Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
By Serene Ho and Fiona Chua
Director: Michael Bay
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, John Turturro, Ramon Rodriguez, Isabel Lucas
Official website: http://www.transformersmovie.com/
After an excruciatingly long two years wait, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen finally hits the big screen. It scores indeed, just not in the same manner as 2007's Transformers. The highly anticipated sequel is full of explosions, action and new robots like the most evil Decepticon ever - The Fallen. Plus, everyone's favorite characters like Optimus Prime and Bumblebee go through a makeover of sorts, returning bigger, shinier and more memorable than before.
That's good right?
Yet, the essence of Transformers seems lost in this mega-production. Gone are the days when the robots have to hide from humans - "blending" into their surroundings just to avoid getting spotted. Now, they have made planet earth their home, with Optimus Prime sending out an invitation to other Autobots in Cybertron to come to Earth. Thus, this results in the Autobots openly prancing around on planet earth, working hand in hand with the humans to stop the Decepticons and their evil plans.
Which only means, if you are planning to hear Optimus Prime command, "Autobots, Transform!" in this sequel, you are in for a big disappointment.
To kick things off, Megatron has been resurrected from the core of the ocean where he was last dropped into. And the master of Decepticons - The Fallen - rises after a long period of inactivity in the Decepticon spaceship to entrust Megatron with the duty of finishing off the Autobots.
Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf), as many would remember, was the geeky hero in the first installment. Now he's off to college, leaving his parents and hot girlfriend Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox) behind. He is also unable to bring Bumblebee along, as freshmen aren't allowed to bring vehicles onto the college campus. Despite having to leave all behind, Sam is excited at this new phase of life, because he gets to start living a normal life again.
However, normalcy is far from reality, and soon, Sam gets embroiled in a new Autobots versus Decepticons war all the way in… Egypt.
At a runtime of two and a half hours, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen feels a tad too long to absorb fully. There's a lot of action going on right from the start, a metallic robot flies here, another metallic robot falls there. Your eyes are glued to the action on the screen - not necessarily because it is engaging, but mostly because it is essential, or otherwise you might lose track of what is going on.
Of course, this falls in line with Director Michael Bay's motto of "Bigger and Better" for the film. Unfortunately, ten times more action and explosions as compared to the first also equates to ten times more distraction for the audience. Someone needs to send him a memo to tell him that ka-ba-booms are not the only thing that will keep an audience captivated.
The good thing about this sequel is - it is full of laughs, more robots and of course, more scenes of the ever-gorgeous Megan Fox to balance out the metallic factor. Also, while this sounds like a very guy-flick, don't fret ladies, you will enjoy this too as the ever-lovable Bumblebee will melt your heart and tickle your funny bone.
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