Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
BY Ryan LaMarca / 2009-06-29
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" is a migraine inducing two and a half hour experience matched by no other. Based on the popular toy line that became a hit animated series in the 1980s, the movie is directed by Michael Bay and produced by Steven Spielberg, the same duo responsible for the first live-action movie two years earlier. But although the first "Transformers" was a perfectly acceptable and entertaining summer blockbuster, its sequel is a disaster of epic proportions.
Two years after the defeat of Megatron (voice of Hugo Weaving), the Autobots, under the leadership of Optimus Prime (voice of Peter Cullen), now work side by side with the American government to wipe out remaining Decepticons still on Earth. But when a new threat emerges dealing with the ominous "Fallen" (voice of Tony Todd), Prime calls in friend Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) to help avert the rise of the Fallen and the destruction of the planet.
The characters in "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" are worn paper thin, mere shadows of past characterizations. This is especially true of the Autobots and Decepticons who each have rich histories woven throughout animation and comic books. Little to nothing about each of their own individual personalities are translated to the screen in an even less capacity than the first film. Optimus Prime is, of course, the leader of the good robots, but most of his fellow Autobot companions are almost nowhere to be seen except in quick cameos during an ongoing battle.
The Autobots' chief nemesis Megatron, after suffering a major defeat in the first "Transformers" is needlessly brought back to life in "Revenge of the Fallen." However, contrary to what you might be thinking, Megatron is not the titular "Fallen." The Fallen is actually an ancient Decepticon robot who apparently has been waiting for all of the "Prime" Autobots (like Optimus Prime) to be killed off before he can reawaken. In a radically out-of-character step, Megatron refers to the Fallen as his master. In every other incarnation of "Transformers," Megatron calls no one master. In doing so, the movie has taken an extremely powerful Transformer and reduced him to a mere lackey, one indistinguishable from the onslaught of crunching metal found throughout "Revenge of the Fallen."
By the same token, the human characters could have easily been dropped from the film. Shia LaBeouf's hyperactive performance as Sam becomes tiresome as does the lack of acting by Megan Fox. She does her job admirably, but as everyone knows, Ms. Fox was not hired because of her acting chops. Other characters from the first film reappear sporadically throughout "Revenge of the Fallen," some for no reason at all. Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson are given menial roles in favor of newcomers like Ramon Rodriguez who plays Sam's roommate, Leo, a wimpy and over-reactive conspiracy theorist.
And while Duhamel and Gibson are shoved in the background in the human cast, fan favorite classic Transformers are also given reduced screen time to showcase more colorful characters like Mudflap and Skids. These two Autobots accompany the heroes to Egypt to help stop the Fallen, but their presence accurately reflects the mindset of director Michael Bay more than anything else. This is Mr. Bay's attempt to connect with the movie's intended audience of adolescent teens. These two Transformers are wise-cracking jokester robots who come with an attitude. They have assimilated Earth pop culture well and use hip-hop slang to get their thoughts across.
There are numerous other moments where Mr. Bay goes off the deep end by trying to pretend to be hip. If we see dogs humping each other and robots humping Megan Fox's leg, it must be funny. It has to be funny when Sam's mom buys brownies laced with marijuana at the school and then goes on a frantic cross-campus run attacking bystanders in the process. How could you not find this funny? If Michael Bay thinks it's funny, then it is.
"Revenge of the Fallen" does introduce other classic Transformers to the movie universe, but they all play only minor parts. On the Autobot side, the most noticeable addition is Arcee (voice of Grey DeLisle), a female Transformer who can change into three separate motorcycles. A major character in the original animated movie, she is only briefly seen in "Revenge of the Fallen." Conversely, Soundwave (voice of Frank Welker) is introduced for the Decepticons. Soundwave plays a larger role in the movie but is left unseen by most of the supporting characters. Remaining in space, Soundwave taps into a United States satellite and feeds information to his Decepticon breathren. However, just like everything else, these characters are there for aesthetic purposes only and feel shoehorned in to have more robots to make toys of.
Accordingly, the movie is obsessed with acting like a child throwing a temper tantrum. And what's truly troubling about this movie is that its script is co-written by the same two people who rejuvenated "Star Trek" on the big screen this year, making it one of 2009's best films. "Revenge of the Fallen," however, is an immature and puerile affair that makes a mockery of the entire "Transformers" franchise, tossing aside any kind of foundation previous incarnations have provided. Instead, it attempts to be a free-for-all of nonsense and a montage of explosions.
Without a doubt, Mr. Bay creates his array of destruction with the highest technical expertise, but the explosions consume the film. It becomes hard to distinguish one sight from the next in "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," because things tend to become familiar early on. One battle between the Autobots and Decepticons tends to repeat in the next fight scene, and then the one after that. Sometimes humans are added as fodder for the fire, and sometimes it appears that different robots are engaging in combat in different scenes. However, "Revenge of the Fallen" outdoes the first "Transformers" by making the picture more imperceptible than ever.
At two and a half hours, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" becomes one explosive fight scene after the next, endlessly trying to top itself with the latest wave of destruction, all to end so abruptly. As the battle ends, there is no aftermath, and there is no attempt to initiate a resolution. Instead, the status quo remains the same, meaning the movie accomplished nothing over its agonizing existence other than proving that Michael Bay can ruin any movie he makes as long as he tries hard enough. When "Transformers 3" eventually gets made, the series would greatly benefit from a major change in directorial hands.
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