We had a couple of sneak previews from fans that shared their thoughts about Transformers 2, now it’s time to get onto the serious stuff. Spoilers within.
Seems like the first half is great — a fantastic whirlwind of action, comedy and big robots all at a good pace. However there are many negative opinions on the second half and the inevitable build up to the finale feels labored and boring.
It’s a fine set-up that is forcefully established in the movie’s superb opening hour. Bay masterfully zips between events at Cybertron (the Transformers’ homeworld), Sam’s opening day at college, the drama on a variety of military bases, and throws in several robot-on-robot battles for good measure, all at a breakneck pace that leaves you breathless.
“The film reaches its pinnacle with one such action set-piece that takes place in a forest — a brilliantly crafted sequence that is kinetic, emotional and genuinely thrilling. Unfortunately however, it is a climax that comes only an hour or so into the movie — the remaining 80 or so minutes just never quite scale the same heights.”
That’s the one BIG problem with ROTF; the movie stops dead halfway through, and then spends the rest of its overlong run-time building up a head of steam again, painstakingly setting up the eventual climax.
Bay takes an age meticulously manoeuvring all the film’s protagonists into place for a vast, epic confrontation in the middle of the Egyptian desert. But by the time this all-in royal rumble between the Autobots, Decepticons and US Army finally arrives, you are too numbed, exhausted and inured to actually give a damn about the outcome.
It is just kind of inexcusable that with such a ridiculously enjoyable formula, viewers of ROTF still spend the movie’s final half hour nursing a numb head and arse, and willing the noise to stop. Transformers 2 proves that sometimes less is more.
Fallen so frequently approaches the first pic’s all-out awesomeness, and even occasionally surpasses it — notably in an opening blitzkrieg in Shanghai and a forest face-off between Optimus Prime and three Decepticons impressive enough to merit comparison with King Kong’s multiple T-Rex smackdown — that it’s this close to being the perfect summer flick.
The problem is, it’s the parts you remember, not the whole.
Bay may have upped the ante, taking his ’bots on the road (New York, Paris, the Pyramids), into space and even back in time (courtesy of an Apocalypto-like prologue set in 17,000 BC), but he hasn’t managed to assemble his components into a coherent mechanism.
Nor does his inability to keep his camera still or go two minutes without blowing shit up help, the hyperactivity reaching its nadir during a drawn-out climax in the Egyptian desert.
[…]
For all its faults, Fallen is genuinely more enjoyable than the summer’s other giant-robot picture Terminator Salvation. In contrast to McG’s portentous, po-faced tone, Bay works in a likeable strain of knowing humour that makes the two hour-plus running time fly by.
SciFiNow (2/5)
View full review. This review is heavily critical of the feature.
The Fallen is as big and burly as fans of loud, frenetic blockbusters will want it to be. It shouts, it screams, it explodes, it screams some more and then it explodes again; it is more than simple cinematic fodder for the preteen Saturday mobs, it is the next stage in the evolution of cinematic fodder, stripped down and streamlined to feature only marketable, trailer-friendly, toy shelf-conscious moments. Junk, then.
Troublingly, like so many other recent blockbusters (Terminator Salvation to name but one) there is so little that feels like a real threat: explosions are nothing more than decoration; all Transformers, both Autobot and Decepticon, are in dire need of an intensive training course in how to shoot; the much talked about Fallen comes across as little more than a computer-generated slouch; even Sam and Mikaela appear to be made of an indestructible, alien rubber alloy. How is an audience supposed to care when it doesn’t ever believe that anything bad will happen? Ultimately, for all its obvious expense (with Bay at least, the money is always on the screen), the action is tediously unengaging and totally sterile, and nowhere near enough of a reward for the 40 minute bout of nothingness that precedes the final act.
In terms of explosions, firepower and sheer shrill, all-action, popcorn entertainment it is hard to see how this big’n’bold sequel can be topped this year.
Star Trek might have had more spaceships and aliens and Terminator: Salvation more grim-faced robots, but this Michael Bay summer blockbuster is pure mindless adventure mayhem that sticks firm and hard to its winning formula. In truth, it is a film for teen boys — and a bloomin’ long one at that — but is also a guaranteed multiplex crowd pleaser.
Saying that, for the most part it is also a complex lumbering mess of a movie that is long on turgid backstory and short on tension, laughs and subtle acting.
The German NEST video that shows the army swooping in on Scavenger’s (or Demolishor) position at Bethlehem Steel is now available in it’s original English form, for all to enjoy (although this time there are Japanese subtitles):
As expected, the cast of Transformers 2 are appearing left, right and center as part of the Revenge of the Fallen press explosion. Here’s a quick round up of the articles and features we know about.
