Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Review

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

The first Transformers was a hit-and-miss affair, saved by some outstanding CGI robots and a few cracking action scenes. With that seemingly in mind, Michael Bay has pulled out all the stops this time and has come back with a film containing more action than dialogue.

Picking up a few years after Megatron was killed with the All-Spark, Sam (Shia LaBeouf) is going to college and continuing his improbable relationship with Mikaela (Megan Fox), while the Autobots hunt down Decepticons alongside NEST, the soldiers from the last movie. Unfortunately for everyone on Earth, the Decepticons manage to find and reawaken Megatron, who wants to bring his master, The Fallen, down to our planet.

To be honest, the plot is just an excuse for more robots to brawl in various cities around the world. Opening with a bombastic chase scene that is a) better than the finale battle of the last film and b) more visible, it sets a good standard for the rest of the film.

Unfortunately, there is so much going on outside the action that all the characters and dialogue is excruciating, from LaBeouf’s boring Sam, to the unfunny supporting characters, to the horrifyingly racist Twins to Megan Fox’s character that changes so often it seems that every line was written by a different person.

The action is great, but done so often it can leave you completely hollow: once you’ve seen one robot punch another, you’ve seen everything this film has to show you. Also, with the exception of a scant few, all the Transformers look identical again, while the sheer number of toys to be shifted leaves robots walking in and out of shot with no explanation.

It’ll satisfy the kids and fans of explosions, but nobody else – after all, that’s what Bay does best, right?

2/5.

Advertisement