Today’s Movie Review – Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

Okay, now that I have seen the movie twice, I think it is time to comment on it.

Now, I’ll admit, my heart was more a-flutter for the first Transformers movie, if only because Transformers were a large part of my youth. I had some of the toys, though I can no longer find them anymore, even the Generation 2 ones that I bought when I was a bit older. And I still have a feeling that if my parent’s back yard was ever fully dug up for any reason, there would be a broken Wheeljack toy found buried near the walnut tree. And the first time that Optimus Prime spoke in the first movie, I may or may not have been a little emotional. It was dark and nobody can prove that they saw a tear.

However, I don’t know much beyond the “Transformers Universe” besides what was in the cartoon and the animated movie from the early ’80s. when they were making the sequel, I admit the true Fanboy in me came out and I started to read more about some of the other parts of the Transformers that I really didn’t know about, like some of the back story behind The Fallen and whatnot. What a great story, and it may have been covered in some of the later cartoons, but all I ever remember from the cartoons was that the Decepticons would hijack a power plant, make Energon cubes, the Autobots would came disrupt their plans, and the Decepticons would fly off to return to the same hijinks the next episode.

Anyway, the movie picks up with the hero of the world, Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBoeuf) off to college and leaving the nest. Meanwhile, the Decepticons have been going crazy and really ramping up their war, and Optimus Prime asks Sam for help before President Obama kicks the Autobots off of Earth for bringing their war here (how the President of the United States would make such a decision affecting the world is beyond me, and Michael Bay apparently). Sam says no, he wants to be normal, but unfortunately Sam has had a map of sorts imprinted on his brain and has become a target of the Decepticons yet again.

Not to ruin the movie, but ultimately, the movie ends just as the old cartoons used to, with the Autobots around to fight another day and the Decepticons retreating off screen to lick their proverbial wounds. I am really interested to see where they go with the next movie, which has already been discussed for a 2012 release. I hope they don’t do the Dinobots just to do them, but I will never put anything past Michael Bay.

My opinion of this movie is a bit skewed based on my admitted love affair with Transformers, but it is a decent flick. See it in theaters if possible, especially in IMAX, and get the full experience. It is not going to win awards for the actors or anything, but those movies tend to not come out until the fall anyway, save for The Dark Knight. I give it 8.5 out of 10, partially because of Megan Fox‘s over-collagen lips, and partially because of some things they could have done to stick better with the cartoons I grew up with. I still think you should see it though.

P.S. Remember…thiswould be the ultimate gift for a certain semi-regular blogger that you enjoy reading. I’m just saying…