With less than a week to go, the official site has just been updated, and I must say, it’s lookin’ swell! Being the fanboy I am, here’s my mini-review of it.
Upon loading the site, you’ll enter fullscreen and be greeted by Optimus, Bumblebee and [spoil]Megatron[/spoil]. You can navigate the site by clicking the weird-looking ‘propeller thing’ at the top-right hand corner.
The “Video” section has all the trailers and even a couple of neat TV spots, while the “Gallery section” has some brand-new images, some of them previously unreleased to my knowledge.
Under “Games and Activities”, there’s a cool online sidescroller game where you get to play as Megatron’s second-in-command in Starscream Showdown, while Robotize Me and We Are Autobots bears similarities to Salvation’s Terminate Me online photo manipulation app.
“Downloads” and “Fan Kit” allow fanboys and girls to express their geekdom through wallpapers and banners, while Fan Art showcases some neat fanwork done by, well, fans.
Finally, the “About” section gives the low-down on the plot synopsis for newcomers.
While transitioning between the various sections, Optimus and Bumblebee are on hand to do the prerequisite machisimo posing and showing-off of their weapons, while Jablonsky’s awesome soundtrack plays in the background. “Prime”, “I Claim Your Sun” and “I Rise, You Fall” are some of my favourite tracks.
Overall, it’s the most professional-looking and up-to-date movie promotional website of a summer film I’ve seen so far. As for the film itself, only time will tell, but for the moment, it givin’ me a slick and “wicked-awesome” vibe.
Well, I just went to see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen yesterday, I won’t spoil anything for anyone, but I enjoyed watching it. I can say however that if the first film didn’t hit your buttons then this one probably won’t either.
It’s basically more of the same, but when ‘the same’ includes giant robots slugging it out, slow-motion explosions and Megan Fox (also in slow motion for a surprisingly long elngth of time…) then I can’t really complain. I went expecting to see an action-packed flim and that is exactly what is delivered. As Lizardgirl says, so long as you don’t try and take the film too seriously it’s a fun watch, I’d recommend going with friends.
There’s more focus on the robots than the humans this time round, and for those of you who were missing the presence of Soundwave in the first film he’s in this one, and his new form as a [spoil]sattelite[/spoil] is an exellent replacement for his previous boombox form.
My main gripe is, apart from a number of seemedly irrelevant ‘magic plot artefacts’, is that the film is a little too long, but if you go wanting your socks blown of by awesome visuals you won’t be disapointed, just don’t expect mental stimulation.
If you think Megan is hot now, wait till you see what the TF 2 staff has done to make her even hotter. Megan-vision, anyone? youtube.com/watch?v=hXsd5aw8 … =fvw&pos=0
Rated PG-13 for the mention of one foul word that was not beeped out. <_<"
With the movie premiering in two days, I have decided to do a little review on what to expect from the movie using a short clip of the film I downloaded from the Internet. For those who don’t like spoilers… wait, what am I saying? It’s Transformers 2, there’s nothing to spoil. Smart jokes, hot girls (or girl, in this case), cheesy dialogues, cool special effects; nothing surprising. Besides, 80-90% of this clip is already shown in the theatrical trailer. Only about 10-20 seconds of it was not shown before - and you don’t even get the audio. Yeah, the video I uploaded is muted for some reason.
I would have just showed you the link, but for some reason, everywhere this footage was uploaded, it was deleted or taken down in 2 or 3 days later, so I have to reupload it myself. There’s a chance that this may not stay up here very long, even while within the boundaries of the forums. Just in case, download this file quickly to understand my comments on the clip.
Basically, the first half is Shia Labeouf, Megan Fox and Bumblebee in his garage in a really silly and awkward “I can’t believe this is really in the movie” kind of moment and in the last half is just awesome kick butt “Holy crap! I really want to see this movie” action footage of Transformers fighting, which you have probably already seen in the first teaser. So, like I said, there’s nothing to spoil. You just have to worry about the 20 seconds spoiler in the first part, that’s all.
So, here we go.
Shia Labeouf and Megan Fox enter the garage and Bumblebee’s kinda upset. Megan Fox throws out the exposition that [spoil]there’s something wrong with his voice box[/spoil] because, obviously, at the end of Transformers, Bumblebee had like, the British butler accent, right? He was like, “Optimus, I would like to stay and guard Sam!” So we knew he’s gonna be with him, but here, for some reason, [spoil]there’s a problem with his voice[/spoil], not because it works for the story, but because it adds to the funniness of the moment 'coz [spoil]he can play a song and act up his pantomiming with being sad and everything.[/spoil]
Also, what’s with this cutting to [spoil]Megan Fox changing in the background?[/spoil] That’s just a Micheal Bay signature. We gotta have funny moments, hot chicks and good action. Again, he has a lot of talent, but where’s the overall story sense and vision?
