Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Bay, 2009) — The Reviews Thread

[Stu 17]

Originally Posted by Draven

The sheer laziness of the bad edits and color-repaint Transformers pisses me off just thinking about it.

That just makes the movie more like the G1 series.

How many times in G1 was starscreams voice portrayed over another fighter jet decepticons body/color scheme? Or shockwave would be talking but itd be soundwave's voice?

[mdc3000]

I don't agree with that box office analysis but Transformers 2, despite being disappointing, wasn't nearly as disappointing as Terminator: Salvation IMO.

[Draven]

Originally Posted by Stu 17

That just makes the movie more like the G1 series.

How many times in G1 was starscreams voice portrayed over another fighter jet decepticons body/color scheme? Or shockwave would be talking but itd be soundwave's voice?

Agreed - that was some real lazy animation and no one cared because they figured the kids wouldn't notice.

Looks like Bay is keeping the tradition alive!

[Suprmallet]

Originally Posted by mdc3000

I don't agree with that box office analysis but Transformers 2, despite being disappointing, wasn't nearly as disappointing as Terminator: Salvation IMO.

The way I see it, Salvation is disappointing because it took a once great film series and flushed it down the crapper. Transformers 2 is disappointing because it's just a crap film from start to finish.

[Matthew Chmiel]

Originally Posted by Suprmallet

The way I see it, Salvation is disappointing because it took a once great film series and flushed it down the crapper. Transformers 2 is disappointing because it's just a crap film from start to finish.

I would argue that Terminator 3, despite how much I enjoy it, started flushing that toilet prior to Salvation. I'd even argue to state that The Sarah Connor Chronicles not only flushed it more, but also overflowed the crapper.

Terminator: Salvation wasn't a good movie by any means, but at least McG tried to make something watchable. I'd say the scripts and studio meddling prevented that from happening and looking back, I would've preferred the original ending that was planned. However, to note, Sam Worthington's performance alone makes it better than Transformers 2.

I love Bay. I'd say I'm a Michael Bay apologist, but Transformers 2 is by far his worst film. I'd rather watch Pearl Harbor again than sit through Transformers 2 a second time.

[MLBFan24]

saw it 2nd time today

noticed more of the little things this time as a lot of people would. Like when Major Lennox was at the airbase and Galloway shut down NEST/autobots. Lennox mentioned something about Chairman Moreshower, ala Glenn Moreshower (who plays the General)

[fumanstan]

I caught a matinée this morning and honestly... I enjoyed it. I gave it a 4/5, and this is from someone didn't care much for the first movie at all, which I would give a 2/5. This movie fixed a lot of the problems I had with the first movie and had a lot more links to the cartoon which I enjoyed, with more Transformers and better action. It's not without it's problems...

The humor was hit or miss. I'd be happier if they cut out his parents entirely, as well as his roomate. Those were all stupid and pointless, but thankfully not as bad as the hacker subplot from the first. John Turturro was still dumb as well, but toned down enough from the last movie that he didn't bother me as much. The character design of the Transformers also remains a problem, as their terrible design makes it difficult to follow the action. I thought it was shot better though, and Optimus in the middle of the fighting was far better then the climax at the end of the first. I think that fight alone was the coolest I've seen in both movies. I'd also trim the ending scenes in Egypt, as they really didn't need that much time showing Sam running towards Optimus. Devastator also disappointed me, as I thought he would do a lot more.

Overall, despite some flaws, I had more fun with this movie then the first. It didn't waste as much time following boring characters, and I enjoyed the introduction of new characters and things like the Matrix. The action came off better, more time was spent with the actual Transformers themselves and less on humans and the army, and we actually got to see things like the Megatron/Starscream dynamic and Prime kicking butt. I'm actually confused that so many people hate this and enjoyed the first, which I thought was significantly worse. This movie was far closer to what I was looking for as someone that enjoyed the cartoon.

[Suprmallet]

Originally Posted by Matthew Chmiel

I would argue that Terminator 3, despite how much I enjoy it, started flushing that toilet prior to Salvation. I'd even argue to state that The Sarah Connor Chronicles not only flushed it more, but also overflowed the crapper.

Terminator: Salvation wasn't a good movie by any means, but at least McG tried to make something watchable. I'd say the scripts and studio meddling prevented that from happening and looking back, I would've preferred the original ending that was planned. However, to note, Sam Worthington's performance alone makes it better than Transformers 2.

