Nothing says summer blockbuster quite like having Michael Bay in the director’s chair. His trademark CGI work and slow-motion melodramatics are all over “Bad Boys” and its sequel, “The Rock,” “Pearl Harbor,” and perhaps the quintessential action/adventure summer blockbuster monolith, “Armageddon.” Also, it seems he is single-handedly responsible for the influx of horror movie remakes, as his production credits include “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “Friday the 13th” and “The Amityville Horror,” as well as the currently filming “Nightmare on Elm Street” With all that said, how would he fare with the second installment of the “Transformers” series? Something tells me that no matter what, there will be plenty of money involved.
The Autobots and Decepticons continue their war here on earth in “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” A special team called NEST is responsible for hunting down and eradicating the remaining Decepticon forces. Optimus Prime (voice of Peter Cullen) and his Autobot comrades fight side by side with an international team of soldiers led by Major Lennox (Josh Duhamel) and Master Sergeant Epps (Tyrese Gibson).
Meanwhile, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) is preparing for his first year of college. And much like many young sweethearts, he and girlfriend Mikaela (Megan Fox) are trying to deal with the daunting specter of a long-distance romance. This quickly takes a back seat to survival after Sam discovers a shard of the All-Spark left from the initial adventure. After handling it, he begins to see strange symbols and is compelled, as if in a fit, to carve, paint or draw them everywhere. Imagine Russell Crowe in “A Beautiful Mind,” if he was dealing with shape-shifting robots. Needless to say, the Decepticons catch wind of this discovery, and Sam finds himself right back in the thick of an ancient intergalactic war.
The film has many comic relief characters in order to keep the final product from becoming too dark. A friend had expressed that concern to me just the other day. He wanted to know if it was too much for a 7-year-old, as he had heard the final work was too dark. The answer is no. Much like many storied sci-fi movie franchises, the second tale always bodes much darker for our heroes. Look at “Star Wars” as the example. Much the way “Star Wars” had C3-PO, R2-D2 and Chewbacca, “Transformers” relies on the supporting cast of actors and robots to keep the feel light and airy underneath the thundering combat of furious 30-ton war machines.
Once again, Bay called on Sam’s parents Ron and Judy Witwicky (Kevin Dunn and Julie White) to provide comic relief and touching moments. John Turturro also returns as conspiracy theorist/ex-CIA operative Agent Simmons. He steals the show time and again with his impeccable comedic timing. Sam’s Camaro Bumblebee serves in the same capacity as film one, while the Autobot duo of Skids and Mudflap (voices of Tom Kenny and Reno Wilson) are here purely to appeal to kids and for comic relief. There has been a degree of outrage from the African-American community over the handling of these characters, and after seeing the film, I find there to be well-founded merit in their argument. All the duo was missing was a well placed “yessir sir.” Tsk tsk, Mr. Bay.
“The Fallen” (voice of Tony Todd), overlord of the Decepticons, is ready to return to Earth and harness the energy of our sun by destroying it. In order to succeed, he resurrects his apprentice Megatron (voice of Hugo Weaving) and charges him with finding the boy. Witwicky and his Autobot comrades must find an ancient power source in order to save mankind from ultimate destruction.
Obvious “Star Wars” influences and sketchy race issues aside, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” delivers what you expect from this series. It is a big bang summer flick that keeps the pedal to the floor from start to finish. Now be forewarned that the two-hour-and-40-minute time investment might not sit well with little ones, so you will want to factor that in beforehand. However, the film boasts some of the better CGI work ever put to the screen. At times, it is purely awe-inspiring. And after all, that is the point to this particular franchise. We’re here to escape for a while and see the giant robots of our childhood battle it out in all their giant cinematic glory. After all, the rest of the film is really just a support mechanism for the Transformers.
My mistake, the Transformers and Fox. Sorry, she’s just stupid hot.
Rating: W W W
