Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

Directed by: Michael Bay | 150 minutes | action, adventure, science fiction | Actors: Megan Fox, Shia LaBeouf, Rainn Wilson, Hugo Weaving, John Turturro, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Frank Welker, Isabel Lucas, Reno Wilson, Samantha Smith, Michael Papajohn, Ramon Rodriguez, Peter Jason, John Benjamin Hickey, Jareb Dauplaise , Jonathon Trent

Fans couldn’t help but drink Michael Bay’s blood when they heard that he would be turning their beloved Transformers series into a live-action movie on the silver screen. After all, this thick-wood-saws-men-boards director – and not even a true fan – could never do justice to the deep mythology of the series. But if the fans weren’t waiting for a Transformers movie, would laymen be interested in the crazy concept of robots turning into planes and cars? Could these machines make hearts beat faster and stir emotions in the viewer? Little chance. But some kind of miracle happened. ‘Transformers’ was not a flop. In fact, on Metacritic, the film even ranks as the highest-rated Michael Bay film to date. While this isn’t saying much – it’s an average of 61 (out of 100) – with audiences, the film proved wildly popular, with laymen and fans generally raving about Bay’s action spectacle. And of course there must be a sequel. Or two. And the golden rule is that in a sequel everything should be “bigger”, “louder”, and “more”. That this alone usually doesn’t make for a better movie seems to be a memo Bay has yet to get.

Bay listened even better to the fans for his ‘sequel’ and decided to put more robots in his film. “That’s easy, once the audience is used to these machines,” is the filmmaker’s reasoning. And of course, Bay can’t pass up the opportunity to show off more gun clatter, robot battles and explosions. Isn’t a good story or captivating characters an afterthought? Well, maybe this applies to part of the target group. If the viewer wants nothing more than to see gigantic robots fight each other with metal fists, and to see them change shape in an impressive way – with that characteristic, mechanical sound – then ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’ will be in his element. . However, the viewer who wants to feel involved in the story to a certain extent and wants to be able to worry about the fate of both the (good-natured) Transformers (the autobots) and the people who have to survive amidst all the chaos, can prepare for a monotonous assault on the senses and, after about an hour, a typical case of metal fatigue. When the story in the film’s final act arrives at a large-scale, violent confrontation in the desert, and the missiles and pounding, wrestling robots literally fly around our heroes left and right, the adrenaline should be skyrocketing and the fear felt. and tension for the characters at its peak, but almost the opposite is true. The more there is on screen and the more unlikely an escape seems, the less tension there is when Sam (Shia LaBeouf) and Mikaela (Megan Fox) simply slalom between bullets. There is rarely a sense that the characters are in real danger. Although the “more is better” philosophy has been applied, almost everything is less effective in this sequel. The character of Sam, who was the driving force in part 1, has become a little more worldly here, and engaged in an uninteresting relationship with Mikaela (who, with a shot like from a Pirelli pin-up calendar, lasciviously in a short denim skirt, lying on a motorcycle, is introduced to the viewer). In part 1 Sam was a bit of the sucker that no girl can have and then also has to deal with intimidating robots that gradually take control of his life. He was the viewer’s introduction to this strange, overwhelming world filled with shape-shifting robots. This humanity in the story, and the hope that the dork would still be able to “score” the beautiful girl, gave the film a handy emotional anchor. The viewer wanted Sam to survive, and grow from boy to tough man, to eventually see love triumph. The interaction between Sam and Mikaela was sexy and tantalizing in the original film, here their relationship is stale and dull. The big tension in the relationship is (supposedly) whether Sam will cheat on college (after a single glance at Megan Fox, a completely unbelievable fact) and in general whether he will dare to (be the first) “I love you” to say to her. The almost touching courtship from the first film is thus gone and replaced by a playfully intended, but artificially feeling love affair.