I love Bay. I'd say I'm a Michael Bay apologist, but Transformers 2 is by far his worst film. I'd rather watch Pearl Harbor again than sit through Transformers 2 a second time.

I enjoyed Terminator 3 for what it was, and felt it was at least respectful to the previous entries. I can't say the same for Salvation, although I agree that McG was trying harder than Bay. Bay was clearly coasting in TF2.

[d2cheer]

Originally Posted by fumanstan

I caught a matinée this morning and honestly... I enjoyed it. I gave it a 4/5, and this is from someone didn't care much for the first movie at all, which I would give a 2/5. This movie fixed a lot of the problems I had with the first movie and had a lot more links to the cartoon which I enjoyed, with more Transformers and better action. It's not without it's problems...

The humor was hit or miss. I'd be happier if they cut out his parents entirely, as well as his roomate. Those were all stupid and pointless, but thankfully not as bad as the hacker subplot from the first. John Turturro was still dumb as well, but toned down enough from the last movie that he didn't bother me as much. The character design of the Transformers also remains a problem, as their terrible design makes it difficult to follow the action. I thought it was shot better though, and Optimus in the middle of the fighting was far better then the climax at the end of the first. I think that fight alone was the coolest I've seen in both movies. I'd also trim the ending scenes in Egypt, as they really didn't need that much time showing Sam running towards Optimus. Devastator also disappointed me, as I thought he would do a lot more.

Overall, despite some flaws, I had more fun with this movie then the first. It didn't waste as much time following boring characters, and I enjoyed the introduction of new characters and things like the Matrix. The action came off better, more time was spent with the actual Transformers themselves and less on humans and the army, and we actually got to see things like the Megatron/Starscream dynamic and Prime kicking butt. I'm actually confused that so many people hate this and enjoyed the first, which I thought was significantly worse. This movie was far closer to what I was looking for as someone that enjoyed the cartoon.

Pretty much agree with this take, although I thought the parents were great. I had a lot of fun at this and enjoyed it much more than I thought I would.

[mndtrp]

Why are the robots all scratched and scuffed up when they are robots, but have immaculate paint jobs when they are in car form? Did GM not want to have dirty cars in the movie, or do Transformers have some sort of technology that allows them to look good as cars but not as robots?

[fumanstan]

Originally Posted by Draven

Ok, I was bored tonight, so I decided to put my money where my mouth is and go see this thing in the theater.

Here's the shocking thing: I actually think it's better than the first one!

Now considering that I think the original Transformers is one of the worst movies I've ever seen, that's not saying much. However, I think this movie did something the first movie failed to do, which is focus equally on the robots (specifically Prime) and the humans.

That said, there are TONS of terrible things in TF2, and the most frustrating part is that they are so easily fixable. Here's what I would cut to turn this into an actual good movie

• Cut Mudflap and Skids - seriously, not only were they racist stereotypes, they didn't actually DO anything in the movie. They didn't do anything to Devastator, they didn't save anyone and they didn't contribute anything to the story. Cut them and you're on your way to a much better movie. In fact, get that cool silver Autobot in there instead, instead of just using him for beauty shots. I don't even know who he was supposed to be, and he was a fucking badass.
• Cut John Tuturro - between the AWFUL thong shot, the stupid "don't tell my mother" stuff and the general lack of usefulness of his character, there was no reason for him to be in here. The NEST could have told Sam about the symbols and called in the railgun shot.
• Cut Sam's parents - The brownie scene was cringe inducing and having them at the Egypt battle was unnecessary. The Decepticons could have just grabbed Mikela to achieve the same goal
• WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH THE DOGS HUMPING. Seriously, Bay is a fucking moron. Cut it.
• Cut Wheelie - the accent was terrible, the HUMPING SCENE...what the fuck. Another annoying little "Frenzy" that contributes nothing to the story.
• Cut Jetfire. Character wise he was ok (except for being too weak to support himself but able to kick everyone's ass) but he took attention away from the Autobots from the first film. Everything he said could have been explained by Prime.
• Cut the roomate(s) - The other two only had two scenes, but his main roommate, once again, brought nothing to the story. All he did was lead Sam to Tuturro, and since that character is cut out of my movie, this one is too.
• Cut the Pretender chick - again, brought nothing to the story, actually brought up more questions than answers (Decepticons can look like humans?), the tongue thing was BEYOND stupid and the only reason to include her was for the ass shot and to set up the unnecessary "Mikela gets jealous" subplot

And making all of these cuts would fix the length nicely as well, as 2.5 hours is WAY too long for a Transformers movie.

