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Ok let’s just get one thing clear – Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is an uncomplicated science fiction comicbook action bonanza of a movie. Intelligence completely flies out the window when you’re watching a Michael Bay movie anyway, but with the Revenge of the Fallen, and it’s predecessor, it really doesn’t matter.

This movie kicks arse… and even kicks some big brass Decepticon cohones, but I’ll be getting to those a little later. ;)

Ok before I start going into any detail whatsoever, I’m going to give you the standard SPOILER WARNING, as I can’t really discuss a movie without going into detail about it… so don’t tell me I didn’t warn you! If you haven’t seen the movie yet, and like surprises… read no further!

Synopsis:
TF2 picks up two years after the first movie left off – however Captain Lennox (Duhamel) & Sergeant Epps (Gibson) are now part of a crack Decepticon-hunting squad known as NEST, and are backed up by the Autobots including newcomers Arcee, Sideswipe, Jolt and the twins Skids and Mudflap. Sam (Lebouf) on the other hand, is leaving for college… much to Bumblebee’s dismay as he’s not taking his protector with him.

All seems fine, until Sam finds a shard of the Allspark attached to some of his clothes… and upon touching it, he starts having visions of Cybertronian hieroglyphs.

In the meantime, the Decepticons learn where the other remaining Allspark shard is, and steal it with a view to resurrecting Megatron (Weaving) who is on the bottom of the ocean in the Laurentian Abyss. It is then revealed that Megatron is in fact the apprentice of “The Fallen” – one of the original “Primes”… like the founding fathers of the Cybertronian race. Their aim is to use an old weapon to destroy the sun and harness it’s power to create Energon – and the glyphs that Sam is seeing are the key to the whole thing.

Review:
Ok so as I said before, the plot isn’t exactly rocket science – stop the Decepticons from destroying all life on Earth as we know it. It’s almost a rinse-repeat of the first movie, but on a grander scale. But then, where Michael Bay is concerned, size is everything.

The robot count has been boosted nearly fourfold: The original movie had 14 robots in total, Revenge of the Fallen has 46… and let me just say that Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) have outdone themselves yet again with the design and implementation of these mahoosive robots.

Here’s a quick rundown of the noteable newcomers:

Autobots

Sideswipe: One of the new Autobots, and instantly one of my favourites. He’s a silver Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Concept that when transformed, has large blades on his arms, and is incredibly agile. He kills the Decepticon “Sideways” at the beginning of the movie by cleaving it in half.

Arcee: A single consciousness driving three female Transformers that transform into three motorcycles: a pink Ducati superbike, a blue Suzuki B-King 2008, and a purple MV Agusta F4. Although this ability was dropped from the movie, the robots that make up Arcee were once meant to be able to combine into a single robot.

The Twins – Mudflap and Skids: These Autobot infiltrators transform respectively into a red Chevrolet Trax and green Chevrolet Beat, although at the beginning of the movie they are combined in the form of an ice cream truck. Mudflap is very hyperactive, while Skids believes himself to be the smarter of the two and tries to come across as mature, but nevertheless appears unable to keep quiet.

Wheelie: A blue radio-controlled toy monster truck. Wheelie initially serves the Decepticons, but because he is frightened of them he joins the Autobots. He is called “Wheels” in the film novel.

Jetfire: A former Decepticon who transforms into a SR-71 Blackbird. His wounds and age have made him choose to become an Autobot. Jetfire is another favourite of mine, being an old veteran Transformer that complains and swears a lot. He’s also integral to particular parts of the story.

Jolt: A blue Chevrolet Volt armed with a pair of electric whips, befitting his electric car alternate mode. He was a last-minute addition to the cast as General Motors (the film’s car supplier) wanted to promote the Volt. As a consequence of the late addition, Jolt is verymuch an addon character with little to no dialogue.

Decepticons:

The Fallen: One of the original thirteen Transformers and the one who corrupted Megatron into forming the Decepticons. It was the Fallen’s face that inspired the image the Decepticons would use as their insignia. He is capable of opening Space Bridges at will, and transforms into a Cybertronian space craft. He’s voiced by Tony Todd, of Candyman fame.

