Amazing - But not as good as the first

Rating: 7/10 (19 June 2009)

I read in EMPIRE magazine that Steven Spielberg said that he could see the TRANSFORMERS franchise going on for a long, long time but that the best movie in the series would be made first. So far, that seems to be pretty much true. Do not get me wrong: TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN was superb. It just did not have that spark the first one had.
We start off with a prologue by Optimus Prime about how the transformers arrived on earth long before anyone knew. OK - That's cool. We then cut to the first of the action sequences which, as an opener is pretty amazing and surpasses that of the first film. Then we cut to Sam who has a sliver of the Allspark caught in his jacket. As soon as he touches it he begins to see symbols which are imprinted in his memory, something which the Decepticons need to find a new source of Energon to keep their race alive. Now they have a reason to go after Sam, the action really kicks in. The plot however, tries to take itself seriously and it never really works. Of course, we all go to a TRANSFORMERS film to see robots fight each other but its impossible to try and ignore the plot because of the way it takes itself seriously. The film slows in the middle and shows no sign of picking up until the end 30 minutes which is a massive battle in the Egyptian desert.
The last battle is nothing short of spectacular (Devastator climbing up a pyramid / The Fallen chucking tanks around everywhere) but at times you do become a little bored and find it hard to follow amongst all of the explosions that take place. You can't help but think that Michael Bay can offer nothing new and so takes the viewpoint that he'll do everything the same as in TRANSFORMERS, just bigger... Sometimes less is more.
Nevertheless, the sequel is fantastic and i still have respect for the franchise. Shia and Megan have great chemistry as do his comedic parents. The Fallen, however, is terribly underused (A 'Venom in Spiderman 3 moment' comes to mind) It is hard to see how a sequel will be made out of this one as the plot that was carried over from the first film pretty much concludes. However, I'm sure something will arise. Go to the cinema, sit back with your popcorn, and enjoy some mindless, dumb fun. I for one will be seeing it again. 7/10