by Archanubis » Thu Jul 02, 2009 8:02 pm
- Motto: "Don't take life too seriously or you'll never get out of it alive."
- Weapon: Lightning Rifle
So it’s been nearly a week since I went to see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen at my nearest IMAX theater and I figured I’d get my thoughts on the film before I forget what happened. I had read a few reviews before going to see the movie, mostly those printed in my local papers – which, like nearly the majority of professional reviews, were fairly negative – read at least one fan’s reviews, and even checked the film’s rating on RottenTomatoes.com. I purchased my ticket online the day before, having learned the hard way that IMAX tickets for big blockbusters go fast and if you trying purchasing them even a half-hour before show time, you’re SOL. Picking up my ticket the next day at the Will Call booth, I took my seat and waited for the movie to start, hoping that I would be entertained for the film’s length. I will admit, my standards are fairly simple: basically, if I’m not bored half-way through and thinking I should just walk out, go to the bathroom, then head to the ticket counter to demand my money back, it’s a good film. Well, I thoroughly enjoyed Revenge of the Fallen in all its cacophony, though I wasn’t so brain dead that there weren’t things I though could have been refined. May the reader be warned: spoilers ahead.
The Story
Picking up two years after the end of the last movie, Revenge of the Fallen begins with the Autobots, working with their human allies, led by Major Lennox (Josh Duhamel), hunting down the few remaining Decepticons on Earth. The alliance, called NEST, tracks down two in an industrial part of Shanghai, China and manage to dispatch the pair, but not before receiving a warning that “the Fallen shall rise again.” Meanwhile, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) is preparing to go off to college, ready for a “normal” life after his action in Mission City and struggling to maintain his relationship with his girlfriend Mikaela (Megan Fox), who is staying behind. However, an encounter with a fragment of the shattered Allspark will again thrust Sam into the middle of the centuries-long war between the Cybertronian factions.
The Good
I want to first comment on something that isn’t related to the movie’s content, but I think is worth mentioning: seeing this film on IMAX is an experience worth the $11 I paid to get in. I’ve been to IMAX films before, but they’ve all been documentaries in museums, not Hollywood blockbusters. I had tried to see the last Star Trek film at my local IMAX theater, but as I mentioned before, if you don’t get those tickets at least the day before, you’re not getting one at all. I’m glad I got my ticket the day before, because every seat in the theater was filled by the time the film started, which pretty much started at the time advertised. Aside from the usual courtesy notices, I didn’t have to sit through fifteen minutes of commercials and trailers before the film started (thank God, really, I don’t think I could stand watching that hideous trailer for G.I. Joe again). There are rumors that the IMAX version of Revenge has scenes that aren’t in the regular theatrical release, but having not seen the regular release, I can’t compare the two. I did note that the scene with Sam Witwicky’s phone conversation with Mikaela and her subsequent discovery of Wheelie had dialogue not shown in the Internet sneak peaks I’d seen before the movie’s release, but how that differs from the theatrical release, I couldn’t say. I highly recommend catching this film in an IMAX theater if you have the opportunity, before the distributors move on to the next Hollywood blockbuster – if they haven’t already.