For me, this moment is basically like Return of the Jedi with the Ewoks which are just there to appeal the cutesy and young crowd, maybe age of 7 to 12 or something like that. But, for the rest of us, especially the generation that grew up with this, who are now in their late 20s, early 30s or even early 40s, this is just gonna seem silly. The TV show wasn’t like overly serious, but if you want to bring the vision to the big screen, make it a little more mature. Also, who knows what this is with [spoil]Megan Fox with the flowers[/spoil]?
Finally, we cut to some redeeming footage; great kick-butt action. Gotta love it. This is the only reason we are gonna see this movie. It’s not because of the characters. It’s not because of the overall story. It’s because we want to robots on screen kicking butt. Let’s not pretend that there is something bigger in this movie when it comes to themes and characters. Unfortunately, this really could have been like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings, where you could have a lot of exploration of humanity and make it something a little deeper, as well as having amazing action sequences - which is what we are gonna have to settle for.
Expect the tone of this movie to carry over from the first one, where we are gonna have Transformers pissing on humans, cracking jokes and hiding behind houses; all just for the laughs, which are there because they distract us from the lack of story, opposition and conflict. Hopefully, for the second one, it will ramped up all of that. It looks like there’s a ‘flock’ load of Transformers on this one. So, we have tons of Autobots and Decepticons. Hopefully, they are gonna be fighting a lot more than they did in the first one because when you go back and look at the first one now, two years later, we are all a lot more objective and can really see that it was filled with more comedy than action and that the Transformers never talked to each other, so their character development was absent. In the cartoon, it was all Transformers having relationships with each others while there are only a couple of humans here and there. In the first movie, it was the exact opposite. Hopefully, in this one, we’re gonna have more Decepticons and Autobots going at each other, thus discovering their backstories and how they feel about each other.
Now, I know a lot of you might be thinking, “Hey, dude, you’re taking this way too seriously, it’s just a fun movie with great special effects, we just want to see robots on screen.” But let’s just ask this question: If this movie was directed by Peter Jackson, Christopher Nolan, Tim Burton, or James Cameron, would you expect a lot more from it? The answer is “Yes.” If those guys were in command of this, you know that the characterization between the robots would be at center stage and we wouldn’t just have Shia Labeouf playing Shia Labeouf. Sure, his name is “Sam” in this movie, but he acts the same in every movie and he’s gonna continue to be that character here. Same thing with Megan Fox; she might have some acting talent, but all we know right now is that she has great legs and nice abs. All these factors go back to the director. We’ve got some solid writers here, but they’re all at the mercy of the director.
Again, Micheal Bay is a talented guy, he’s made a ton of movies, a ton of money and got an awesome track record. His movies are very watchable. It would be great to see him go out and direct a hardcore drama. To throw out another name, how about Darren Aronofsky who did The Wrestler? Now, there are rumors of him doing Robocop. Everyone’s excited about that, despite of it being a remake of the old movie because we all know that he knows how to handle story, characters and all the different components that make a great movie work, and not just on the visuals and in terms of the action. Robocop might possibly be the new Dark Knight, hopefully saving our movie future.
So, that’s my quick little run for this. If I have the time, I will also be reviewing the actual trailer and, hopefully, it will be a little more in-depth than this. It will deal with breaking down of what to expect, basically a little bit more than this. But, for now, consider this little clip to be a piece of the DNA of the entire organism. This garage scene is not a fluke. Expect that tone to carry over throughout the whole film. The second half of this clip is definitely awesome. We got some great effects, great robot-fighting, but is that enough? Is it like us going to dinner and just eat a candy bar? It tastes great, but in the end, is it really giving us any nutrition?
As movie goers, as story lovers, as Pixar defenders, there’s something about story that nourishes the human soul. If we keep on making movies about the superficial level and don’t incorporate emotions, characterizations, and all those great things about humanity that make the audience really connect with the story, then all we have is just a lot of fluff, a lot of hot air that’s just good for making the popcorn we have in our hands while we watch this movie. Something to munch on that really doesn’t have a taste and we would forget about as soon as the lights come out. I for one had hoped that Transformers was gonna be something more than that. Unfortunately, we have what we have.
What are your thoughts? Am I overreacting? Should this movie be taken less seriously and just treat it as a visual dessert, go to the theater and expect overload on awesome transforming, CGI action? Or do we want real characters? Do we want Luke Skywalkers, Bruce Waynes and Frodos, where they undergo a journey? Let’s talk about it. Please post your thoughts.
Also, here’s a link to a 9 Parter review on the first Transformers movie. It’s not completed yet, but I will try and find some time to finish it. It really breaks down everything that was great about the first movie and everything that was not so good and offers hopeful suggestions on how things could have been better for this movie. So, to understand my point of view a little bit more and, hopefully, to prepare ourselves for the second installment, check out that review and let me know what you think.
