Movie review: Transformers

Jul 1 2009 by Ian Bunting, Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser

‘TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen’ sees Shia LaBeouf return as Sam Witwicky, a young man caught in the middle of an epic struggle between rival alien robots, the Autobots and the Decepticons.

Sam starts having visions of ancient Transformers’ symbols, which makes him and girlfriend Mikaela (Megan Fox) targets for the back from the dead Megatron and ancient evil the Fallen.

Optimus Prime and his Autobots and members of the US military stand in their way and the stage is set for a final showdown at the Egyptian pyramids.

‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’ promised to be bigger and better than the first film and it certainly manages the first part. However, I feel that it falls just short of the original in terms of quality.

It’s loud, full of fun and great special effects; everything we’ve come to expect from a Michael Bay-directed movie (‘Pearl Harbour’, ‘Armageddon’). If you liked the first film, you’ll like this sequel.

One of the highlights of the original was LaBeouf’s fun-filled performance and he brings more of the same here. Sam’s relationship with Mikaela convinces and, I’m sorry it has to be said, Fox looks stunning. Bay literally ogles her with his camera and has her squeeze into some revealing clothing but Fox is more than eye-candy and puts in a sassy, sweet display.

John Turturro provides laughs as the returning Agent Simmons and Kevin Dunn and Julie White (as Sam’s parents Ron and Judy) just about strike a positive balance between funny and annoying. Their presence in the finale, however, is silly and unnecessary.

It’s fair to say, though, that the human cast are only so much of a pull to cinemagoers; they’re here for the robots. Some are better than others. They all look impressive but the new Fallen character (voiced by Tony ‘Candyman’ Todd) doesn’t impress.

They should’ve stuck with Megatron as the main villain (Hugo Weaving’s voice brings much menace). Sidelining Optimus Prime for a large chunk of the film is also a mistake and a new pair of Autobot ‘twins’ are very annoying. The giant Devastator robot, though, is very impressive.

The movie suffers from a silly, messy mid-section but overall the action is superb. Highlights include a woods-set battle between Prime and Megatron, a Decepticons Earth assault and an Egypt-set finale, where the pyramids take a pounding.

‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’ will numb your backside with its two-and-a-half hour running time but from its 17,000BC prologue onwards you will rarely be bored. Explosions, Megan Fox, laughs and giant robots scrapping it out... what more do you want?

Rating - 7 out of 10.

FALLEN IDOLS: Shia LaBeouf (Sam) and Megan Fox (Mikaela) on the run in ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.’