Moving on to the movie’s content, I’ll start off with the action in the film, which, as most people know, is practically Michael Bay’s trademark. Say what you will about Bay’s directing style, but the film’s action sequences are intense, quick, and managed to hold my attention. Yes, there’s still the “shaking camera” effect that is prevalent in modern action films, and some of the scenes fly by in a “blink and you’ll miss it” fashion, but at least this time you get to see who’s who in a fight. The best action scenes are during the fight in Shanghai, the three on one fight in some unnamed forest in New York (or New Jersey, it better be one of the two), and the final battle between NEST and the Decepticons in Egypt. You wanted more robot fights, well Bay and the writers give you more robot bashings. Watching Sideswipe slice Sideways in half in Shanghai was a great scene (I agree with Sideswipe, he is good) but it’s Optimus Prime (voiced by the legendary Peter Cullen) who gets to shine in this film. From taking on a Decepticon nearly five times his size, fighting off three Decepticons at once, and even taking on the titular god-like ancient known as the Fallen (given voice by Tony Todd of Candyman fame), it’s clear that the writers and director intended to make Prime a tougher character, and to an extent, they may have succeeded too well here. There have been criticisms by some fans that Prime displayed no such fighting talent in the first film and that Megatron (voiced by Hugo Weaving), despite having been resurrected in a theoretically more powerful form, switches to the role of punching bag with Prime. I’d like to point out that Prime does basically wail on Bonecrusher in the first film and was fighting the climactic battle with Megatron in the middle of a crowded major population center. In the latter case, it is possible Prime was holding back in that fight out of concern for harming innocents, while Megatron, of course, would have no such concerns. It should also be pointed out that Prime has had two years to hone his combat skills, while Megatron has been rusting on the ocean floor for that time and now has to get used to an essentially brand new body. The two big fights between Prime and Megatron occur in more sparsely populated and open areas, giving former the chance to go all out without concerning himself with collateral damage.
One of the criticisms leveled at the first film was the lack of characterization with the robot characters and too much focus on the humans. Humans still play a large part in Revenge, but there are very few additions to the human cast in this film. The only new addition that has any significant screen time is the character of Leo Spitz (Ramón Rodríguez); most of the other new additions play only a minor role or are limited to cameos. Instead, the filmmakers chose to introduce more personalities into the Transformers themselves, though most of it is focused on some of the newer Autobots. The most obvious examples are the twins Skids (Tom Kenny) and Mudflap (Reno Wilson), who have been the focus of accusations that they are “annoying” at their mildest, at worst “promoting negative racial stereotypes.” I’ll admit, their faces are ugly, their manner of speaking is questionable, and they spend most of their screen time arguing and fighting with each other (Bumblebee even has to knock some sense into them at one point). But I didn’t find them half as annoying as some fans and most critics claimed – I’ll admit, I laughed at some of their comments and antics.
One character I was pleasantly surprised with was that of Jetfire, the old Decepticon turned Autobot. As with Bumblebee in the first movie, I was a little nervous when I heard that Jetfire would be a “geriatric” robot with rusting, crumbling parts and a memory core that likely needs defragging. But the writers, animators and voice actor Mark Ryan manage to successfully depict the character whose gone a little too long without energon and a visit to a CR chamber. The fact that he transforms into an SR-71 Blackbird, one of the most popular aircraft to have been developed and current speed record holder, doesn’t hurt – though farting out a parachute is probably pushing it a little bit. I’m also curious as to why the VA was changed from John Turturro (reprising his role of Agent Simmons (retired)) as earlier report to Mark Ryan, but that’s a minor quibble. I won’t say that my eyes started to tear up when Jetfire sacrificed himself to give Prime an edge against the Fallen – it didn’t – but it is a nobler and more touching death than that of Jazz in the first film.
Another, rather surprising, breakout was that of the character Wheelie, a name that is perhaps the most universally reviled within the fandom. Before this film, the name had only been used once, for a character introduced in the 1986 animated film known for his rhyming manner of speaking, high-pitched voice, and a rather simplistic toy that isn’t considered the best ever made. Personally, I’ve neither liked nor disliked the character, but any new incarnation could only be considered an improvement. Wheelie of Revenge of the Fallen is definitely a vast improvement over his original counterpart. Voiced by Tom Kenny and transforming into a RC truck, his accent and personality is much closer to that of Rattrap from Beast Wars than his namesake. Wheelie gets some of the best lines in the movie and he comes off much scrappier than his toy bio indicates, though “Warrior Goddess” Mikaela still manages to kowtow him. At least one of his antics could have been changed drastically, but overall, the writers manage to make this Wheelie work.
