Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

Rating: 2/10 (6 July 2009)

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is the second film in the Transformer series about the famous Hasbro toy line. We pick back up with Shia LaBeouf (Disturbia, Eagle Eye), reprising his role as Sam WitWicky, two years after the first Transformers film preparing to head off to college. Megan Fox (Transformers, How to Lose Friends and Alienate People) returns as his girlfriend, Mikaela Banes. Sam stumbles upon a fragment of the Allspark, which broke off and was hidden among his things after the final battle of the first film. This discovery will lead to the Autobots having to battle their oldest foe the Fallen.
There are two things that can define this film, or any Michael Bay film, explosions and slow motion. In fact the explosions at times happen when it doesn't seem possible, like when a robot flies through the wall of an apartment. This pales in comparison to the blatant ethnic stereotypes that are two of the new Autobots, Mudflap and Skids. These two characters are grating they are such awful stereotypes of "urban" people. Add to them the needless shots of dogs humping and the repeated use of profanity for a cheap laugh and you see the age group Bay was aiming for: 13-18 year old boys. He also relies on Judy Witwicky for comic relief when none is needed, and in fact abuses her for such a purpose. Comedy and slap stick just do not seem to be something Michael Bay really understands. While these elements were able to get the 13 to 18 year old kids in the audience to laugh it fell very flat to me. In fact he seemed to be trying too hard to get me to laugh with his attempts at comedy.
One of the things Bay gets right in the film is giving us extended fight sequences of the Autobots and Decepticons. However, while we see long takes of these battles the actions of the humans in the scene seemed forgotten as they would seem to magically get from A to B without the audience seeing anything. This made the film seem jumpy and almost fractured to such a degree that it began to make it hard to follow even with such a plain plot. Also it seems that Megan Fox is employed as a distraction for the audience in the film from what is actually on the screen. It was effective as the 13-18 demographic cat called at the screen whenever she bent over or did anything slightly sexual. It is almost as if Bay knew he had a weak story and tried to use a type of slide of hand to distract us from the flaws throughout the film.
The strongest part of the film actually was Shia Labeouf's performance. While it won't be remembered as his best work he shines through the film and actually pulls off his role. Sure the dialogue was not always great and the editing left holes in the film, but LaBeouf overcomes these with his acting. In fact his acting is far better in the sequel than in the first film when a good number of his lines were reduced to, "No no no no!" However, the chemistry between Shia Labeouf and Megan Fox just left me wanting more from them. It came across very flimsy and flat to the point that it made me wonder why they bothered calling each other "Babe." Even with that the film is beautiful in visual terms with special effects that dazzle the eye and led to many "Did you see that!"'s being spoken in the audience. It is to Michael Bay's credit that he uses so many explosions because at least it gives us something to watch that works in the film.
In the final rundown Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen simply falls short of the intended goal. If you aren't looking for much from a movie you won't be disappointed, but in the end the only things working for the movie are the special effects, Shia LaBeouf's acting, and Megan Fox running in slow motion. Aside from that you won't find much here. In fact this well is dry, very dry. Even with it being a dry well Bay manages to stretch the film a good 30 minuets longer than it deserves with it's plot. The only way to describe the plot is as shallow, and fun, as a kiddie pool.
Written by Josh for www.overcranked.net