Film Reviews

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

• Rating:
• Director: Michael Bay
• Starring: Josh Duhamel
• Details: USA / 141mins / (12A)

After the first film opened to megabucks amidst the kind of hyperbole that is normally reserved for pubescent rock stars, a sequel was almost immediately green-lit, and nigh on two years later, here it is - with added robots. Director Michael Bay essentially follows the same formula as his last sequel, Bad Boys 2; meaning, everything is bigger and more intense. For a film about giant robots knocking seven shades of shite out of each other, that's by no means a bad thing. But, once again, the helmer has overindulged, and made his film twenty minutes too long.
This time out, our young hero Sam is heading off to college, in search of some normality a couple of years after the shenanigans of his last brush with the metallic other-worldly beings. He's still with his inexplicably attractive missus, but is having slight commitment issues. Alas, Sam hasn't landed at college but a day when the decepticon's come looking for him, as he holds the key to their latest attempt at destroying our planet. The bad robots have taken over some satellite systems orbiting earth, meaning they can find his everyman arse where ever he legs it to. While Optimus Prime continues to fight for our side alongside the US Military, government involvement soon interferes with the trusting union between man and machine, making things extra dangerous for our plucky protagonist.
Proceedings are pretty much 'as you were', as Bay spends the best part of two-and-a-half hours throwing multiple explosions and Megan Fox's shiny torso at us. The action is predictably spectacular and the special effects slick and wonderfully rendered. Needless to say, for some, this will be the event movie of the summer, and on a number of levels it's easy to see why. No one blows stuff up like Michael Bay (except maybe James Cameron), and here he's been given a hefty budget to do just that. The opening sequence in particular is as spectacular as action on celluloid can get, and he only raises his game from then on in. The problem is, it's just not really engaging enough for any longer than it takes one of the action sequences to finish. This will be an issue for some, but not for others.
Labeouf is still a likeable enough presence; this time amping up his manic persona to satisfactory effect - but Fox does little more than pout and run. Sure, she looks good doing it, but if she can act, there's no sign of it here. Other characters come back to varying degrees of success, and new ones are implemented poorly (see irritating roommate). Still, for eye candy alone this really can't be beaten, and it won't - some of the stuff here makes Terminator Salvation look like an episode of Hollyoaks. Visually spectacular and often entertaining, just overlong and lacking the spark of the first film.

Review by Mike Sheridan