Review in a Nutshell – Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

**Warning: Spoilers**

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a 150 minute long CGI bonanza. Michael Bay is at it again, bringing tons of giant robots punching the crap out of each other. Main characters Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox are back, along with Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Megatron, and all the robots.

The movie starts off not long after the end of the first, with the Allspark destroyed, and Sam (LeBeouf) going off to college. He shakes off his old clothes and finds a shard of the Allspark that burns through his floor and creates a miniature army of appliance-robots that start to destroy his house. Bumblebee saves him and eventually, they make it to his school. His roommates are a bunch of conspiracy theorists that guess correctly that alien robots are causing the mass destruction all over Earth. They go around the campus for a few days, hitting on girls and living the college life. Not long after, crisis strikes, and Sam is nearly killed. His girlfriend (Fox) comes to rescue him, and they manage to escape, along with Sam’s comic relief roommate. Long story short, after then on, it’s a solid block of crazy CGI effects and clichés. In fact, it’s nearly identical to the first iteration, except instead of finding the Allspark, they need to find “The Matrix,” which is a key to unlock a device to destroy the sun, ending all life on the planet. Sam’s job is to get to the Matrix before Megatron, and he must (you guessed it) save the world.

Throughout the movie, there seems to be two stories going on at the same time. In one hand, the clichéd college love story between LeBeouf and Fox is going on, each loving each other dearly and asking the other to say it first. In the second hand, it’s the eternal struggle between the Autobots and the Decepticons, with it’s newly revealed leader, the Fallen. The rest of the film is CGI.

Speaking of the CGI, the effects are top notch. The ways that the Transformers form into their robot selves are to be put simply, cool. There is a giant robot that’s a combination of five demolitions vehicles. There are dozens of robots just fighting each other. The real attraction of this film is the CGI fighting. The sad attempt at a plot is, in its entirety, a giant cliché. Complete with kiss that rejuvenates the hero when his heart is stopped.

But who cares what the plot it? Yes, it’s very shallow. Yes, there is barely a  plot. And what little story there is has been done a dozen times before.  But honestly speaking, there are only two reasons anyone will go to see this summer’s blockbuster, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Giant CGI robots punching the crap out of each other. And Megan Fox.

Megan Fox!

Although there are many negative reviews out there, one thing is for sure. If you’re looking for a mindless summer action flick, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen gets it done, and gets it done quickly.

Bottom Line

8.5/10

Pros: Great CGI, Megan Fox is hotter than ever. Intense action.

Cons: Shallow, clichéd plot.

~ by da10x on July 5, 2009.