This week we take a look at one of the summer’s big blockbusters, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (PG-13). Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox return as teenagers teaming up with one group of alien robots (Autobots), to fight another group of alien robots (Decepticons) in a battle for Earth. Michael Bay directs.
Andy: This summer has been very hit and miss with very little middle-of-the-road material. Not surprisingly, you can place Transformers 2 solidly in the miss column. This movie epitomizes why sequels don’t often work. There is virtually no time spent on further developing the characters, the plot is treated like an annoyance that must be overcome in order to show robots blowing stuff up, and most of the jokes are dumber and more offensive than in the first movie. Almost every aspect of the original Transformers movie that was acceptable has been minimized here, and it’s not like the first movie was all that amazing.
Ryan: The first Transformers film was a fun summer movie. In retrospect it wasn't very impressionable but I do remember it being an entertaining spectacle. But I have to agree with everything Andy mentions with regard to the sequel. Besides some cutting-edge special effects (and those even feel watered down) the sequel brings absolutely nothing to the table. This is the worst kind of sequel where everything is repackaged, recycled and remodeled from the original. Bay attempts to the up the ante with regard to the action and drama but the movie completely collapses under it's own bloated weight.
Andy: Unfortunately, the problems with Transformers 2 are not limited to what makes sequels bad. There are two characters, Autobot twins named Skids and Mudflap, who give every indication that the filmmakers are perpetuating negative racial stereotypes. These characters banter with each other in what can only be described as an urban dialect, one of them has a gold tooth (which makes NO sense on a robot / car), and at one point they admit that they cannot read. As if all of this is not offensive enough, the characters are used only for “comic relief,” doing nothing to drive the plot or resolve conflicts. It is not surprising, then, that some critics have evoked the minstrel shows of the late 1800s for a comparison to these characters. At the very least, Michael Bay should acknowledge that perpetuating these stereotypes is irresponsible, and it’s pretty easy to argue that it is overtly racist.
Ryan: The racism concern is a fair question and it's up to each moviegoer to process this how they see fit. I did find it offensive. But what further perplexes me is how Bay and company could produce these characters, Skids and Mudflap, and not see the reds flags. For the most part the Transformer characters in the film have zero personality. Consequently it baffles me in that the filmmakers would purposely spend time developing characters that would be offensive. It's completely misguided. Additionally besides the characters being offensive from a racial standpoint they're also offensive to kids who are going to be watching the movie. I know the film is rated PG-13 but kids are going to go to this movie and the some of the language in the film, especially the gangster talk by these two characters, is inappropriate for most kids.
Andy: Transformers 2 is a ridiculously long movie that does not hold itself together very well at all. A basic mantra of creative writing teachers is “show, don’t tell.” In movie making, you would think that it is even more important to show the plot moving forward, rather than tell it. You would also think that over the course of 2 hours and 30 minutes there would be plenty of time for a story line to play out, but this is not so. On several occasions the plot is simply explained in a thirty second monologue by one of the robots. Having a character explain what is going on saves time for more explosions!
Ryan: Some summer films can be two and half hours long and its acceptable (like last year's The Dark Knight). With Transformers 2 it's not. The movie is mind-numbing and I'm not even sure if that's a strong enough word for it. Another manta I would throw out there is “less is more.” There are so many explosions in this movie that by the end of the film one is numb to it. One's senses are overloaded by the endless action of the film. Normally that's what one wants with a summer action flick but it just becomes noise by the end.
In the summer there's always going to be a market for nonsensical blockbusters but there still has to be something there to grab you. It's just not happening with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Final grade: D+.
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