the camera, but you can barely tell what's happening. Usually, it's only made obvious at the end, when one Transformer is alive and the other is dead. But he doesn't ever pause or slow down for the audience to contemplate any of the deaths that occur. There is no mourning or grief. No solemn pause or moment of silence. There are no long, establishing shots between two Transformers facing each other down, moments before they go at each other. The final showdown is sadly anti-climactic and over far too soon.

Devastator was a disappointment. He's essentially a mindless Godzilla-creature.

So, yes, Michael Bay is terrible. The movie is enjoyable if you like the Transformers and their story, or if you like rapidfire violence and big explosions. But if you don't fall under either of those two camps, you'll feel like you've wasted two-and-a-half hours of your li.fe.

Still, most of the critics are way off. They talk about the movie as if it is a flaw not to focus more on the human characters. In truth, humans were never that important to the Transformers story. Spike (now Sam), was just a sidekick, along for the ride. The Transformers were the stars, and they weren't just machines. They had individual personalities and distinctive ideologies. So, while the critics complain that the 'robots' were on screen too much, I would like to have seen even less emphasis on the humans and even more on the Transformers.

I'm going to see the movie again, but only because the battles were so quick-paced and dizzying that I didn't catch everything that happened.

I agree with most of this. I was able to follow the action sequences pretty well and I thought they were a lot of fun, definitely not easy to follow though. I would like to add that the acting and dialogue are pretty subpar but I'm pretty sure no one is expecting much. I also felt a lot of elements of the plot and even individual characters were unnecessary. It was okay I guess, but I enjoyed it because it was Transformers and I think my little brother was enjoying it too. Some of the "comic relief" was really awful.

 

[MetroStyles]

Of course mafoofan will give it two thumbs up...he is one of them.

 

[romafan]

Originally Posted by mafoofan

So, I saw it. Well, no, it's not a good movie, but it's far better than the reviews give it credit for. Also, as a Transformers junkie, I found it far more entertaining and satisfying than the first film.

You didn't break out the DBDJ for this did you?

 

[RFX45]

Originally Posted by mafoofan

Still, most of the critics are way off. They talk about the movie as if it is a flaw not to focus more on the human characters. In truth, humans were never that important to the Transformers story. Spike (now Sam), was just a sidekick, along for the ride. The Transformers were the stars, and they weren't just machines. They had individual personalities and distinctive ideologies. So, while the critics complain that the 'robots' were on screen too much, I would like to have seen even less emphasis on the humans and even more on the Transformers.

Some spoiler here so be warned.

I think one of the movies problems is that there were way too much Decepticons. Some didn't even needed to morph into vehicles because they pretty much got owned anyways, I think that is a sure sign that the movie has gone of course. Not only that, but the new Autobots were useless. I amnto saying they need to develop their characters to the fullest but the stupid twins (which the movie could do without) had more lines than all the new and old Autobots combined other than Optimus Prime. I think the twins had more screen time than Bumble Bee, I don't even remember Bumble Bee in the end after he drove of with the parents. I feel the same way, the Transformers really should be the focal point, character-wise but I doubt we will see that happen. I think the movie would have been better if there were as much robot scenes but to show their personalities instead of seeing them in split seconds shooting and creating explosions.

 

[TheFoo]

Originally Posted by MetroStyles

Of course mafoofan will give it two thumbs up...he is one of them.

Nah, I think most Transformers fans will enjoy it, but I defy anyone to say it's an objectively good film.

Originally Posted by romafan

You didn't break out the DBDJ for this did you?

I tried to, but my wife didn't want to dress up and she had already agreed to see it opening night with me.

Originally Posted by RFX45

Some spoiler here so be warned.

I think one of the movies problems is that there were way too much Decepticons. Some didn't even needed to morph into vehicles because they pretty much got owned anyways, I think that is a sure sign that the movie has gone of course. Not only that, but the new Autobots were useless. I amnto saying they need to develop their characters to the fullest but the stupid twins (which the movie could do without) had more lines than all the new and old Autobots combined other than Optimus Prime. I think the twins had more screen time than Bumble Bee, I don't even remember Bumble Bee in the end after he drove of with the parents. I feel the same way, the Transformers really should be the focal point, character-wise but I doubt we will see that happen. I think the movie would have been better if there were as much robot scenes but to show their personalities instead of seeing them in split seconds shooting and creating explosions.

