Significant improvement over the first

Rating: 5/10 (27 June 2009)

Transformers 2 is basically what I was hoping Transformers 1 would be. Giant robots fighting.
Lots and lots and lots of robots. Giant ones. Fighting. Constantly.
If that's what you want, that's what you get, and you'll leave happy.
Beyond that, the movie walks a weird line between quality and crap.
The fights are frequently stunning and exhilarating, especially at an iMax. On the other hand, the confusing robo-thrashing shots remain, and calling the climactic action scene "overdone" is a cosmic understatement.
The human characters are much more likable than they were in T1, and the time we spend with them is more entertaining. Shia and Megan can both actually act. Well! I'd even go so far as to call Shia excellent. Sadly, the ill-conceived ghettobots deeply damage the film's credibility with their shameful, unfunny Jar-Jaring.
The plot is simple and focused on driving the action from one fight to the next. To me this is enormously preferable to the endless, pointless politicking of the first film. On the other hand, it's still really silly stuff, and the plot holes are so frequent and enormous that you basically just start ignoring them.
So ultimately, Transformers 2 is a success of comparability. It's better than the first. It's better than your average blockbuster. It's smarter than you might expect but dumber than you might want.
But remember: it's a movie about warring robots! And it does that better than any other movie I can think of.