If Bay had the self-control to reign in the stupid shit he has been filling his movies with since Armageddon, I think this really could have been something. As it stands, I think there was a good movie in there...I just didn't get to see it.

I was going back and reading all the reviews, and it was interesting to see yours.

It's funny because I think your opinion on these movies closely matches mine, both for the original Transformers movie and the more positive outlook on GI Joe then others here. I'm not sure why that is, but it's refreshing to see that i'm not alone. It really does puzzle me that everyone else seemed to enjoy the first and hate on this one, when this one seems to more closely match the cartoon to me (even thought I was one who hated that early clip with Fox). What the hell are we seeing that others aren't?

[RD1973]

Originally Posted by Suprmallet

The way I see it, Salvation is disappointing because it took a once great film series and flushed it down the crapper. Transformers 2 is disappointing because it's just a crap film from start to finish.

I can understand being disappointed in T:S because its not as good as T1 and T2. But Transformers 2 isn't even as "good" as Batman and Robin. There's no comparison. T:S may have been a bit flat. But Transformers 2 is COMPLETELY RETARDED from beginning to end.

[SleepyW]

Saw it today on an IMAX screen (didn't really notice the IMAX portions, but the picture was nice). The only thing that really ruined the movie for me were the negative reviews I read for the past week or so.

I was entertained and enjoyed it, and it didn't feel like it ran too long. And how far has CGI come? Damn good effects. I usually get headaches after watching movies in the theater, and with as long, loud, and action-packed this was, I thought for sure I'd get one, but I didn't. My brother and dad also liked it.

I'm not all hung up on Transformers lore like some people, so maybe that had something to do with me enjoying it.

[Ranger]

I agree with what Draven said there. Cut this and that and we'd have had a much better movie.

I am really curious now what will be said about GI Joe comapred to this. It'd take way too much effort for it to be worse than TF2.

[Breakfast with Girls]

Originally Posted by Moonstone

My review of the film for all to read:

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is the second movie in the Transformers series and this time the Autobots have formed an alliance with a secret division of the US military to weed out any remaining Decepticons after the destruction of the all spark at the end of the first film, but when Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) discovers a shard of it while moving to college, the race is on to find it and set about an ancient prophecy.

Now, I have to say that Revenge of the Fallen was a big letdown overall; don’t get me wrong it was nice to see the return of Frank Welker as Soundwave, who nicely channels Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget, a voice I thought I would never hear on the big screen and I loved Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime and the fight sequence in the forest with Prime taking on Megatron, Starscream and Grindor all at once is wonderful.

But even with all those positives, sadly I can’t summon up any enthusiasm for this movie as a whole, as it was far too long by at least 45 minutes, I still wish that Welker had been given his rightful place as the voice of Megatron, there was no real through line to the story as it felt scattered and in the end, all it did was signify sound and fury and special effects and lots of money that ended up not having any heart or emotion to it, as even the movie’s best moment comes undone by the end.

As for my final rating, I’m going to give this 2 out of 5 due to the positives above but apart from that, there wasn’t much to this movie at all that warrants an immediate ticket purchase and after last year’s The Dark Knight, this is a real shame.

[JumpCutz]

[Draven]

Originally Posted by fumanstan

I was going back and reading all the reviews, and it was interesting to see yours.

It's funny because I think your opinion on these movies closely matches mine, both for the original Transformers movie and the more positive outlook on GI Joe then others here. I'm not sure why that is, but it's refreshing to see that i'm not alone. It really does puzzle me that everyone else seemed to enjoy the first and hate on this one, when this one seems to more closely match the cartoon to me (even thought I was one who hated that early clip with Fox). What the hell are we seeing that others aren't?

Who knows? First movie had many of the same problems yet most people seemed to love it. Ah well, we must just have good taste

[MinLShaw]

I had a Crohn's flare that started before this opened and just now got around to seeing it this afternoon. I've skipped 17 pages of discussion, but I suspect I don't have anything new to say about it that hasn't already been covered. I enjoyed it well enough, and am confused by how many reviewers I've seen say they found the story confusing or convoluted. Current-day Transformers are fighting to beat one another to some powerful artifacts left on Earth by their ancestors; what's not to get? I mean, if you can follow an Indiana Jones movie, you should be able to follow this.