So that’s all for now, until next time. Take care, choose your movies wisely because, in the end, H-wood gives us more of what we pay for, and until next time,
Dragon of Omnipotency, I think you’re going to really hate what this movie does to Skids and Mudflap, two of the autobots for those who don’t know, they’ve become what are possibly the most annoying sidekicks since Jar-Jar Binks, complete with tired cultural stereotypes…
Even I, who went just with the mind of ignoring anything that didn’t involve robots or slow-motion, found them irritating.
I still think that you are taking this too seriously though, I can well and truly side with you when it comes to the decline in movie quality over recent years, but I don’t think this particular franchise is one you should be focussing on. It’s a film based on a Saturday morning Cartoon which was designed only to flog toys. I can see where you are coming from but I feel that there are worse offenders than the Transformers franchise when it comes to instigating a ‘moviepocalypse.’
Yeah, but isn’t what movies do? Realizing dreams we always had as a kid and, in this case, realizing the dream of turning those cool animated Transformers, who, you have to admit, do have interchanging relationships with each other in an intact emotional storyline, into even cooler CGI action robots fighting each other in an action packed explosive movie?
I know, but when referring to the moviepocalypse, I’m not instigating that Transformers is the biggest offender of all. This simple review (ignoring the partial 9 Parter I’ve stopped working on) is just a reminder and information for those who are gonna see it about how the movie will turn out; lots of eye candies, cool lines that we would quote in the future, but no brains. Again, I’m not slamming anyone or anything. The truth is there, no matter what I write. All I did was just try and pull out the truth into the light using my opinions. But, like I’ve told a lot of my commenters, that’s your opinion, and I strongly support that you are defending your views.
I think I remember Skids from the G(eneration) 1 animated series, but as for Mudflap, wasn’t he in the Japanese Transformers series or something? Energon or Cybertron?
Nevertheless, at least it seems that the Transformers, especially the Decepticons, are now interacting with each other and have established their own relationships, with twins being such an example. It’s not a good thing (especially when you compare them with Jar-Jar Binks…), but it’s not necessarily a bad one, either. At least Bay has learned something. He’s still inexperience, so I’ll give him a break.
Yeah the Transformers do interact with one another a little more now, apart from some background ‘cannon-fodder’ baddies who I don’t think even get names or alt-forms. Starscream in particular is back to his 80’s malcontent role.
I take the second option for the answer.
The first movie did give an interesting impression but the lack of the movie was just it did not have much action.
The second movie however, did give me a very good reason to watch it. But the battle at the Giza and the theory that TF helped the Egyptians build the Pyramid is absolutely absurd. Just pray that the story is good enough for us to watch it at least once.
Things that made TF franchise a hype:
Good acting from the actors/actresses.
Great publicity.
‘Michael Bay & Bad Boy series’.
Giant robots transformed into vehicles etc.
Large fan base since the 80s.
Great CGI.
Bumblebee. [Hate it when the Generation Y Transfans were in carze with Bumblebee, the most popular TF besides Megatron is Prime.]
Edited 3 minutes later: one of these things up there that i almost forgot is: MEGAN FOX! She’s sooo hot.
The first one was pretty great, and RotF looks pretty nice, but I’d rather see Up again. (and again, and again) I’ll see it with a friend when I don’t have anything else to do. It’s no Pixar movie, but I think it’ll be pretty good.
But Michael Bay has done a major act of idiotness for his publicity stunt as I heard they’ll making TF3. Which is confirming that Prime is not dead in the sequel. Because there were hush-hush that Prime will die in the sequel which turns out to be alive…I think…
– wannabechef91, I want Grandpa Carl & Co. be the #1 movie this year!!!
TF2 beating Up is nothing to be impressed about. We know the only reasons for that to happen are because of the T&A, cool robot CGI action, and the random laughs.
What’s that compared to Up’s emotional action?
But, I doubt TF2 will beat Up. People are getting dumber, but not that dumb.
As promised, I’m going to create an in-depth review into the trailer of Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. Let us prepare ourselves for this ultimate CGI action galore with both movie knowledge and buttered popcorn with ice cold soda.
The first part of my review is kinda like a rant, so I hope you would bear with me for one post.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Review
The following REVIEW has been revised to be safe for ALL AUDIENCES
by the Dragon of Omnipotency.
This review has been rated NB. The content saves time, money and prevents emotional distress. It contains common sense and good intentions.
As a kid, I remember falling asleep wondering what a live action Transformers movie would look like. That question was answered in 2007. I remember standing in line at the midnight show, opening night, ready for this dream to become a reality. Transformers was finally gonna be a live action movie.
The theater lights dimmed. The nervous fan boy anticipation chatted faded. And over the next two and a half hours, the reality of a live action Transformers movie looks something like this:
Shia Labeouf saying,
“Oh, God, no, no, no, no, no, no.”
“Oh, God, no no no no no no!”
Humans, humans and more humans.
Hotty #1 who knows a lot about cars and
Hotty #2 who knows a lot about computers.
