New review: Transformers – Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (dir: Michael Bay)
Think of exposition as the lubricant between the mechanical action pieces of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the bigger, longer, more expensive and completely unnecessary sequel to the amusing 2007 blockbuster about giant alien robots that transform into cars and trucks while causing epic amounts of property damage. These robots are full of it.
Between such comic book-balloon lines as “Revenge is mine,” “You picked the wrong planet” and that old standby, “This isn’t over,” the mecha-aliens stop to explain that a) alien Autobots visited Earth a few thousand years before; b) a rogue Autobot known as The Fallen tried to destroy the Earth and was foiled by his robot buddies; and c) now he wants to destroy the Earth out of revenge for … not being allowed to destroy the Earth the first time. Or something like that. The Fallen and his signature henchman (henchbot?) Megatron (yes, he’s resurrected or recharged or whatever for this film) despise the human race, but it’s hard to make anything out of such circular logic, and the film just assumes the audience will go with it. When a fleet of military-grade giant robots is determined to destroy the planet Earth, who needs motivation? They could be doing it just because they can. Which I think is the same motivation Michael Bay has for spending a couple of hundred million dollars on a film based on a line of toys.
