diddykoi6
Stone Cold Metal
yah im not gonna bother, i didnt bother with terminator either, SHITTY SEQUELS lol i still cant believe this fucking movie about varg could they pick a gayer fuck to play him man serious.
Transformers 2 trailer
- Thread starter Journeyman14
- Start date
Zehm
Member
i had fun. i wouldn't bother seeing it again mind you, but there was some decent comic relief, and prime gets a blackbird straped to his back. i think this one's going to end up an untentional comedy. I wasn't being remotely critical watching it though. and yes the redneck twins were anoying as hell.
Ocelot2010
Burger King Diamond
I never watched Transformers as a kid so I lucked out on the "hollywood memory shit"
I watched Beast Wars though
I watched Beast Wars though
*** THIS REVIEW CONTAINS UNTOLD AMOUNTS OF SPOILERS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ***
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Two years ago, the ambiguity of the ending to the first Transformers film sparked a relentless pursuit in me to see a sequel, to see development. Twelve months on, the dormant fire was rekindled by mounting rumours, leaks, suggestions, demands, and confirmations of what Michael Bay would throw into the sequel. Several months after, the call-back sheet is up on the board, and were blessed with final numbers of who is and is not in this sequel. While these numbers on both sides increase, much to this fans pleasure, everything else is left to fate, in the hopes that Bay will actually do justice to his newest plot devices.
Several months on, Summer 2009, Revenge of the Fallen breaks on the waves of British shores. 19th June, we are the first country to receive this coveted piece of nostalgia. And nostalgia it is. Our old friends, the Autobots and Decepticons, grace our screens with a desire for peace, a lust for power, and the energon to do both.
Oh, did I mention that somehow this is meant to make a film?
Spectacular robots aside, the film is a farce. Set two years after its predecessor, Shia LaBeoufs character of Sam Witwicky, who doesnt seem to have aged at all, is beginning his first year of college life, only for it to be cut short when he has a pre-pubescent crisis, carving and writing alien symbols wherever possible. His counterpart, the always-average Megan Fox, plays Mikaela Banes, who not only appears to have grown up, but seems to have been toned down for this film. While the first appearance of Megan in this is of her straddling a motorbike, painting a miniature red devil, her apparent sex-appeal offers little to even compensate for her irritating voice, and lack of skill in the drama department. And yet both she and Sam are intertwined with the Autobots once again, travelling from the United States, to Egypt, without even trying.
After a reasonable start to the film, it begins to lose any grip on the plot, and quickly becomes incomprehensible, and a firm excuse for Bay to make more explosions. After a message from the defeated Decepticon Demolisher, the Autobots fear that another war is set to ravage Earth. Pretty soon, a handsome team of Decepticons make good on the warning, and begin arriving, not only resurrecting Megatron, but hunting Sam, again. After a few more battles and explosions, and narrow escapes, Sam uses the alien language to contact ageing Transformer Jetfire, who transports the troop (now reunited with John Tuturro) to Egypt, to uncover the Matrix of Leadership, which is believed to reanimate Optimus Prime (oh yeah, he dies in one of the battles. Needless to say I wasnt moved).
And so, the final assault is set between Egypt and Jordan, with the arrival of The Fallen to Earth, to harness energy by destroying the Sun. The plot is a little easier to follow in the film, provided you pay attention to it. Good triumphs over evil, Prime is reactivated, and with help from the Autobots, defeats The Fallen and restores peace to the planet once more, while devastating the great Pyramids while hes at it. But hey, hes Optimus Prime, and he can do whatever he wants.
A loose, highly abridged synopsis filled with loopholes that Ill let you work out if you do view it. Thats the analytical response, so here comes the fanatics reply.
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What was good about this film?
Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, Charlie Adler, and Susan Blu all make their voices known. A true delight to hear. Cullen opens and closes this sequel, just as he did previously, and its still a pleasure. Frank Welker does what he always does. He makes Soundwave heard, and makes Devastator roar. While it was a shame that in voicing Soundwave, he was much more reminiscent of Orson Welless Unicron, than the monotonous Decepticon soldier, it was nonetheless a voice devoid of all emotion that fitted the part just right. With Starscream having more lines in this, Charlie Adler does justice to the whiny, cowardly, and incredibly ruthless right-hand to Megatron, and his versatility, like Welkers, is well-noted. And for all of her one or few lines, Susan Blu reprises her role as Arcee, shortly before being blown to pieces in a bittersweet epitaph.
The first appearance of Ravage, landing in the desert and leaping from the sand made me shiver with joy. The feral, panther-like façade replaced by a one-eyed, fiendish look of utter ferocity. The missiles on his hind legs were noted, and something I was happy to see kept in.
Devastator. The powerhouse of the gestalts, and here he is again. The transformation sequence was one of the finest moments, flawlessly rendered, and beautifully crafted. While the final product appeared more to be a half-human, half-lion cross, he still looked as threatening and deadly as he did twenty years ago, and equally just as dim-witted.
A subtle little homage came in the form of Mudflap (and his only appreciated performance in the film), breaking out of Devastators face after being swallowed up by the fiend, just as the Autobots shattered Unicrons eye to escape his body in 1986. The additional honour of the Prime/Jetfire combo to the Armada era was neither here nor there, but was certainly good to see.
Personally, one of my favourite shots was shortly before Prime was defeated and knocked for six, with a close-up of his face, completely torn up on the right-hand side. A similar, haunting image was embedded in my mind in the G1 episode Dark Awakening, prior to the Autobot leader sacrificing himself once more, a close-up of his damaged, worn visage is shown, revealing the exo-skeletal structure beneath. Few would pick up on such a fragment unless they knew what to look for, and I for one was most satisfied.
Oh yes, and Sams near-death was a joy.
As much as I loved what I loved, the movie is riddled with flaws and inconsistencies.
In the news broadcast, the military say they are at Def Con Delta, their highest level since 9/11. In the first film, Jon Voight says that they have moved to Def Con Delta, their highest readiness level, in anticipation of Decepticon attacks. I need say no more.
In Simmonss basement beneath his meat store, he keeps Frenzys head in a glass case. The head is completely intact, despite the fact the little Decepticons blades sliced it clean through, and it was not left in such near-mint condition.
Wheelie, the rough-talking Remote Control truck, is seen one last time in the film going into the building around the pyramids with Sam and co., but is never seen again. Its the Barricade trick from the first film all over again, who despite being healthy, has been written out of this sequel.
Bumblebee notoriously regains his voice at the end of Transformers, only this time he has lost it again, prompting Sam to explain that hes still having malfunctions. A little more development on that wouldve been nice. To coincide with that level of nit-picking, Starscream has a new paintjob: black tribal designs all over his body. Where he gets these, and why, we dont know.
Jetfire. Jetfire broke my heart. When I found out that he was going to be an SR-71 Blackbird, I jumped for joy. As I watched him transform, I held my breath. And then I died a little inside. With a horrendous British accent supplied by British actor Mark Ryan, the writers desire for a geriatric robot brought tears to my eyes. His robot form included a ragged beard, and he walked with a cane. He was one of several nails into the coffin of why this movie blows, and blows hard.
An amusing criticism was the inclusion of Blackout and Bonecrusher clones, both of whom died in the first film. Credited as Grindor, and seen on-screen for all of a few minutes before Optimus takes him down, the Pave Low helicopter was nothing but Blackout with a lighter paintwork, and equally as silent. The Bonecrusher recycle is seen as one of several Decepticon soldiers who attack, and fall. If the animators wanted to reuse old designs, they should have planned more efficiently.
Megatron has always been the tyrannical Decepticon leader, so to see him sucking up to The Fallen, like a grovelling worm, is a disgusting sight. As he said, even as the reincarnated Galvatron in 86, I belong to nobody. Too bad he couldnt stick that one out. His vehicular mode, a tank, still with the unmistakable ability to fly at mach speed, is either testament to G1 triple-changer Blitzwing, or just a pointless development of a new mode that didnt seem necessary.