Comedy, comedy and more comedy.
A couple of Autobots here and there.
A couple of Decepticons here and there.
No real relationships between Starscream and Megatron, and
A little bit of fighting here and there, edited way too fast and filmed way too claustrophobically.
There’s one scene in the movie that’s kinda like a metaphor for how this adaptation, how this realization of the Transformers cartoon treated us, the audience.
Let’s add a little something to the photo - Micheal Bay’s face on Bumblebee. ‘Bay-formers’ pissed all over our childhood. I’m not gonna kid you… Transformers in the '80s was not Shakespeare; it was capitalism at its most manipulative - a cartoon created to sell toys. And if that isn’t bad enough, the 1986 movie was an excuse to call of all the old characters in order to establish new ones, so that the kids who had the toys for these old, now dead characters would be forced to go out and buy the new toys of the new characters.
But, while this is all going on, a funny thing happened to the series: Writers created some interesting characters, especially Optimus Prime, Megatron and Starscream. The relationships between these characters became the dramatic core of the series. Remember the moment in the 1986 movie when Optimus was about to kill off Megatron, but ended up not doing so.
This brings us to another unpredicted thing that happened: Optimus Prime become sort of a 1960s inspirational idealistic leader, an incorruptible hero willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good of humanity and also, in his case, his fellow Transformers.
The series may have started out as an average piece of coal, but some time during the show’s run, it changed into a diamond of childhood entertainment. Unfortunately, for all of us, the live action Transformers movie was unable to live up to these standards.
I’m not gonna stand here and be a Micheal Bay hater and says it’s all his fault, but he is the director and it’s his final responsibility to create the vision of the film. Writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have written some pretty good stuff, from Lost, Alias, Fringe and, most recently, were behind the pretty excellent Star Trek prequel reboot. And executive producer Steven Spielberg definitely knows how to create character-based Summer blockbuster films, so what the fluff?! Why did Transformers 2007 suck so hard - other than the amazing special effects? Because we the audience didn’t demand more from it. We became seduced by the visuals (note this part, TSS and TDIT) and care more about the effects on-screen instead of the affects on us off-screen.
Let’s ask ourselves a question: Was there a moment in Transformers when we felt sad, bad or relief for a character? Did we feel inspired at any moments? Did Starscream or Megatron really intimate us? How’bout in The Dark Knight? Did The Joker terrify us? How’bout The Matrix? Didn’t we cheer when Neo and Trinity rescued Morpheus? Weren’t we angry when Cypher betray Morpheus and the humans just so he could be reinserted into the Matrix and not have to deal with the harshness of reality? Weren’t we sad when WALL-E was damaged? How’bout to the most recent Pixar film? How did you feel about Carl’s wife condition at the beginning of the movie? I haven’t watched it yet, but I know what happened. Did the phrase, “There is no fate” in Terminator 2 inspire us? How’bout the “They may take our lives, but never take our freedom” speech in Braveheart?
There are a crap load of good examples of what movies can do to us emotionally if they are made right, regardless of its purpose or the purpose of its source material. They might be Sci-Fi, action, horror or comedy; the genre doesn’t matter. What matters is that the characters aren’t pushed aside for the spectacle.
I admit, Transformers (2007) definitely made me drop my jaws a few times. In terms of cutting edge effects, it’s the top of the pops. It’s pioneering technology that gives our imagination total freedom. I also laughed during the movie a few times, but afterwards, on the way home and later, while being fueled by a little nostalgia to ruffle through the old toybox finding a beat-up, rusted, armless version of Grimlock, I began to feel disappointed. Transformers (2007) felt empty. I felt hungry at the end of the day, realizing that the only thing I had eaten was a rich, sweet ice-cream sundae.
Another way to think of it is Toy Story 3. Just suspend your disbelief for a second and imagine it to suck compared to the predecessors when you have utmost hope and anticipation. I know it won’t happen, but just bear with me for one second. In fact, it suck so much it leaves you going home feeling empty and, a little after that, depressed. How would you feel? Would you do a rant like this, like me? Or maybe even a small rant post in the Toy Story 3 thread? Just to get you to relate with me.
Everything in the first movie felt like a movie where the story is like the 4th or 5th priority behind the lighting, sound, cinematography and the actors. What matters are the visual set pieces. Everything else is fast-forwardable - the characters, the dialogue, the drama - it’s all crap, expandable and throwawayable. It’s all fast forward material. That’s the same attitude that we have in approaching the sequel. We’re not seeing it because we wanna find out if Luke is gonna continue his Jedi training, if Andy is gonna really abandon his toys and send them to the day care or if Neo becomes The One and takes down the machines that have enslaved humanity. We’re definitely not wondering if Frodo’s gonna reach Mount Doom or if Peter Parker’s gonna tell Mary Jane how he feels and reveals his true identity. We’re gonna see this second Transformers movie because it’s gonna give us a lot of CGI, robot-fighting money shots.