Megan Fox and Optimus Prime in EW
”If I’m still making Transformers five years from now, I might not be so überexcited. But there’s nothing specific that I need to accomplish. I just want to still be working.”
Warning: do not try getting your hair caught up in barbed wire at home.
”People are well aware that [Transformers] is not a movie about acting. And once you realize that, it becomes almost fun because you can be in the moment and go, ‘All right, I know that when he calls Action! I’m either going to be running or screaming, or both.”’
Transformers turned you into an overnight star. Looking back, how do you feel about the movie?
I’m terrible in it. It’s my first real movie and it’s not honest and not realistic. The movie wasn’t bad, I just wasn’t proud about what I did.
What was it like the first time you worked with him?
I was actually an extra on Bad Boys II [in 2003]. There’s a club scene, and I was one of the club kids. I was in a stars-and-stripes bikini and a cowboy hat, dancing under a waterfall.
You’re a bigger star now than when you did the first Transformers. Did they beef up your role in the sequel?
The humans are still secondary to the robots because it’s a movie about robots. I feel like the part is adequate. I feel like we do something that’s watchable on our end and then ILM makes it phenomenal.
You don’t sound convinced that this is the greatest movie on earth.
It’s not trying to be the greatest movie on earth. It’s going to be the best action movie of the summer. Hands down, it will win that. But it’s not trying to be a Golden Globe-nominated film. It’s a badass popcorn summer movie.
You up for a third Transformers?
Sure. I mean, I can’t s— on this movie because it did give me a career and open all these doors for me. But I don’t want to blow smoke up people’s ass. People are well aware that this is not a movie about acting. And once you realize that, it becomes almost fun because you can be in the moment and go, ”All right, I know that when he calls Action! I’m either going to be running or screaming, or both.”
Shia and Megan talk trilogy with MTV
Megan Fox on Transformers 3
“I’m really happy to have been a part of these films, obviously, and if they wanted me to come back for a third one, I would. I owe them,” she laughed. “I owe them my career, really.”
Roberto Orci on Transformers 3
“I’d like to see some version of Galvatron,” said Roberto Orci.. “I would like to see Unicron, too, and really anything that ends in the word ‘ron.’ Dinobots! I think, eventually, the Dinobots are going to have to happen.”
“It’s totally possible that, just for the benefit of ‘Transformers’ to stay cool and awesome, we should have to let new people come in and do it,” Kurtzman said.
Shia on Transformers 3
“I don’t think [we’ll make ‘Transformers 3′] right away, but I wouldn’t kill it either,” LaBeouf explained, saying that just like Michael Bay, all the stars need a break from the giant robot franchise. “I don’t think we’re going to do one anytime soon. I think we all need a break from each other and a break from the project. We just need to collect ourselves and come back to it. They’re hard to make, man.”
Shia talks Revenge of the Fallen video game
“I’m a gamer. Always have been — always will be. This one looks a-w-e-s-o-m-e! ”
Coming Soon have posted some shots from a photography session in Paris, wherein Shia and Megan Fox stand against Transformers 2 standees for round after round of photos, probably rendering a flash induced headache. Now for some high resolution Megan Fox images!
More Transformers 2 toy news for you, this time via ACToys and TF08. More shots of Arcee in robot mode, alt mode and in packaging. As well as the Deluxe class Jolt, once again in robot and alt mode.
After a short wait, TF08 have posted their gallery of Skids and Mudflap in their Deluxe class Ice Cream truck mode. This is one of the best Revenge of the Fallen toys. Now we await the video review.
Fandango have released some press about Revenge of the Fallen ticket sales, which makes up approximately 21% of all movie tickets currently being sold by Fandango.
With less than two weeks to go before its June 24 release date, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is already seeing brisk ticket sales on Fandango, the nation’s leading moviegoer destination. Currently, the film represents 21% of ticket sales on Fandango (as of June 11 at 9 am PT).
According to an ongoing Fandango survey of moviegoers planning to see Transformers 2:
* 81% of respondents say Megan Fox is the one star they’re most excited to see in the new movie.
* 76% say they are fans of director Michael Bay.
* 72% say the IMAX presentation of Transformers 2 will be an important part of their moviegoing experience.
* 71% of respondents are 18–34 years old; 68% are male.
“Fans are already scooping up tickets for Transformers 2’s opening week showtimes, especially for the IMAX screens,” says Ted Hong, Chief Marketing Officer for Fandango. “The movie is garnering some great Internet buzz, and filmgoers are clearly ready for another action-packed summer popcorn movie. With Transformers 2, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Ice Age 3, Public Enemies, Bruno, G.I. Joe and other highly-anticipated movies opening within a few weeks of each other, it looks like a banner year for the movies.”