Most of the Decepticons in the movie are again limited to growls, grunts, and other sounds, as they were in the first Transformers. A few, like Demolisher and Soundwave, have lines, but the lion’s share of dialogue is taken up by the Fallen, Megatron, and Starscream. Hugo Weaving is again perfect as this “universe’s” Megatron, reprising the sinister, growling tone he used in the first movie – and this time, he gets more to do. He also get’s one of the best lines in the film: “Starscream, I’m home!” Charlie Adler reprises his role as Starscream and we get more characterization from the Decepticon lieutenant than his two lines in the first movie hinted at. It’s clear that Adler is at least attempting to channel a little bit of Chris Latta into his performance, and while he doesn’t quite get the tone, he does manage to get Starscream’s classic sniveling, cowardly, scheming personality down. The audience is also treated to the classic, dysfunctional relationship between Megatron and Starscream, right down to Megatron’s berating, and even physical abuse against his lieutenant for “his” failures.
As a long time fan of Transformers, I have to say it is a pure joy that Frank Welker joins the cast reprising his role as Soundwave. I was a little disappointed that Soundwave talks with the unmodified “Dr. Claw” voice; the classic voice would have fit well in this universe, I think. However, I can accept that it isn’t modified, especially since its Welker voicing Soundwave. The character does little outside of coordinating the other Decepticons from orbit, intercepting transmissions, and launching Ravage towards Diego Garcia – then again, he didn’t do much more than that in the original cartoon. Speaking of Ravage, he was a character I couldn’t wrap my mind around when I first saw his design. I’m still not keen on his spiky, cycloptic appearance, but his actions acquit his physique. He definitely a dangerous, deadly opponent, as witnessed when he covers the “Reedman” bot from the Deigo Garcia personnel and again when he takes on Bumblebee while he’s fighting Rampage. It’s just too bad Bumblebee gets the better of him – gruesomely. However, Soundwave has apparently survived, giving me hope that Laserbeak may make an appearance in the next film.
The Bad
There are a lot of good things with Revenge of the Fallen, but there are plenty of things that were wrong with the movie. The most obvious is that lack of exposure for some of the characters, both new and old. Soundwave, as mentioned above, has relatively little screen time, though that could be a function of where he’s situated throughout the film. Most of the Constructicons have no dialogue at all: Rampage has a voice credit, but I don’t recall him actually saying anything – it’s possible it was lost in all the background noise. For the Autobots, most of the screen time is taken up by Optimus Prime, the Twins, and Bumblebee (Mark Ryan), whose back to speaking through his radio despite regaining his voice in last movie. By contrast, returning Autobots Ironhide (Jess Harnell) and Ratchet (Robert Foxworth) have even less lines in this movie than they did in the last one. In addition, new Autobots Sideswipe (André Sogliuzzo), the Arcee trio (Grey DeLisle) and Jolt have little screen time and few lines – in Jolt’s case, no lines. It would have been nice to have at least devoted a little more time to fleshing out the new characters a little. In Jolt’s case; it would have been nice to have included him in a few more scenes than the mere two he was in, especially some of the fight scenes.
Speaking of characters, Scalpel, simply referred to as “Doctor” in the film and voiced by John Di Crosta, is great character in concept and his actions. Sure would have been nice, though, if I could have been able to understand what he was saying. Between his thick faux German accent and whatever electronic modulation is being used (if any), Scalpel’s dialogue comes across more as constant buzzing than a coherent sentence. Occasionally I could understand a word or two, but it would have been better if they had just dropped the mad German scientist shtick.
