Cast: Shia LeBouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, John Turturro
Yesterday evening I returned, weary and beaten, from an unbearably hot but gut-churningly exciting Download Festival. I had just enough time to wash the first few layers of grime and sweat from my beleaguered body before the phone rang with an invitation to attend the European Premiere of ‘Transformers II: Revenge of the Fallen’.
Now, I am not usually tempted by the allure of CGI spectacle, ex-Disney channel action heroes, and pin-up actresses who take themselves too seriously – and I am especially wary of sequels to films that aren’t supposed to have sequels – but Michael Bay’s first Transformers film did not actually leave me feeling empty and disgusted so I thought I would give him the benefit of the doubt again. If anybody reading this feels the same way and is considering watching this film on the merit of its predecessor…. DON’T!!
Everything that just about worked in the first film is either cut or amped up to a farcical level. Jason Friedberg – the writer of every spoof film since Scary Movie –couldn’t have written this sequel if he had tried. Let me give you one example: the relationship between the film’s hero, Sam Witwicky, and his ‘cheap-gag-laden’ parents. In the first film this was a humorous device for relieving tension, in the sequel we are subjected to huge set pieces where these two-dimensional characters trade predictable, droll insults and embarrass Sam on his first day at college (and don’t even get me started on the fact that this is a ‘first-day-at-college’ film!)
The epic robotic fights and ‘Transformations’ that provided the real wow-factor in the first film have not been developed or worked on to provide a new awe-inspiring spectacle in the sequel, there are just more of them. It is almost impressive to see Optimus Prime transforming in mid-air while free falling from a military plane, but after this the fighting between Decepticons and Autobots is just a confusing blur and has absolutely no visceral effect on the viewer.
The premise is… well there isn’t really one. Apparently Sam and Megan Fox (I still don’t know her character’s name, but after a lot of concentration I think I can confirm she is a 34C) are having relationship trouble, but that is all sorted out by the end when Sam learns to say the L-word (I nearly vomited). And apparently there is another source of power on earth and only Sam can find it (yeah… there was literally no food left in my stomach by this point.)
I mentioned my trip to Download Festival as some sort of desperate attempt to defend the film. Maybe I was just too tired to appreciate the beauty and complexity of Bay’s latest epic. But I really hope that even the most sheepish and easily-impressed film-goer will see through the predictable plot elements and cheap entertainment that this film barely provides. If this film doesn’t fail at the box-office then there might be another one in two years time… and that is a truly terrifying prospect.
Yesterday evening I returned, weary and beaten, from an unbearably hot but gut-churningly exciting Download Festival. I had just enough time to wash the first few layers of grime and sweat from my beleaguered body before the phone rang with an invitation to attend the European Premiere of ‘Transformers II: Revenge of the Fallen’.
Now, I am not usually tempted by the allure of CGI spectacle, ex-Disney channel action heroes, and pin-up actresses who take themselves too seriously – and I am especially wary of sequels to films that aren’t supposed to have sequels – but Michael Bay’s first Transformers film did not actually leave me feeling empty and disgusted so I thought I would give him the benefit of the doubt again. If anybody reading this feels the same way and is considering watching this film on the merit of its predecessor…. DON’T!!
Everything that just about worked in the first film is either cut or amped up to a farcical level. Jason Friedberg – the writer of every spoof film since Scary Movie –couldn’t have written this sequel if he had tried. Let me give you one example: the relationship between the film’s hero, Sam Witwicky, and his ‘cheap-gag-laden’ parents. In the first film this was a humorous device for relieving tension, in the sequel we are subjected to huge set pieces where these two-dimensional characters trade predictable, droll insults and embarrass Sam on his first day at college (and don’t even get me started on the fact that this is a ‘first-day-at-college’ film!)
The epic robotic fights and ‘Transformations’ that provided the real wow-factor in the first film have not been developed or worked on to provide a new awe-inspiring spectacle in the sequel, there are just more of them. It is almost impressive to see Optimus Prime transforming in mid-air while free falling from a military plane, but after this the fighting between Decepticons and Autobots is just a confusing blur and has absolutely no visceral effect on the viewer.
The premise is… well there isn’t really one. Apparently Sam and Megan Fox (I still don’t know her character’s name, but after a lot of concentration I think I can confirm she is a 34C) are having relationship trouble, but that is all sorted out by the end when Sam learns to say the L-word (I nearly vomited). And apparently there is another source of power on earth and only Sam can find it (yeah… there was literally no food left in my stomach by this point.)
I mentioned my trip to Download Festival as some sort of desperate attempt to defend the film. Maybe I was just too tired to appreciate the beauty and complexity of Bay’s latest epic. But I really hope that even the most sheepish and easily-impressed film-goer will see through the predictable plot elements and cheap entertainment that this film barely provides. If this film doesn’t fail at the box-office then there might be another one in two years time… and that is a truly terrifying prospect.
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