Saw Revenge of the Fallen last night!

[Blazemane]

It was wonderful.

O.k., so, some spoilers come ahead...














One of my sibling's greatest complaints about the last movie was how Optimus Prime continually got beaten up.

I will say that is slightly less of a problem for me, but a problem still. In this movie however, Prime is vindicated as the fighter that he is.

In the forest scene, when he says "You'll never stop at one!", it's game on from there. My smile kept getting bigger and bigger as more and more Decepticons felt Prime's anger.

Granted, he does die at the end of the scene. But he was fighting that many Decepticons at the same time.

And then of course, when he's re-awoken. No opponent stands a chance.

Anyways, big picture- this was thoroughly enjoyable. I had a few qualms though:

I was hoping, after the small glimpses of character that we got in the last movie, that Ratchet and especially Ironhide would actually get some characterization.

No such luck.

Secondly, I felt it could have done without a lot of the crude humor. To me, it was kinda' cringe worthy.

And one more thing. Why did Mudflap and skids have a humorously intended scene, and then, a second later, Optimus' dead body was seen rolling in? I get what comic relief is, but it was such a sudden switch of pace and intention. I didn't like it.

Great movie though.

Edit: Forgot to mention something else. This movie seemed to either reference or borrow from some other science fiction franchises. For example:

When we saw the model for the Fallen, a lot of us immediately said "that guys looks like an alien. Well, in the beginning of the movie, when he first sees the tribal hunters, a close up his mouth shows a mouth-like tongue slide out from his lips. Definitely like an alien.

The robot who Ravage puts in the shard security facility constructs itself much like the T-1000.

And then, is it safe to assume that it was the same robot who pretended to be the girl at Sam's college? Either way, her stern faced hunting of Sam once we find out what she is, and even a bit before that, combined with her slow transformation from human looking to revealing herself as a robot seems quite reminiscent of the T-X

[Sapphire]

Yeah, the crude, juvenile gags grate on my nerves too. Witty lines which could also, you know, indicate character names for those of us who are NOT clued up on G1 would have been much better. Apparently, Michael Bay is the one who likes potty humour. *sigh*

[Aesir]

i know who the characters were because of the rotf books and toyline

I've seen it twice now ahhhh

[Beastbot]

Yeah, the crude, juvenile gags grate on my nerves too. Witty lines which could also, you know, indicate character names for those of us who are NOT clued up on G1 would have been much better.

The few characters in the movie that are at least partially based on their G1 incarnations (Starscream, Megatron, Soundwave, Ravage, Devastator, Arcee, the surviving Autobots from the first movie) you already know of/were named specifically in the movie. (Sideswipe is arguable, but that's it.) All the other characters are brand-new and not based on G1. And quite honestly, their names don't mean anything if you aren't looking for their toys.

My review:

Stand-out moments:
-The beginning battle scene
-Action in general was incredibly off-the-hook
-The CGI. Really, need I say more?
-Skids and Mudflap were surprisingly HILARIOUS.
-Megatron and Starscream had considerably more character. And Megatron was definitely more Hugo-Weavingy
-Any scene with Soundwave and/or Ravage
-Shia didn't "No no no no" too much
-Romantic/etc stuff kept to a minimum
-Sam's and Prime's "death" scenes were very well-done
-Jetfire was great
-BONECRUSHER HATES DEATH
-Scorponok's out-of-nowhere moment