*SPOILERS*

Agreed entirely. They added in a lot of anonymous Decepticons toward the end, simply as fodder. The Transformers didn't do nearly this much fighting in the original cartoon; half the time was spend on character development.

I think the movies should focus on a handful of core characters on each side, leaving the rest in the background. Ironhide barely got any attention, yet he's second-in-command. The opportunity for him to shine after Prime dies was completely wasted. It bothered me that the Autobots did not seem more upset upon learning of Prime's death. Jetfire's sacrifice could have been far more moving, but they didn't give him enough screen time for it to be meaningful.

Also, I hate the booming, echoey voices and the heavy metal approach to sound mixing. During the action scenes, you can't tell what any of the Transfomers are saying. There was a lot of charged banter between Prime and the Fallen, but I couldn't hear any of it.

 

[RFX45]

Originally Posted by mafoofan

*SPOILERS*

Agreed entirely. They added in a lot of anonymous Decepticons toward the end, simply as fodder. The Transformers didn't do nearly this much fighting in the original cartoon; half the time was spend on character development.

I think the movies should focus on a handful of core characters on each side, leaving the rest in the background. Ironhide barely got any attention, yet he's second-in-command. The opportunity for him to shine after Prime dies was completely wasted. It bothered me that the Autobots did not seem more upset upon learning of Prime's death. Jetfire's sacrifice could have been far more moving, but they didn't give him enough screen time for it to be meaningful.

Also, I hate the booming, echoey voices and the heavy metal approach to sound mixing. During the action scenes, you can't tell what any of the Transfomers are saying. There was a lot of charged banter between Prime and the Fallen, but I couldn't hear any of it.

SPOILER

Definitely, I would have liked to know how Arcee and Chromia and the 3rd cycle got there and I would have liked more screen time for Sideswipe, Ratchet and Ironhide. Not only did the Autobots had no feelings for Optimus dying, they also coudl care less about Jetfire sacrificing himself. No one even tried to talk him out of it as Optimus prime callously combines his all spark with him.

There were also a lot of part that weren't necessary in the movie. Like the US representative being against the Autobots, that could have been a good 10-20 minutes to cut. The same with going to college for Sam, felt very unnecessary, along with his roommate. If Bay really wanted to make a pure action flick, take those out as it just made it drag. The relationship between Sam and Mikaela also seemed pointless, arguing about saying love throughout the movie, I mean really? Also, the Fallen, if he was going to get pawned so easily, they should have just not included him at all. He was useless. He can teleport, levitate objects but he served no purpose other than get killed by a powered up Optimus, which was weakly attempted by the way. And then next thing you know, the movie is over.

 

[ibleedwhite]

NY Times had a hilarious review calling it a movie for "8 year old boys and grown men who never matured.." haha..

 

[Rambo]

Originally Posted by RFX45

SPOILER Definitely, I would have liked to know how Arcee and Chromia and the 3rd cycle got there and I would have liked more screen time for Sideswipe, Ratchet and Ironhide. Not only did the Autobots had no feelings for Optimus dying, they also coudl care less about Jetfire sacrificing himself. No one even tried to talk him out of it as Optimus prime callously combines his all spark with him.

There were also a lot of part that weren't necessary in the movie. Like the US representative being against the Autobots, that could have been a good 10-20 minutes to cut. The same with going to college for Sam, felt very unnecessary, along with his roommate. If Bay really wanted to make a pure action flick, take those out as it just made it drag. The relationship between Sam and Mikaela also seemed pointless, arguing about saying love throughout the movie, I mean really? Also, the Fallen, if he was going to get pawned so easily, they should have just not included him at all. He was useless. He can teleport, levitate objects but he served no purpose other than get killed by a powered up Optimus, which was weakly attempted by the way. And then next thing you know, the movie is over.
Agree with all this, especially the Fallen. That was terrible. 2 minute battle along side Megatron vs. Optimus and Optimus barely gets scratched. The thing moved so fast I could hardly tell who Optimus was fighting. I had the same problem with the first movie's fight scenes and Foo hit it on the head. You can barely tell what's happening until you see one standing and one on the ground.

 

[Flambeur]

Yeah I pretty much agree with the last few reviews.

It was entertaining at times. Also felt like a US A/N/AF recruiting video.