Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Michael Bay does what he does best: blowing things up. Though I feel this sequel was better than its predecessor, I found myself eventually falling asleep amidst the explosions. I'd say 50% of the $200M budget went towards explosions, 40% on CG, and 10% on everything else.
The plot is simple: stop the bad guys from destroying the world. Now throw in a long cat-and-mouse chase with jet fighters, bombs, tanks, soldiers, machine guns, random mortars, and a rail gun. Next, add some slow-mo and have the duo, Shia LaBoeuf and Megan Fox, run through all of the above for their lives. Key shots of said slow-mo include Megan Fox's boobs bouncing as she runs and dodges explosions to keep the male audience awake. That's pretty much the entire 2nd and 3rd acts of the film: one giant clusterf**k of explosions and fights for you to decipher. Though I thank Bay for limiting the use of shaky camera so I can see what's going on most of the time.
In very short reprieves between explosive and destructive sequences, you have cheesy and cliche dialogue and at one point, John Turturro in a thong with his bare ass all over the big screen. When a character falls, I felt nothing because of the piss-poor character development in the first act. There was nothing to get attached to for the characters - just a whole lot of stereotypes (especially black ones as seen in the twins and those of an elderly). Sam's mother wasn't funny and was plain annoying to watch. The relationship between Sam and Optimus Prime takes a 180 so fast it's unbelievable.
And so much dialogue was used to explain why the Decepticons are doing what they are doing and why the Autobots need Sam's help. Good directors show us the plot, not make us sit through boring dialogue.
I knew what I was expecting walking into a Michael Bay film. I did leave my brain at the door. If this mini-review forgave the abysmal storytelling, as awesome as it may have been in Bay's eyes, even endless huge explosions and jet fighters screaming through the sky in the name of America got boring after a while.
Nonetheless, the film has posted huge box office numbers and probably ensured a sequel. In fact, Transformers 3 is already in the works. Revenge of the Fallen was made to satisfy existing action-oriented fans and not bring new ones in.
2 out of 5. One point for Megan Fox. Another point for mindless action. Still can't honestly say to someone else, "I liked it."
