More Fallen Than Revenge (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (DVD))

Member Name: IainWear

Product:	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (DVD)
Date:	23/08/09 (36 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Visually very impressive

Disadvantages: Too long and not a terribly good story

Back when I was a kid, Transformers were one of my favourite toys. The fun of having something that was a car one minute and a robot the next took a long time to grow old. As an adult, I've found I can get similar enjoyment from watching the same thing happen on the big screen. It's a lot more sophisticated than it was back then, but I try to fool myself that I am as well.

Following on from the events of the latest "Transformers" film, the Autobots are now helping a special U. S. Army unit watch for and deal with suspicious activity caused by Decepticons around the world. This activity is showing a recent marked increase and they fear the Decepticons may be searching for some long hidden artefact. It soon becomes apparent that they need it to enable the return of one known only as "The Fallen", hence the subtitle of this film; "Revenge of the Fallen".

In an attempt to live a normal life after the events of the first film, Sam Witwicky is off to college, with all the life changes that results in; crying parents, potential girlfriend trouble and having to leave his beloved car behind. His dreams of a quiet life are soon shattered by events just before his departure and then finding he has a roommate obsessed with conspiracy theories about what happened last time around. Once college starts, he is haunted by strange symbols in his head and tempted by a fellow student who wants him for more than his body.

The first film had a couple of major reasons for its success. The first was the computer graphics, which allowed for a seamless transition of the machines from one form to another. The other was Megan Fox. The makers know that when you produce a sequel, you have to build on the plus points of what has gone before and their intentions are made clear very early in this film. The film opens with a huge set piece with the Autobots chasing a hugely destructive Decepticon in a scene so dizzying in size and in scope that it left me unsure which side of the screen was up. Shortly afterwards, we see Megan Fox draped over a motorcycle in what was an entirely unnecessary scene, but one which teenage boys (and possibly older ones as well) will remember for years to come.

Aware that neither of these aspects are terribly new, there is an attempt to inject a lot more humour into this film than before. This turned the film into more of an action comedy than I was expecting. I went in knowing that there would be some impressive graphics and some stunning action sequences, which were indeed what I got, but I wasn't expecting to be laughing quite as much as I ended up doing. That said, though, there were some scenes that seemed to be played specifically for laughs, such as when the Witwickys take Sam to his new college. Whilst this was an amusing moment in the film, it wasn't really needed and in a film as long as this one was, there seemed to be a lot that could be cut. On the reverse of this, the very "Gremlins" like scene at the start managed to be both amusing and helped to advance the story, as was the discovery of where Agent Simmons has been hiding undercover.

The acting talent in the film was certainly adequate, although little more than that. Shia LaBeouf as Sam and Megan Fox as Mikaela have been here before and they seem to work well together, although I'm not entirely convinced by their chemistry in some of the less action packed scenes. However, given how difficult it can be to act alongside something that isn't there, as will be the case with the Transformers, they do deserve some credit for that. Julie White as Judy Witwicky does well, managing to mix up the comedy scenes with the action a little later on in the film, although some of her acting on the college campus did seem a little over the top. I wasn't overly impressed with John Turturro's performance as Agent Simmons, but having seen how well he plays a straight role in "The Taking of Pelham 123" recently, it puts his slightly more energetic and less serious performance here into perspective. The remaining cast members don't stick out as being particularly good or bad.

The real fun is in the script, which apart from a couple of parts, mixes some amusing moments in with the action scenes. There are some very smart lines between the characters and it's the Autobots that have some of the better ones. However, this is one of the major problems with the film, in that the Transformers are a little too human at points. Maybe this is a deliberate attempt to portray them that way as they've now been living and working with humans for some time, but it did blur the line between them slightly. This was particularly noticeable with Skids and Mudflap, who played the joker roles that are usually assigned to a human sidekick in a film like this. They're funny and they do get the best lines, but it shifted the balance of the film a little bit for me.

Whilst the dialogue itself may provide some fun, the story is what helps let the film down in a couple of ways. Parts are a little predictable, particularly in Jetfire's actions towards the end and, indeed, the whole storyline is fairly standard action film fare in many parts, seemingly relying on the Transformers themselves to provide the difference between this and most action films. The later parts don't quite seem in keeping with the rest, tending towards an Indiana Jones style film late on, with clues to be followed towards the final confrontation rather than leading directly there like most action films.

The other main problem with the film is that there is far too much of it. There is no reason for any action film to go on for two and a half hours as this one does. If there was a complicated and convoluted plot, perhaps allowances could have been made, but that isn't the case here. It takes too long to get going and then the build up to the ending takes more time than it needed to. Even some of the action scenes, as impressive as they are, could have been cut and there are certain pieces of character building, especially early on in the film that weren't entirely necessary and could have been removed from the film without having an adverse impact on the overall story.

This isn't a particularly bad film in its own right, although it certainly has some pretty bad aspects to it and compared to its prequel, it suffers badly in comparison. They've tried to make everything bigger and better this time around, but in trying to make it bigger, they've tried a little bit too hard and have created a monster. All the set pieces and the computer graphics are present, but the parts linking them all together simply didn't work for me. It is this that makes "Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen" a film that can really only be watched at the cinema, as the high definition images and the surround sound will come through best that way and will suffer badly from a smaller screen size, lower definition and less effective sound systems. Once those are lost, all the best parts of the film have been taken away and it won't be worth watching at all. This is a film that isn't really worth spending cinema ticket money on, but will only be any good waiting for on TV if you have something like Sky Movies HD service with a home stereo set up and a decent sized high definition television, otherwise it's really one better watched now or not at all.

Summary: A fair film, but a poor follow up.