We saw Transformers 2 last night. It lived up to all my expectations. People (critics) who complain about Transformers movies forget that the movies are based on action figures – and Revenge of the Fallen replicates just about ever Transformer battle my imagination ever produced when playing with the toys. There’s a slight spoiler in the third paragraph – don’t read it if you don’t want to.
The plot was a bit bumbling – it really was just a vehicle for bringing the vehicles together into gravity defying alien robot Wrestlemania. Some of the fights copied the WWE’s playbook – there were submission moves, power moves… it was awesome. If wrestling involved robots I’d get cable TV and watch every week. It felt a bit like watching a National Treasure movie just with awesome robots. Really awesome robots.
The basic plot (without spoilers) involves the reluctant “messiah” Sam having the typical “central character doesn’t want to undertake the task they’ve been pre-ordained to perform” identity crisis – popular since Gethsemane. If I wanted to Christianise this review I’d say isn’t it great that there’s such a powerful allegory – Sam even “dies” at one point only to meet the Robot gods in heaven and be flung back to earth. There’s a bit of messianic confusion because Optimus Prime also dies and is resurrected.
Go see it though – you won’t be disappointed the explosions are bigger and there are more robots and more robot fights than the first one (and a few laughs along the way). I gave it an 8/10 because I’m capable of ignoring the stuff that critics look for in awesome robot carnage fests.
Transformers Revenge of the Fallen (Final Theatrical Trailer) from Bay Films/Michael Bay Dot Com on Vimeo.
Comments
cool. I’m looking forward to seing it. I didn’t realise it was based on the action figures, I thought it was based on the cartoon.. did the figures come before the cartoon series?? If so, my childhood will feel a bit tarnished.
Man, back in ’85 I loved that series sooooo much. And the figures were FREAKING AWESOME. I only owned a few (one being the decepticon space shuttle.. don’t know what his name was), but treasured them muchly.
The Hasbro toy line came first. They also made Gi Joes – and I’m now looking forward to that movie crossover.
How ’bout you enjoy watching your Transformers movies and I’ll keep listening to my U2, and we can both think less of each other’s taste.
Have you seen it?
You can’t equate U2 with Transformers unless you are prepared to agree that they’re a great example of their crap genre.
I embrace the crapness of Transformers because it comes with awesome explosions, fast cars and alien robots…
What’s your excuse?
‘great example of their crap genre.’
spot on.
yeah i saw the GI Joe trailor when I saw T4 the other day. A transformer would kick Joe’s butt though.
I honestly didn’t have a clue what happened at the end; I missed the bit where the good guys won. But that lovely cheesy shot in the final scene was lovely and cheesy.
And it was either really hilariously silly, or they were trying to use tropes from other action movies with the robots.