Again, I’m not totally against that. I’m a huge fan of great visuals on a big screen. In a lot of ways, it’s what the screen was made for. It’s the only place we can get that effect. But, at least in the past, filmmakers put some effort into these other areas. At least they try to give us characters and story, if not for us, for themselves so they felt like they were masters of their craft. Now, it’s like, no one’s expecting, everyone’s looking at the box office and trying to deliver just what the audience want instead of providing them with these nice, hidden surprises. It feels like the characters in these Summer blockbusters are just cut and pasted from other past blockbusters and they are just fit in between the new exciting set pieces. It’s kinda like hooking up. It’s fun at first, but after a while, it begins to feel empty and mechanical.
This notion was best expressed by Søren Kierkegaard when he said, “In the bottomless ocean of pleasure, I have sounded in vain for a spot to cast anchor. I have felt the almost irresistible power with which one pleasure drags another after it, the kind of adulterated enthusiasm which it is capable of producing, the boredom, the torment which follow.”
This existential alarm bell is like the aching belly November 1st, after an all night binch on Halloween candy. Because movies are made by humans, starring humans and watched by humans, all the aspects of humanity should be addressed instead of the more sensationalistic and impulsive ones. Sure, they are a lot of fun, but there need to be a well-rounded diet of all these elements. Humanity exists on a physical plane and, at the same time, a spiritual one - it’s the head and the heart and we function best when there’s a balance of both.
Now, I’ve talked a lot about TF1 and how our actions have and will affect us. Let’s talk about the title of TF2.
It’s obviously a Star Wars rip-off. Originally, Return of the Jedi was supposed to be called what, Star Wars fans? That’s fluffing right, Revenge of the Jedi, but then, of course, fans reminded George Lucas that Jedis don’t seek revenge, something he remembered for the next trilogy where the final installment was titled, Revenge of the Sith because the Sith, being one with The Dark Side, would seek revenge.
So, here, we have an attempt at a darker second installment following in the footsteps of Empire Strikes Back. But, let’s just ask here: What is there really to ‘revenge?’ I know the ‘Fallen’ is supposed to refer to - not Megatron - but a greater, stronger Transformer - I don’t want to reveal all the story details (even though I know as much as those who have yet to watch the movie) but there is an entity known as The Fallen and I guess that the Decepticons are trying to help that entity, but that doesn’t really mean it’s Megatron. Just in general, what is there to revenge? The filmmakers should also be careful because vengeance needs to be understood in order to be felt. When we feel the pain and frustration of the person who’s seeking the vengeance, then it can be successful. It’s like Paul Kersey in Death Wish, Khan in Star Trek 2 (1982) or even Buddy in The Incredibles. What do we feel about Megatron and the Decepticons so far? Not much because they are just evil jerks who want to control everything and everybody. They are robot jerks. They should be called Jerkatrons or PooPooHeadacons.
Couldn’t Megatron and the others be more like Hans Gruber, Edward the Longshanks or Hannibal Lecter? Maybe even The Joker? The more we understand their motives, the deeper they are, the more we connect to their actions and understand why they are doing what they are doing.
(Note: From this point on, I’m still gonna type out my views as if I have yet to watch the movie because, from this point on, I have already watched the film (I had left just now with this post partially done), so I might leak a bit of spoilers here and there, which I will hide it with the tags.)
There needs to be a little bit of a blur between the good and the evil. As an audience member, I want to be in that gray area, I want to question my loyalties. Did anyone find themselves thinking, “You know, Bob, Buddy is only like that because you were being a total jerk towards him. The least you could had done was pay him a visit to make sure he’s okay. He was only a kid, after all.” Or how about, “Wow, I actually understand Agent Smith’s point of view.” The vengeance here sounds cool in the title, but will it be communicated and felt in the story?
And if The Fallen refers to Megatron, then why wasn’t this movie called, “Revenge of A Character That Shoulda’ Been Melted Down and Made Into Campbell Soup Cans or Crushed Into A Rubik’s Cube In A Junkyard At the End of Transformers”? I mean, really, the US government dumping Megatron’s body into the ocean was one of the dumbest fluffing cinematic moves I’ve ever seen. During the scene, the caption, “Setting up a sequel!!” should have been added on the top of the screen. I actually showed this scene to my baby nephew, and his reaction was something like this:
If I have turned on the Baby Translator, it would have probably sounded something like, “This movie is full of more crap than my diapers.”
Another title for this movie should have just been, Transformers: More CGI Robots 'coz that’s what we want. In this movie, all the characters are gonna be cliche, 2-dimensional and forgettable. We’re all here for the visuals. Press the button on your remote with the two arrows facing right and let’s just get to the good stuff, which is 46 fluffing robots as compared to 14 in the first movie.