Also gone are Sam’s almost adorable naivety and open-mindedness in his dealings with the Transformers, which were still completely new and surprising to both him and the viewer. Little is left of the amusing relationship with his car (bot) Bumblebee, who communicated with Sam via radio and helped him in the conquest of his love object in no too subtle way, in ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’. Although Bumblebee got his speech computer back at the end of the first film, the makers apparently thought it was such a clever idea to use the radio as a voice that they broke the computer again. But a second time, it’s strangely a lot less funny to let the radio do the talking. Then a slapstick scene to disguise the artistic poverty: the car is sad when Sam goes to university and then drains gallons of water to simulate tears. Thigh chattering. For humor, the makers often resort to uninspired slapstick to entertain the viewer. Perhaps an attempt to appeal to the younger target group, because it is not really funny at all. In part 1 there was also such a bland scene in which Optimus and co had to hide in Sam’s garden, so that his parents wouldn’t discover anything, but in part 2 the makers have gone one step further, with, among other things, comically intended sidekick robots with crooked teeth and silly accents. Sam’s parents provided a nice comic touch in part 1, but now they are constantly being dragged in and the mother in particular is so hysterical – when she first sees Sam’s campus – that she is heavy on the nerves work. They disappear for a moment, only to reappear later for a sluggish, melodramatic, father-son moment.

Not everything is disappointing. In fact, the first hour of the film consists largely of excellent entertainment. To start with, the viewer is very quickly introduced to an impressive, gigantic Transformer on two wheels, which is followed and attacked on highways and viaducts, but it is also important that it is mainly about the human element. Shia LaBeouf remains a fun, relaxed actor, and knows how to take the viewer very well and in an entertaining way during his first days at university. When he frantically tries to stay out of the way of strange women (apparently he’s suddenly become a babe magnet), and especially when he starts processing alien voices and images in his head and seems to be spinning for the outside world, he is very amusing. In addition, actor Ramon Rodriguez, as his roommate Leo, is now essentially taking on the role Shia had in part 1: that of the ignorant, overwhelmed boy who experiences all the robots and craziness surrounding it for the first time, also transporting the viewer into human reality. reset. As Sam’s sidekick, Leo doesn’t know what hit him when he first encounters Transformers, and his fear and horror are welcome and refreshing. Too often the presence of all these incredible machines is simply taken for granted, making it more difficult for a viewer to get into the movie world. After all, if the actors make it seem like nothing is wrong and the machines aren’t even there (which they usually are), it’s also as if they don’t exist to the viewer. Fortunately, Leo’s role manages to compensate for this to a certain extent.

There are certainly exciting parts in the film, and very impressive Transformers that make the viewer look at the screen with open mouth. Just like in the beginning, there is also a very large copy at the end of the film, with many moving parts and a gigantic suction power. It is wonderful to see this creation in action. The way the Transformers change is also fascinating to see in all its details. It is understandable why so many children used to be addicted to these toys, and Michael Bay to his special effects toys. The latter is partly the problem. Showing off increasingly sophisticated special effects seems to be the biggest reason for making this sequel. The fact sheet handed out to the press at the special screening of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” speaks volumes in that regard: not background on the story or characters, but facts on the number of days it’s been processing (“rendering”). ) of the (special effects) frames in the film had been spent and the much larger number of robots used this time around. Story and characters are simply less important. The life-threatening plot isn’t much different from Part 1: The bad robots (Decepticons) want to destroy Earth and humanity and the good ones (Autobots) want to prevent this – but there is still a lackluster and anticlimactic deus-ex-machina construction. added on the importance of faith. The actors try their best, even if their characters (like John Turturro) are sometimes dragged by the hair, and they have less interesting things to do. They are simply overwhelmed by the Transformers themselves. This shouldn’t be a bad thing in itself in a movie that bears their name, but in that case the machines should really have personalities, which is just too much to ask at this point. That’s a luxury Michael Bay can’t afford in a world where explosions and pounding metal rule.