My chief complaint would be the amount of screen time devoted to the U.S. military in this movie. I mean, that was the point behind making G.I. Joe, wasn't it? I come to Transformers to see robots throw down; not shot after shot of Air Force raptors scrambling. I understand the role the military had on- and off-screen for this movie, but there were times during the final hour I felt like Ian Malcolm wondering if there were going to be dinosaurs on the dinosaur tour.

Also, I was somewhat surprised and disappointed by some of the language in this film. I'm hardly a prude, and I actually found myself laughing at more of the cruder jokes than I'd like to admit. Still, while my 14 year old cousin (whom my wife and I took with us) can easily handle such things, I suspect I would not feel comfortable with my 7 year old niece hearing some of those things. And, frankly, Transformers is a property that I should feel comfortable taking a 7 year old to see. (God knows the marketing departments have done their job to make sure every 7 year old knows about, and wants to see, this movie.)

It was great hearing Frank Welker as Soundwave, and I got a thrill seeing Arcee. Of course, I was greatly disappointed by the lack of screen time they--and nearly every other Transformer--actually had in the movie.

[Iron_Giant]

Originally Posted by fumanstan

I caught a matinée this morning and honestly... I enjoyed it. I gave it a 4/5, and this is from someone didn't care much for the first movie at all, which I would give a 2/5. This movie fixed a lot of the problems I had with the first movie and had a lot more links to the cartoon which I enjoyed, with more Transformers and better action. It's not without it's problems...

The humor was hit or miss. I'd be happier if they cut out his parents entirely, as well as his roomate. Those were all stupid and pointless, but thankfully not as bad as the hacker subplot from the first. John Turturro was still dumb as well, but toned down enough from the last movie that he didn't bother me as much. The character design of the Transformers also remains a problem, as their terrible design makes it difficult to follow the action. I thought it was shot better though, and Optimus in the middle of the fighting was far better then the climax at the end of the first. I think that fight alone was the coolest I've seen in both movies. I'd also trim the ending scenes in Egypt, as they really didn't need that much time showing Sam running towards Optimus. Devastator also disappointed me, as I thought he would do a lot more.

Overall, despite some flaws, I had more fun with this movie then the first. It didn't waste as much time following boring characters, and I enjoyed the introduction of new characters and things like the Matrix. The action came off better, more time was spent with the actual Transformers themselves and less on humans and the army, and we actually got to see things like the Megatron/Starscream dynamic and Prime kicking butt. I'm actually confused that so many people hate this and enjoyed the first, which I thought was significantly worse. This movie was far closer to what I was looking for as someone that enjoyed the cartoon.

100% agree.

This was T2, not "Gone w the wind".

Loved the movie, about 50 seconds of the movie I could do without, but the rest was a ton of fun.

[redstang93]

Saw this over the weekend. Tried to go in with level expectations. I wanted to see an action movie and that is what I got. My sign of a good movie: the time went by quick. I didn't realize 2.5 hours had gone by. To me, the first Transformers seemed like a longer movie and it was actually shorter. I would say 4/5 for me. I guess I am easy to please.

[stingermck]

Edit: Already posted! Oops!

So much hate to go through

[pinata242]

Did he send it to you from the past and post 423?

Always good to read again.

[hapgilmore]

Saw it on Saturday...disappointing.

The first hour or so was good and I was enjoying the movie. But then it just goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on. The two "ghetto" transformers were a TERRIBLE f'ing idea, I mean truly terrible. How did they not get cut pre-filming? Sam's roommate was also terrible. He was annoying as hell and I am upset he didn't get killed (that would have redeemed the movie somewhat).

Now here is what really brings the movie down: the seemingly never-ending climax. For the love of god, that went on forever! I'm guessing the battle in Egypt was around 45 mins long, but it seemed much longer. There was no suspense, no tension, no anything. It was numbing to your senses watching all that mayhem. Not exciting, not fun, just numbing and boring. A half hour could have EASILY been cut from the ending.

I like Michael Bay. I love Armageddon and both Bad Boys movies. But he needs to learn that not every movie needs to be 2 1/2 hours. If there is no substance, and the material doesn't warrant it (like this), there is no reason for such a long movie. Once he realizes that, his movies will surely improve.

Oh and what the hell was up with the female transformer??? The most blatant rip-off of Terminator I have ever seen.

[Solid Snake PAC]

Rip off of Terminator? Uhm...she was a pretender, they were in the cartoon.

[Draven]

Originally Posted by Solid Snake PAC

Rip off of Terminator? Uhm...she was a pretender, they were in the cartoon.

Regardless, she had more in common with the T-X than anything that was in the cartoon.