Here’s the name of the robots that I’ve been able to find that are gonna be in this movie: Autobots:
Optimus Prime
Bumblebee
Ironhide
Ratchet
Jetfire
Arcee
Mudflap
Skids
Sideswipe [spoil](who didn’t appear for more than half a minute - in the whole movie!)[/spoil]
Jolt
Wheelie
Decepticons:
Megatron
The Fallen
Starscream
Soundwave [spoil](who appears as a satellite spy… not bad, I guess)[/spoil]
Ravage
Demolishor
Sideways
Scalpel
Grindor
Scorponok [spoil](yeah, he finally makes his return… for a few seconds before getting smashed to get ground, never to be mentioned again)[/spoil]
Devastator
Scavenger
Hightower
Long Haul
Mixmaster
Rampage
Scrapper
Overload
Alice
Ejector
Frenzy
Bonecrusher
The Insecticons [spoil](minor appearance, so don’t get excited, fanboys)[/spoil]
All I have to say is, that’s more like it. It’s about fluffing time. The first movie had way too many humans and not a lot of robot action - both physical fighting action and inter-action between them on a dramatic level. I mean, seriously, how could the filmmakers not establish the Starscream/Megatron rivalry? Starscream hates Megatron - how is it possible that factor was missing?
Oh, wait, I also did forget one more robot that’s gonna be in this movie…
MAXIMUS HOTTIE PRIME 2009
Or as I like to call her…
THE BOOTYFORMER!
I knew the sequel was fluffed when that was one of the major images in the preview. The complexity of her character is about as deep as the female characters Janet Jameson plays. When you’re thinking of ‘getting deep into her,’ you’re not talking about her soul.
So, aside from robots and robutts, I guess there is a story. Let’s take a look at the preview of this future Oscar winner… for Visual Effects.
[spoiler]At the beginning of the movie, everything is rocking out already, so it’s really cool. The Decepticons arrive in full force, crashing into buildings, and not really caring about being subtle as to alerting people about their presence here on Earth.
Sam is going off to college, but the Bootyformer isn’t because, as far as I could remember, she has to take care of her dad who’s got out of jail because Sam threatened Sector 7 to do so, or something like that. Otherwise, I guess it’s because being the girl that would arose the most amount of temptations on the planet isn’t a box you can check on the entrance exam. Also, because Sam thinks that freshmen are not allowed to bring their cars to college, he leaves his talking walking transforming car at home.[/spoiler]
All is fine till he touches a piece of the Allspark, which gives him some LSD vision of hieroglyphics that obsess him in such a way that he has to be constantly writing them everywhere, which brings up comparison with other stories that use this technique. There’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind, where Richard Dreyfuss becomes obsessed with the image of a mountain after his UFO encounter. There are episodes of Amazing Stories, The Outer Limits and Star Trek: The Next Generation that have had characters exposed to alien influence and driven to act under its control.
Also, there’s been a report that Micheal Bay accused McG of stealing the Transformers designs for the robot (the really big one that grabs some dude from the building in the T4 trailer) used in Terminator: Salvation. So, in what seems to be the revenge of the action director, Bay has stolen the premise from the McG produced NBC show, Chuck, about a guy exposed to secret information that he can’t get out of his head. So, here, Sam Witwicky is Chuck. I guess all ideas are interchangeable in this battle between action directors who focus more on effects than character.
So, Chuck… I mean Shia… no, I mean Sam, or I mean… whatever.
[spoiler]After missing out on his first webcam date with Bootyformer, Bumblebee tells him that there is trouble and drives him to Optimus. They have a little chat where Sam tells Optimus that it is not his war and that he’s just a normal kid with normal problems, and Sam left it at that, telling Optimus that they don’t need him, to which Optimus mumbles softly that they need him more than he could ever imagine, or something like that.
Megatron is reawaken and tracks Sam and the Bootyformer down and, of course, loses him again. There’s some awesome action in the forest… and Optimus dies. Yeah. It was done poorly, though, and, even though I tried to feel something at that moment, I could feel nothing.[/spoiler]
Finally, it all leads to the pyramid where the final battle takes place. [spoil]At that point, it’s very boring. When I was watching this desert sequence, I had to remind myself that I wasn’t watching a bad episode of The Amazing Race - without the ‘race.’ Just Sam and Bootyformer (and a college roommate Sam met at his college) running around, trying to find The Matrix of Leadership (which was pretty cool-looking, so I’ll give them props for that) which could resurrect Optimus Prime. Yawn.
The Autobots prevent The Fallen from exacting total revenge, but because this is trying to be the ‘darker sequel’ like Empire Strikes Back, there is a short note ending - for a while. Sam dies for a while, talks to the other Primes (they are apparently the ‘good’ brothers of The Fallen) in some dreamscape, and reawakens again just right after Bootyformer says, repetitively, “I love you.” Wow. Great try at a sad, dark, twisted ending there.
Also, no dealings with Unicron.[/spoil]
Let’s issue a couple of warning signs that could be seen from the preview: #59: 'Micheal Bay is involved’ with the making of this movie #71: The sequel ‘Makes the same mistakes as the original.’