Being a Michael Bay flick, the addition of a hot chick or two to serve as eye candy for his arguably mostly male audience is a given. Revenge of the Fallen is no different, with Megan Fox reprising her obligatory role as eye candy Mikaela from the original movie. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like the writers or the director quite knows what to do with the character this time around. At least in the first movie, Mikaela has her use beyond giving Sam (the boys in the audience) something to drool over: she sliced Frenzy’s head off and first towed a wounded Bumblebee out of and then back into a combat zone – under fire no less. While she does manage to wrangle Wheelie and run Alice over with a car, both of these actions are a far cry from charging at the heavily armed, hulking Decepticon that was Brawl. Like newcomer Leo, Mikaela just seem to be along for the ride in this movie, occasionally arguing with Sam, mostly over who should say “I love you,” and even becoming a naysayer at the Tomb of the Primes. While I can’t see the film without her, I think the writers should have found a way to make her more – useful.
Speaking of eye candy, introducing Isabel Lucas as the Decepticon “Pretender” Alice seemed like a good idea, but more I think about her scenes in the movie, the more I think she served only two purposes – rather freaky eye candy and a cheap way to get Sam, Mikaela, and Leo off campus and somewhere that Grindor, the carbon copy of Blackout from the first film, can grab them. Personally, a trip to the local park might have been a better means of doing that. Pretenders were initially introduced during the “Generation One” period, though they’ve become rather obscure in recent years. Reintroducing the concept into this film seemed like a good idea and the effects are excellent, if a little Terminator-esque, but Alice’s overall inclusion just seems superfluous. In addition, the character comes off as a little too aggressive and overt towards Sam; I think even a Decepticon would be able to be more subtle. I will say that I enjoyed Bumblebee beating on her when she hitched a ride with him and Sam, and even his attempts to give Sam hints that she wasn’t what she seemed, appropriately playing “Superfreak” at one point.
Another staple of Bay films is the inclusion of a usually half-baked romance between the principle male and female characters. The relationship started between Sam and Mikaela in the first film continues in this one – and is about as unnecessary to the plot as in the first one. Sam and Mikaela spend most their time together arguing about something; who’s going to say “I love you” before Sam goes off to college and again when spending a night under the Great Pyramids. They have unrelated argument as they’re trying to hide from Alice’s rampage, when Mikaela thinks Sam was cheating on her – though this one was more legit, since Mikaela had no idea that Alice was, quite literally, the aggressor. Fortunately, the love story doesn’t overwhelm the story, but like Alice, it’s a bit redundant.
Disappearing characters are minor annoyance in the film as well. Most blatant of these is Barricade from the first movie, who disappeared right before Bonecrusher transformed to take on Prime and was never seen again. It’s not unreasonable to assume that he fell victim to the NEST alliance in the intervening years, but I still find it to be a glaring oversight on the part of the filmmakers. Barricade could have been used in the Shanghai battle in place of Sideways, just to explain his fate, and Sideways used as the means by which the Decepticons capture Sam instead of Grindor and Alice. Another character who disappears without explanation is Scalpel, who vanishes after Prime and Bumblebee break into the warehouse where the Decepticons are about to dissect Sam. The comic adaptation has Prime shoot Scalpel into pieces when the latter breaks in and it’s not a far stretch that Scalpel could have been caught in the melee and crushed. The final character to slip into the editing void is Wheelie, who is apparently just left in the Egyptian desert after Sam, Mikaela, Leo, Simmons, Bumblebee and the Twins head off to Giza. It would have been nice to have added him to the brief epilogue scenes before the credits, just to know what happens. Characters that disappear without explaination is a familiar, though annoying, phenomenon in the Transformers franchise, so we really shouldn’t expect the movies to be any different. Still, it would be nice sometimes if the writers could tie up loose ends.
The Expendable
Crude jokes were present in the first Transformers film and they’re present in Revenge of the Fallen as well. Low blow humor isn’t exactly new to the series – anyone remember "The Low Road" from Beast Wars? Still, some of the humor in the film seemed unnecessary, and some of it shouldn’t have even been considered. One example is the scene where Jetfire reveals that he switched sides, prompting Wheelie to do the same – and right after, Wheelie proceeds to “hump” Mikaela’s leg. I’ll admit, I wasn’t surprised by it – I had read about in the sole fan review I saw – and I did laugh, but after two similar scenes with the Witwicky mutts, this was just one scene too many. That scene could have been written with something better to showcase Wheelie’s… enthusiasm.