Scalpel, or The Doctor to the Decepticons, appears to have more authority over them, as they listen obediently and obey what he says. Not only given a horrendously heavy-accented voice, but he is written out of the film faster than he was written in. Presumably killed during the Autobot raid to rescue Sam from his minute clutches.
While a good echo to the Pretenders, the character of Alice was one of, if not the most irrelevant developments of the film. She stalks Sam, wants him for some unknown reason, and eventually tries to kill him, only to fail, and so exposes her robotic form. Ill stop right there. Her allegiance cannot be known. Despite trying to kill Sam, she sports blue eyes, the unmistakable Autobot trait. After her death to the hands of Fox driving her hard into a pillar, shes never spoken of again.
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My ultimate gripe with this was the abundance of humour, or humorous images. Transformers can be light-hearted, yes, but not every turn of the wheel being an absolute, and dire scream. The Twins, Mudflap and Skids, seem to only be apparent in order to make light of situations. Theyre nothing more than a ghetto stereotype, and one that I wouldnt be surprised at if it offended members of the black community. The image of Bumblebee crying after Sam tells him he cant go to college with him made me cringe into the back of my chair, just as his lubricating over Simmons did in the first film. Transformers are a sentient race, and may display humanistic qualities, but they are not human, and never will be.
If that wasnt bad enough, when Tuturro is scraping up the pyramid (a noble feat for any human) after Devastator, he stands directly underneath a pair of wrecking balls which are situated beneath the gestalts legs, which he describes as the robots scrotum. The audience roared at that, but I just could not accept that Bay would do something so ludicrous. Not only is it flawed (why would there be two balls on a single vehicle, even when in gestalt mode), but it is just not funny. The mighty and destructive Decepticon, remembered as nothing more than having a giant pair of bollocks shortly before being blown from the pyramid.
The ending was recycled, plain and true. Not only does it close with Linkin Park soiling another film, but with the exact same line of I am Optimus Prime, yadda yadda yadda. Yes, it means that there is an opening for another sequel, but will it be anything worthwhile?
Before I tear this film apart any further than I already have done, I will say this much. Revenge of the Fallen boasts some spectacular visual aspects. The battle sequences are great, and actually have a bit of length to them. The renderings and designs for the Transformers are impressive, and make seeing large robots tussle a worthwhile pastime. There is a greater sense of reality in this sequel, in that some scenes did make me take a step back and think. When the Decepticons land in the ocean, they shatter an aircraft carrier, and my immediate response was damn, a lot of people just died. Similar to the desert battle with the Autobots and their human comrades battling waves of Decepticons. The actors and extras did themselves credit, making it a compelling event where one would actually assess the situation, and consider it a brave, if not suicidal bout on humanitys behalf, because at times, it just didnt seem like theyd make it.
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If I can summarise my thoughts on this as briefly as possible, it would be thus: the film looks appealing. Its strengths lies in what is on display. Once you move past that, then you see it for what it truly is loose and unimpressive. If you want a mindless film with action sequences out the rear, then Michael Bay is always your first choice. But, if you were hoping for a well-conceived plot and a convincing struggle of Good versus Evil, then you must continue to look elsewhere.
Ocelot2010
Burger King Diamond
D.Ingram
Member
Haha i remember watching Beast Wars. That show was fucking great when I was 8, no its just a messy pile of wank.
Present for everyone here, EVERBODY needs to read this: http://www.cracked.com/article_16954_5-reasons-megatron-should-have-fired-starscream-years-ago.html
diddykoi6
Stone Cold Metal
made me larff
Ocelot2010
Burger King Diamond
ultrachronic
Member
D.Ingram
Member
Zehm
Member
I used to watch both religiously. the only thing i remember from the originals was a line were prime says "thrones are for decepticons" in response to the autobots building him a throne out of the remains of destroyed decepticons. i was like 4 at the time though.