Again, I’m not hating on Bay, it’s just that I wish he expanded his idea on what this movie needs. Hint: More than awesome explosions. If you’re defending Bay, just ask yourself the same question I’ve always asked: What would Transformers look like if it was in the hands of Christopher Nolan, James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, David Fincher, Darren Aronofsky, Andrew Stanton, John Lasseter or even Sam Raimi? Yes, I know; Sam Raimi gave us a different kind of horror that’s Spider-Man 3 and Spielberg did make War of the Worlds (2005), not to mention John Lasseter’s Cars, but overall, all these directors know character, drama and story as well as great visuals and action. Remember: Genre is just drama with different clothing. You need to have that solid core in basic dramatic understanding.
As for making the same mistakes as the first movie, looks like this has all those forgettable human characters from the first one and plenty of the cheesy comedy and bad dialogue [spoil](and it gets much, much worse - imaging all those x2 with even more absent of relationship connections than the first movie)[/spoil]. But let’s give it credit; we’re gonna see it for fluff load of more robots and excellent visuals, [spoil]even if they only make up to about 30 minutes altogether, if not 10 minutes more[/spoil].
So, let’s drop the film buff snobbery. [spoil]A lot of scenes in the movie do look “Holy crap!” awesome. The visuals look good. It’s gonna be quite a fun experience at the beginning of the movie - you just need to have patience to get through the mind-boggling parts that test your intelligence and sense of story logic, a whole lot more when compared to the first film.[/spoil] However…
Here at the forums, I talk a lot about the moviepocalypse (even going to the point of creating a sig to remind everybody of it), which generally means an end to good movies. But, more specifically, it’s an end to the creative inspirational process that creates movies. The artistic birth of something is about listening to the universe and to the human heartbeat, feeling all our collective pains, dreams, joys, fears and translating that into something everyone can understand and appreciate. Maybe a song, a poem, a story and, in this case, a movie.
Today’s movies are greenlit, with ‘green’ being the color of money because there’s a chance to make big dollars. Because of that, each project needs to be similar to another movie that’s come before - a successful movie of the past - so that the studio can estimate the reaction of the audience. This means copies, clones, remakes and reboots are rewarded and originality is punished because it’s new and different and there’s no way of knowing how the audience is going to react. So, the power of art is drained. It’s handcuffed. Art can be a roadmap for our future because it decodes our present, but when all we get get fed week after week is the past, we get stuck in place. We stop rolling. We stop transforming (and that might be the ultimate irony of this movie).
In a story about robots in disguise, there seems to be a lot of opportunity to explore these themes; truth, lies, honor, courage, betrayal, power, trust. The problem is that these qualities are located inside of the characters. But, for some reason, we are so obsessed with keeping attention on the outside. I wonder what that reason is. Maybe we are afraid of what we’ll find. I know this is a Summer blockbuster movie and this kind of entertainment is supposed to be mindless - or is it? Remember, the ‘blockbuster’ wasn’t invented until late 70s and the movie that started this trend - like The Godfather 1 and 2, The Exorcist, Jaws, Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind - all have a lot of heart.They were complete films, crafted on every level. Cinema is over a hundred years old, but we’ve been cursed with the blockbuster for only about 30 of that. The truth is that they don’t have to be violence. They don’t have to be forgettable. I really want Sam Witwicky to be the Luke Skywalker for Generation Y and Z. I want Optimus to be Obi-wan, Megatron to be Darth Vader, but it seems the only thing Transformers takes away from Star Wars is the Death Star. It definitely stretches the imagination. It’s a great visual CGI triumph just like Transformers here, but its terror as a planet destroyer is only felt if the characters feel it on-screen so we can.
Watching Transformers is kinda like being at a light show. After a while, the intoxication of tantalizing visuals wears off and you eventually asks, “Hey, so what’s all that flashing lights about?” It’s a force of habit because we are humans. Deep inside of us, we want that connection, probably because we know, there’s always ‘more than meets the eye.’ Too bad here, there isn’t.
The Dragon of Omnipotency rates Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen:
Worthy of big screen viewing - good use of your time, money and energy,
but only because of the CGI mind-blowing effects, hence it’s suitable for you if you’re a Computer Generated Image Lover - you’re gonna see it because you love movies with cool CGI action,
which, in this movie’s case, would make you go Holy Fing S That Looks Awesome - swearing is the only way to convey your excitement.
But still, it’s not enough of a reason to pay more than Matinee price for this - it’s impressive enough to see it on a big screen, but not worth full price.
This exists because of the Trilogy Syndrome - the studio was trying to start a successful trilogy and cash it in,
with one of their biggest reasons to do so being that the Pre-Existing Fan Base Guarantees Box Office - the producers are counting on loyal fans to make it a hit, even if it’s a piece of s***
and you are gonna see it because of the Director Factor - you’re gonna see it because you like the director
the Actor Factor - who cares what the movie’s about, you like the actor(s)
the Hottie Factor - male or female, there are some hot pieces of butts in this one
because we have Obsessive-Compulsive Franchise Disorder - you feel at place only if you’ve seen every installment.