Downsides/low moments:
-The Fallen really comes out of nowhere. What happened to the sarcophagus (this is more of an issue with the non-movie fiction, but still)?
-Sam's destiny was to... save Prime after.... Prime saved him? That makes no sense.
-No explanation for why Blackout is back, or alternatively why Grindor looks exactly like Blackout. (I didn't mind the whole "duplicate Constructicons" thing, since it looks more like the case with the toys-- we've got individual Constructicons, and then just vehicles that combine to form Devastator.)
-Devastator went down WAY too easily
-I can see the "bad pacing" argument from one of the first official reviews of the movie, but I'm of the opposite opinion as that author. He felt the second half went by too slow, I felt the first half went by too fast. It shoulda been drawn out a bit more.
-The Fallen's hacking worldwide communications and his subsequent demands seemed way too "TV Villain of the Episode"-ish
-I know this is a PG-13 movie, but there was WAY too much stuff in here that was simply not appropriate for kids of any sort. Skids/Mudflap's unabashed cursing, Alice's advances, the many many sex allusions/jokes... whereas for the first movie, the only thing I really would've said, "kids, don't watch" would have been the masturbation joke. This is really a bit much for a movie with such a toy focus.

Overall, I can't really say whether I liked this more than the first one or not. I was expecting to solidly, but it ended up really close. I have to disagree with those who say it's "more of the same". If I didn't know any better, I would've sworn this was a completely different creative team compared to the first movie. It felt very, very different. It surpassed the original in some ways, and fell short in some others. Whether that makes it a better/worse movie OVERALL I'm going to have decide after more subsequent viewings. But hey, either way it's either my favorite movie of all time or my 2nd-favorite, and those aren't bad places to be. I recommend it-- as long as you don't bring any kids.

As for what the large group I went with thought, all of them thought it was better than the first except for 2 people, and 1 of those thought it was as good as the first. So at least from my experience it seems the audience likey a lot.

Quote of the Movie:
"Do you know what my father was? A WHEEL. And not just A wheel, THE wheel. And do you know what he transformed into? NOTHING. AND HE DID NOTHING WITH HONOR!"
-Jetfire

[SkyxDB]

I saw the movie last night too. I agree that some of the crude humor was a bit much, but I still I kind of like it. I liked Jetfire and Optimus kicked major @$$, which was kind of cool. Though I think the first one is slighty better.

[Joshin Yasha]

I'm still trying to figure out how they automatically know human swear words when they show up

[Aesir]

I'm still trying to figure out how they automatically know human swear words when they show up

internet

[Joshin Yasha]

*giggle* I know, I just think it's funny though. Like Jetfire? Wheelie? How do they suddenly know lol

[starshadow]

well all i knew the funny jokes was Simmons saw and was under Devastator b@ll$ and Jetfire passing out gas. LOL!!!

[SkyxDB]

Yeah, that was kind of funny. But still I still I kind of like old guy Jetfire, I'm kind of sad that he had to die, and I'll admit that I nearly cried on the scene where Optimus died.

But with the way it ended I have a feeling that there might be another movie.

[Nighthawke]

But with the way it ended I have a feeling that there might be another movie.

You didn't hear? After the success of the first movie, Micheal Bay was signed to make 2 or 3 more sequels. At least that's what I heard.

[starshadow]

PLEASE TELL ME MICHAEL BAY'S GONNA MAKE TRANSFORMER 3 T^T!!!!
PLEASE TELL ME HE'S GONNA MAKE AN ELITA-1 AND UNICRON!!!!!

I wish the next movie would have these chars :
Elita-1 (Ya'll know her, OPTIMUS'S GIRLFRIEND!!!)
Firestar
Moonracer
Blackarachnia

C'MON!!! I WANNA THE LADIES!!!

[Aesir]

PLEASE TELL ME MICHAEL BAY'S GONNA MAKE TRANSFORMER 3 T^T!!!!
PLEASE TELL ME HE'S GONNA MAKE AN ELITA-1 AND UNICRON!!!!!

I wish the next movie would have these chars :
Elita-1 (Ya'll know her, OPTIMUS'S GIRLFRIEND!!!)
Firestar
Moonracer
Blackarachnia

C'MON!!! I WANNA THE LADIES!!!

Elita One had a toy, and appeared in the comics, and was killed off

I dunno if Unicron is ready for the big screen yet...

[SkyxDB]

Yeah, if there is a thrid movie I would love to see Elita-1 in there.

[transformersvoice]

I loved watching Optimus fight! Jetfire was cool! I love seeing action!