Transformers 2 A Decent Sequel With Some Flaws

Rating: 7/10 (26 October 2009)

Let me say that I'm a fan of the first Transformers movie. It had some flaws but I still enjoyed it overall. The same goes for this sequel which after seeing twice I actually liked this film more the second time than I did the first. Yeah it has flaws that were in the original but this sequel isn't as bad as critics made it out to be. It does suffer from a rushed finale (Optimus vs The Fallen), an abrupt ending, and not a whole lot of character development for the robots but that's all right because I guess they served their purpose. Most of the humor worked too except for some that didn't. Michael Bay is a talented director and he's admirable in giving audiences more of everything (giant robots, intense action, special effects and humor) in this one which worked for the most part. Labeouf reprises the role of Sam Witwicky providing his usual comic relief and he's believable as the character. Megan Fox is all right as Mikaela but isn't given much to do except to be eye candy. Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson are back as well and they're good in their limited screen time. John Turturo is also back and he does a good job as the wacky former Sector 7 Agent Simmons. The rest of the cast are okay including the military and Sam's parents. The special effects are top notch and the robot action/fight sequences are well executed. The one that stood out is between Optimus and three Decepticons in a fierce forest showdown that leaves the Autobots leader ready for the scrap yard. The biggest flaw this movie has is the treatment given to most of the robots. Many of the new Decepticons including Soundwave, Grindor, Ravage, and Demolisher among many others merely show up for a few minutes before being destroyed or disappearing only to be killed off much later when they reappear briefly for the desert climax. The same can go to the new Autbots introduced too including Arcee, Jolt, Jetfire, and Sideswipe because they arrive early on (except for Jetfire who shows up in the second half) but then after that they only make brief appearances throughout the movie but their characters are okay despite only being given a few minutes of screen time. Even returning ones like Optimus, Bumblee, Ironhide and especially Ratchet seem to be fighting for screen time because the're MIA for large parts of the movie. Optimus isn't in it for a very large part of the second half but I was glad to see he eventually returns briefly for the third act so his character is sure to be back for the third one. Bumblebee like the other Autobots seem to be in their vehicle modes for a majority of the move but they do get their moments. Megatron and Starscream get a little more to do than the first one action and screen time wise but not by much. The two characters I was little disappointed in were The Fallen and Devastator. They both get at the most 5 to 8 minutes of screen time. The Fallen could've been a good villain but he's killed off in his only fight near the end by Optimus way too easily and he could've been a much more worthy adversary. Devastator had promise and looked like cool but the joke with the wrecking balls for his well you know I didn't find all that funny. Not to mention Devastator doesn't show up until near the end is easily defeated like The Fallen. Scorpnok makes a blink and you missed it cameo in the desert climax before being killed off as quickly as he appeared. There seemed to be too many robots on both sides but as mentioned before I guess they sort of served their purpose by giving the movie an action/fight sequence. The only two characters to get any sort of development were the Twin Autobots. I didn't find them racist like some critics did and they're not as bad as you might assume. More screen time could have been given to Optimus, Bumblebee, Ironhide, or Ratchet without them but hey thats all right. The abrupt ending left you wondering about what happened to many of the characters who didn't die. There was also a part late into the film where Sam gets hurt and then a second later his hand is bandaged up so this seemed like an error by the writers for not coming up with a better way to put Labeouf's real life injury into the movie. The ending does leaves the door open for another sequel but I hope if they do make a third film they improve the flaws that were in the previous ones. The humor was often funny (Sam's mom eating brownies) while others not so much (Dog/Robot Humping and the joke with Devastator). The movie was a little long but the action make's it move at a relatively steady pace though. Overall despite it's flaws Transformers Revenge Of The Fallen is a decent sci-fi adventure with plenty of robot action, some humor, and good performances by the cast. This sequel could've been a little better but Transformers 2 is worth watching and I still enjoyed it. So if you're a fan of the first film you'll probably like this one as well.