It’s definitely Computer Generated Image Genre Pornography - fast forward past the story & dialogue; get to the CGI genre money shots already.
It will make a great Bromance movie - perfect for a guys night out
and it’s a clear Sign of the Moviepocalypse that’s already existing - the existence of this movie is a clear sign of the approaching end of good movies.
Now let’s find Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’s…
Place In Movie History
It will not be better than Transformers (2007), ironically, and when it comes to the character and relationships, it will fall short of Transformers: The Movie (1986).
Expect the opening weekend box office to be probably the biggest of this year, estimating to be the first movie to break $100 million over the weekend. The first Transformers movie made $70 million, which is the neighborhood that Wolverine, Star Trek and Terminator all ranged in this year, so Transformers 2, due to its marketing and popular predecessor, should definitely top that. That means it should do better than its worldwide total from 2007 of $700 million.
So, thanks for hanging out. Until next time, choose your movies wisely because, remember, H-wood gives us more of what we pay for, and as always,
Wow, you really pointed out some incredible points there. I totally agree that the first movie lacked any sort of character depth. Sure, it’s a cool movie to watch, but it doesn’t grab you regarding ANYTHING story. You’re definitely in the right place regarding emotionally gripping movies, Pixar’s biggest emphasis is story.
It’s good to know that you approached this movie without too much bias. I did enjoy the first one, but it didn’t leave me thinking like Up (still) does. (and by the way, *baby spoiler [spoil]the opening sequence of Up, possibly the most emotionally gripping segment in cinema, as well as another scene [my favorite scene][/spoil])
I’m not interested in watching this movie anymore. I don’t feel like supporting such shallow storytelling.
“This is the first sign! This is it - this is the truth!”
Be prepared for the end of all worlds in 2012 - the movie world, the human world, the comic world, the Pixar world, the Disney World (yes, the theme park) and the Disney world, your world, my world, Carl’s world.
"After returning to Cybertron, Starscream assumes command of the Decepticons, and has decided to return to Earth with force. The Autobots believing that peace was possible finds out that Megatron’s dead body has been stolen from the US Military by Skorpinox and revives him using his own spark. Now Megatron is back seeking revenge and with Starscream and more Decepticon reinforcements on the way, the Autobots with reinforcements of their own, may have more to deal with then meets the eye.”
Now, to be honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of the first Transformers film. While the action was exhilarating and the visual effects awe-inspiring, the story and human characters themselves fell pretty flat for me. That said, the movie did prove to be a lot of fun to watch, and as a result, one of the very few decent “summer blockbusters” of ’07. So, going into Revenge of the Fallen, I was expecting more of the same…and…well…that’s pretty much what I got.
The movie essentially takes everything that was good about the first movie and makes it even better. The Transformers themselves are given much more screen time this time around, thankfully, including more squabbling between Megatron and Starscream (which was something severely lacking from the first film). The action sequences are also even more intense, providing some of the best I’ve seen since – probably – the first Transformers. The most impressive aspect of this film, however, is the visual effects themselves. All of the ‘bots look far more real than they did in the first movie, and are especially impressive when you see them interacting with the live actors. Seriously, these are quite possibly the best visual effects I’ve seen in the history of motion pictures.
It’s a good thing that the special effects and action sequences are as spectacular as they are, too, since they’re the only parts of the film that are truly engaging. The story is all over the place, full of plot holes and characters that are not the least bit endearing. This leads me to two of the new Autobots introduced in the film, Mudflap and Skids. I’ll try to keep it to a minimum, but simply put, these two are the most stereotypically racist characters I’ve seen in quite a while. On top of that, they’re annoying as hell, and really took me out of the film every second that they were on screen. As most viewers have already put it, they’re the new Jar Jar Binks. Also, the live-acting, for the most part, is mediocre at best, with some of the worst dialogue I’ve heard all year.
Even with all of these weaknesses, however, I had a moderately fun time watching this movie. I can understand why this movie has already gotten such a beating from fans and critics alike, but for me personally, Revenge of the Fallen worked. I got virtually everything that I wanted out of a movie like this, which was really just watching a bunch of robots beating the snot out of each other. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I absolutely recommend that you go out and see Revenge of the Fallen, for no other reason than the action and special effects alone. Just…chuck your brain out the door. You’re not going to need it.
I have heard a lot of mixed reviews for Transformers 2, but I’m going to watch it tommorow at about midday. I’m pretty excited to see it and shall post my review when I get back.
Being the fanboy I am, here’s my mini-review of it.
As for the film itself, only time will tell, but for the moment, it givin’ me a slick and “wicked-awesome” vibe.
