Michael Bay is off the leash, and back in action.

Rating: 5/10 (27 June 2009)

With the first "Transformers" film in 2007, it seemed as if Michael Bay had gone in for therapy, given that his forte for hot cars, hotter girls, and bigger explosions was slightly toned down under the auspices of Executive Producer Steven Spielberg. The film seemed to actually hold some promise that Bay was able to tell a story that could allow the audiences to maybe 'care' moreso for the people who generally came and went with the same rapid-fire emotion of a television commercial.
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" was touted as being bigger and badder than the first film (though almost all sequels try to outdo their predecessor). However, it feels moreso like a Transformer who keeps melding with more and more Transformers, until it's so large, that it can't function properly.
Bay's visuals and storytelling aesthetics that seemed to have grown slightly in the first film have been severely limited as he tries to weave a story involving Sam Witwicky(Shia LaBeouf) trying to grow up, as well as come to terms with his relationship with Mikaela(Megan Fox). This is also further intertwined with a Decepticon-destroying branch of the Army working in conjunction with the Autobots, as well as a plotpoint that tries to bring some deeper information regarding Transformers lore to the big-screen.
With so much going on, even some of the Autobots that many had grown to like in the first film are severely underused, such as Bumblebee and Optimus Prime. Front and center for much of the 'Autobot screen-time' are a couple of jive-talking bumblers named Skids and Mudflap. Bay has claimed that he developed them for humorous purposes, but very little of what passes from their lips is humorous, instead seeming annoying(if there's anything positive about them, it's that they have slightly less voice-time than Jar-Jar Binks in 'Episode 1').
In the end, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" comes off as being summer eye-candy, as your brain rushes to absorb myriad plotpoints, people talking incredibly fast, disorienting camera moves, and humorous word and sight gags that would make any 10-year-old boy burst into laughter, but cause most of those who are older to cock an eyebrow.