The Transformers 2 Post

Transformers was a massive hit and a movie I really liked. It’s flawed to a degree that any legitimate critic can do little but point out all the faults, but what it lacked in Oscar nods it made up for with good old fashion ass-kickery. Transformers 2 follows suit and is exactly what everyone is expecting; a second high octane adrenaline romp with amazing eye candy, awesome action and some good laughs. It’s the quintessential summer blockbuster. Is it a ‘good’ movie? No probably not. But is it is a must see experience that is just all out fun. What I like best about Transformers 2, is that everything that was good in the first one is created exactly the same way in the follow-up. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it they say, and apparently Michael Bay agrees with that mantra.

Unfortunately the roster gets padded out with too many new robots that are never really fleshed out. With the exception of the ‘Twins’ all the new characters go largely unannounced and feel very tacked-on. Somehow their inclusion is able to rob enough screen time form the original cast of mechanized monsters just enough that they seem shortchanged. Mainstay Bumblebee is the most notable victim here, which is a shame because he is my favorite character. Optimus Prime fans won’t be disappointed however as his role is actually increased from the original and is jacked up with extra-badass for good measure. Megatron, the previous villain is overshadowed now by a more evil and more powerful enemy; The Fallen, who honestly is a pretty weak enemy. Why not just have the exact same plot but by Megatron’s design instead of diluting his evilness and bringing in someone more senior than him? Doesn’t make sense to me.

The first movie had too many humans (Anthony Anderson I am looking at you) and this movie seems to have too many robots.

Eye candy-wise this movie definitely delivers. The transformation animations are still spectacular and some of the battles are really pretty gritty and epic. From the giant wheel-bot rampage in the first act, to the massive, multi-transformer beast, 'Devastator' at the films climax- the cgi is simply amazing. I do worry that the novelty of transforming cars has been overshadowed now and that things are only going to get even bigger form here on out. The charm of a boy finding that his car is a guardian robot is lost in the sequel and the characters seem more jaded to the idea of transforming aliens than they should be. Ok its two years later, but come on…that semi-truck just turned into a talking robot! We don’t need to simply see bigger and bigger robots to keep the Transformer franchise engaging- I hope that Bay and co. can see that.

Speaking of jaded, maybe I am just getting picky, but Meghan Fox was a little weird looking in this film and was not the knockout she was in the original. I think its largely due to a change in her character, who now has been reduced to a waif of spends most of the movie doting on Shia laBoeuf. But the real damage comes form her botoxed looking lips. Those things are as big as some of the robots in this movie- chill out lady!

All said and done this movie is exactly what everyone is expecting, including myself. It’s big, its expensive and its good old fashioned summer fun. This is why they invented popcorn. And Cameros.