Another scene of low blow humor that could have been excluded was just after Sam’s group arrives at the Smithsonian Air & Space Udvar-Hazy Annex. As he prepares to infiltrate the museum, Simmons removes his pants to reveal – that he’s wearing a thong. Not only is this rather disturbing sight revealed to the audience, but it’s done so at extreme close up, butt crack and all. Mr. Bay, if in the extremely unlikely event you happen to be reading this, I know you like to appeal to the high school and college set who think this kind of thing is funny, but was this scene really necessary? The majority of the audience in the theater I was in emitted a very loud groan when this scene appeared (and they say modern movie audiences have no taste).
Let’s make one thing clear: I like this Devastator. I like him the first time I saw him in action in the initial trailers, even if he looked like Unicron’s ugly stepchild. I can forgive the fact that he doesn’t really do all that much actual fighting in the film. I can accept the idea that he’s so heavy that he is forced to walk like a giant mechanized gorilla. I can even accept the idea his components have copies that don’t make up the Gestalt – evidenced by the fact that Long Haul, Rampage, and Mixmaster are all wandering around while Dev’s doing his best impression of King Kong on the pyramid. Unfortunately, someone – the director, the writers or a bored animator at ILM – decided to give Devastator a pair of brass balls – literally. These “robo-testicles,” first noticeable when this behemoth starts climbing the pyramid, look like they’re made from wrecking balls, which is odd considering none of his components are vehicles that carry such a tool. He does have a crane that forms his arm that could explain one ball, but two? And why isn’t it on his arm instead of between his legs? Granted, this kind of “humanization” is not new in Transformers, but it’s been mostly limited to female Transformers characters (which, in a species of alien robots, is questionable in and of itself). Overall, Devastator’s balls are a strange and extraneous physical feature that only serves to give Simmons a shot at cracking a lewd joke at the giant’s expense.
Lastly, the award for most expendable element or character in the film has to go to Jolt, the eleventh hour addition to an arguably already crowded cast, and glaringly so. Jolt doesn’t even show up until the about midway through the movie, and all he does is stand around in the background, weapons crackling. He shows up one more time, just before Prime takes on the Fallen, using his whips to basically magnetize Optimus and Jetfire’s remains so that the two merge. In my opinion, if the filmmakers were going to spend the time and money creating the CGI model for the character, they could have at least put him in a few more scenes. They could have initially introduced him greeting the NEST team as they returned from Shanghai and added him to a couple of the battle scenes, just to justify the cost of his CGI model. I do have hope that Jolt will have a larger role in the next movie, especially since the apparent demise of Jetfire and Arcee has thinned the Autobot cast slightly. Unfortunately, it’s more likely that poor Jolt will disappear into the same writing void that claimed Barricade.
Final Thoughts
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a fun film to watch, especially in an IMAX format, and is arguably better than its predecessor – a rarity for any film sequel. It does have problems that could have been fixed with a little refinement in the writing, but let’s face facts shall we? This is a movie that’s A) based on a toy line, B) based on a series of cartoon series, C) directed by Michael Bay. If you’re expecting something with the quality of a Sundance Festival film, you’re in the wrong building. Still, I believe it was worth my $11.
was a tad annoying but lack of emotion, the efficiency and despatching his minions (ah, nostaglia). Ahem, TF3 put him into the story more
--why couldn't he been hot? Why couldn't he seen flexing barbells? There's no middle ground between hot and dumb human females. Sam's mother gulping weed--didn't appear to me she glimpsed front of package. Where 
.
My head hurts 
I see the movies as just another universe kind of thing but ROTF just went too far on a lot of points IMO.
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