Soundwave: My favourite Transformer of all time. He’s Megatron’s intelligence officer and transforms into a Cybertronian craft with jet and satellite capabilities, coordinating the Decepticons’ movements around the world. The concept artists also designed an Earth form of a Chevrolet Silverado for him to upgrade into, which was unfortunately dropped (We don’t see enough of him in my opinion).

Ravage: A minion of Soundwave that resembles a large one-eyed jaguar with large machine gun-style blasters & rockets attached to his hind legs. He also dispenses the Insecticons into the military base that houses one of the Allspark shards.

Demolisher: He’s the huge Transformer that destroys Shanghai at the beginning of the movie (which you can see in the trailer below)

Devastator: When the 7 Constructicons (Scavenger, Hightower, Long Haul, Mixmaster, Rampage, Scrapper & Overload) combine, they form this 46ft hulking beast – He is physically unable to stand upright, but would be 100 feet (30 m) to 120 feet (37 m) tall if he did.

The Doctor: Also known as “Scalpel” – a small, spider-like robot who turns into a microscope. He is a medic and scientist equipped with tools he is seen using to torture Sam. He is a Scout-Class Decepticon that is skilled in dissecting and rebuilding almost any living organism.

There are a load more Decepticons, but if I list them all we’ll be here all day.

Robots aside, the effects in the movie are second-to-none, and I wasn’t able to immediately notice anything that looked ropey at all. This is almost a showcase for the talent at ILM – especially Devastator.

The actors in the movie do an alright job too, with Shia Lebouf stealing the show along with John John Turturro as Agent Simmons, and Megan Fox…. well, being Megan Fox I guess. The only slightly iffy bit of acting appears to be intentional.

Isabel Lucas plays Alice – a potential love interest for Sam… when my girlfriend and I were watching, she leaned over and said “If this was Battelstar Galactica, I’d think she was a skin-job” – good call on her part too, as Alice is a “Pretender” Decepticon. Though not covered in the film, the novelization and comic adaptation explain her adopted earth mode as her duplicating the appearance of a theme park animatronic figure of Alice in Wonderland.

The only slightly annoying characters in the movie were the twins – these two are the comic relief of the movie, and I can see them quickly taking up Jar-Jar Binks’ mantle… but I think his crown is safe for now. They do have some amusing dialogue in places. At one point Sam’s “friend” Leo is apologising for freaking out, and the twins say something like “That’s cos you’re a pussy”. Ahh yes I forgot – the swearing is quite prominent throughout the movie thanks to these two, and Jetfire.

My few gripes character-wise were more due to the lack of inclusion of certain characters. Sideswipe & Soundwave were only briefly featured, and I felt they deserved a lot more screen-time than they got.

The sound and music in the film is all top notch, although the movie’s theme “New Divide” by Linkin Park is an almost carbon copy of the track “What I’ve Done” used in the first movie. Here’s a basis for comparison:

However something that I was very happy to see absent in the movie is Stan Bush’s cocked-up re-hash of “The Touch”, and thankfully it’s not on either soundtrack for the movie either.

There are some laughable points in the movie though – Devastator’s wrecking ball testicles being one of them (Sorry no image available yet). And some parts were a little anti-climactic too… Devastator’s defeat for one. Although impressive to watch, it’s all over too quickly & easily.

Verdict:
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a triumph in my opinion – It’s fun, engaging and exciting from start to finish. Critics would probably say it’s too much like the first movie to be able to call it a great film. However – being a fan of the comics, cartoons, toys and original movie… I’d say it’s great. Transforming Robots, Explosions, some alright acting and an ok soundtrack make this well worth a watch.

Rating:

Trailer:

Movie Information:

Title: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Director: Michael Bay Writers: Ehren Kruger, Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman Starring: Shia Lebouf, Megan Fox, Peter Cullen, Hugo Weaving, Josh Duhamel, Isabel Lucas, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson Rating: 12A Release Date: 19 June (UK) Transformers on Amazon

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 at 11:29 and is filed under Movies, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.