Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

Movie Info

Oh no! The Fallen! Who looks like every other Transformer…

Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf) is headed off to an East Coast college and leaving his family, his girlfrend Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox), and his Autobot Transformer car Bumblebee behind.  As the Autobots work with the military organization NEST (Nonbiological Extraterrestrial Species Treaty) to round up the last Decepticons, an ancient Decepticon named the Fallen has decided to return to Earth to reclaim it or destroy it.  Once again, Sam must join forces with the Autobots to save Earth from the Decepticons.

Remember when Devastator was cool?

Directed by Michael Bay, Transformers:  Revenge of the Fallen is a follow-up to Transformers from 2007.  The movie was met with even harsher criticism and even some claims of racism.  Despite the poor response from fans, once again, Transformers:  Revenge of the Fallen was a blockbuster and nominated for an Oscar for Best Achievement in Sound Mixing.  The movie won Razzies for Worst Director (Michael Bay), Worst Picture, and Worst Screenplay with nominations for Worst Actress (Megan Fox who also was nominated for Jennifer’s Body), Worst Screen Couple (Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf), Worst Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel, and Worst Supporting Actress (Julie White).

Prime is here…for a while…then comes back with magic dust

I hated Transformers and didn’t even bother with Transformers:  Revenge of the Fallen.  Michael Bay had already wrecked my childhood toy and turned it into a joke.  I didn’t think he could make it worse…I was wrong (again).

Transformers tried to have a really deep plot…and Transformers:  Revenge of the Fallen tried even harder.  The Transformers are revealed to have been part of Earth’s past for years and this time (instead of the Allspark), the Transformers must find the Matrix.  This means traveling the globe and new Transformers and more humans.

Now could these guys get killed by some horrible means?

Like the last Transformers, the movie should probably just be called Humans.  The movie is way too focused on the bloated cast.  Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox continue to underwhelm as the leads and this time they out and out team up with the unfunny and bizarre John Turturro with another generic screamer played by Ramón Rodríguez.  Fortunately, Jon Voight is cut from the cast but Josh Duhamel and his military continue to not really develop.  Sam’s parents played by Kevin Dunn and Julie White a bigger role, and John Benjamin Hickey is added as the weasel-y government liaison Theo Galloway.

Yeah…that just happened

The movie continues to present characters that look all too similar.  Besides Bumblebee and Optimus Prime, the movie’s “classic” Transformers characters are virtually identical.  If you put Megatron, Starscream, the Fallen, Ironhide, and the other Transformers next to each other (plus add tons of motion), I’d be hard pressed to tell each one apart…this is additionally frustrating in that the Constructicons were added, but they lost their cool green look and their Devastator giant robot construction.

The movie also just suffers from tons of stuff which just doesn’t fit or is just wrong.  My favorite has to be that Jetfire is in the Smithsonian (located in Washington, D.C.), but out the doors of the Smithsonian appears to be the Rocky Mountains (and you can’t write it off as Jetfire’s random teleportation powers)…how did filmmakers think people wouldn’t notice this?  Suspension of reality is one thing, but that is too much.  Also you get the bad African-American stereotypes of Mudflap and Skids as primary characters who have gold teeth and “aren’t big on reading”…come on!  Jazz was bad enough, you didn’t need to add this.  You also get a strange Pretender Decepticon Transformer that tries to seduce Sam and leaves you wondering why all Transformers just don’t look like humans.  Michael Bay appears to also be obsessed with humping since you get to see the Witwicky’s dogs hump, and Wheelie hump Megan Fox’s leg…apparently Transformers have testicles as stated by Simmons.

…and now Wheelie’s humping Megan Fox’s leg…

Transformers:  Revenge of the Fallen once again shows why Michael Bay should just stay out of the movie business.  The movies are bloated, not fun, and take decent characters and ruins them.  It also goes to show that audiences are often sheep in that people didn’t learn from the first film and continued to see these movies in the theater.  Transformers:  Revenge of the Fallen was followed by Transformers:  Dark of the Moon in 2011.

Related Links:

Transformers (2007)

Transformers:  Dark of the Moon (2011)

Transformers:  Age of Extinction (2014)

Bumblebee (2018)

The Transformers—Season 1 Review and Complete Episode Guide

The Transformers—Season 2 Review and Complete Episode Guide

The Transformers:  The Movie (1986)