by Amira Colter

Created on: June 28, 2009   Last Updated: March 05, 2010

Transformers 2 Revenge of the Fallen opened in theaters in 2009, the sequel to Michael Bay’s top-grossing movie Transformers released in 2007. Be warned as spoilers abound here.

To start with the good things about Transformers 2:

Autobots transforming. The sheer mechanical marvel of it. It is amazing to see these cars transform into robots in a few moves. The autobots sure looked a lot flasher than in the first Transformers.

Bumblebee doing that jig to the tune of I'm so excited'. Priceless.  

Sam dealing with all the mayhem, er, mostly Shia LeBeouf running away from all the explosions.

Mikaela, better known as Megan Fox as a babe in an action movie is supposed to be. I'll let the guys dwell on that.

On to the unsavory bits that left an unpleasant aftertaste:

What was Mikaela doing in the motorcycle garage dressed like that? It's a wonder the two guys who were with her managed to do anything. If I were her dad I would have told her to cover herself. Geesh. Such a blatant use of Fox to excite the audience. Cringe-inducing throughout.  

Then there was Decepticons overload. Why is it that machines set to life by the Allspark turn out to be Decepticons? Were rampaging/murderous robots the default mold of the alien robot race? Never fully explained nor can it be deduced in the plot.

Autobots were no exception from this excess. What was the purpose of the twin cars Skid and Mudflap but to amp up the noise and clutter the landscape some more? Loved it when Bumblebee thrashed them both and threw them out of Petra. Oh wait! They needed to brawl inside so they could break the walls. Hu hum.  

When the resurrected Megatron flew out to space to return to his camp on one of Saturn's moons, those alien robots hanging from fluid-filled sacs reminded me strongly of The Matrix. Then there was the meeting between the Fallen and Megatron. The former addressing the latter as my apprentice was a hark back to Star Wars! The whole story just lost me. Why was Alice aka Isabel Lucas doing an eerie Terminator-like transformation? Beats me.

To top it all, the whole story was convoluted and unnecessarily long. Too many supporting characters that failed to add depth to the story. Then there was the problem of resurrecting Optimus. When the matrix or the key disintegrated, all hope was gone. Not in this movie. When Sam lost consciousness he went to this place where he met the three original robots that gave their lives to hide the key from Fallen. Harry-Dumbledore-Train station-Book 7?! Sam earned the key apparently because he died trying to get it to Optimus, Ha! He awakes to find the pixie dust transformed into the key and resurrects Optimus. Surely, the scriptwriters could have done better than that!

All in all, Michael Bay managed to put together explosions; robot fights; robots who can come back from the dead (so what if they were robots who died a millennia or two ago); Decepticons that are indestructible - at least until it's time to end the story; very flattering shots of Megan Fox and an overlong movie that meandered into the unpalatable. Robots and explosion overload. A star and a half out of five. And that's for Bumblebee doing the jig. 

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