Release Date – 6/24/09
A couple years have passed and now the Autobots, still led by Optimus Prime, are working with a secret government agency called NEST, led by the military that helped defeat the Decepticons in the last invasion, to find all the evil robots hiding throughout Earth. Sam Witwicky is dealing with going to college and maintaining a long distance relationship with Mikaela, when suddenly he finds a piece of the All Spark which triggers something in his mind. Meanwhile, Decepticon leader The Fallen plans to resurrect Megatron, kill Optimus Prime, and come to Earth to take over. The movie is the definition of a Michael Bay summer blockbuster. The story isn’t deep, explosions are going off left and right, and there are plenty of cheesy moments. But its an entertaining film that suffers a bit from long running time.
I’m a Shia LaBeouf fan. He does well in his role as Sam. He’s an awkward smart ass kid who always gets into some trouble. Now maybe 3 years down the road he’ll be doing the same role and I’ll be sick of it but as of right now he’s still A-OK in my book. Megan Fox is simply there to be hot. She’s a terrible actress and most of the time Michael Bay just filmed her ass or her tits. In fact, I think there were 3 scenes of her running in slow motion so you know where Bay’s mind is. Once again, the military guys led by Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson are simply there just to join in the big final battle. Other than that, no one cares about them. The robots were awesome. Every battle looked fantastic and Michael Bay really went all out, and that’s saying a lot. I think there was an explosion every 5 minutes. The CGI was some solid stuff. I did hate the Twins just and honestly I cant believe some people werent offended by them. I cringed when they spoke and they showed those caricature-like faces. But most people seemed to enjoy them. They definitely werent on the level of Jar Jar Binks in The Phantom Menance though, they didn’t have enough screen time to annoy me as much as him. Actually a lot of the smaller robots annoyed me because of their ridiculous voices, but some of them still made me laugh. My final annoyance was Sam’s Mom. Who’s bright idea was it to give her a bigger role? My God, she annoyed me more than the Twins.
I don’t find myself to be a film snob. I’m not too rough on popcorn action flicks like this because sometimes it’s what I want to see. Sure, I like Star Trek for it’s in-depth story, well developed characters, and awesome action. But I liked Transformers for its action scenes, comedy, and just the idea of big robots battling on the big screen. If you ever thought a Transformers movie would have some deep storyline then you’re just wishing for too much. It’s a movie based on a toy. Basically Michael Bay grabbed some toys and acted out a scene like he was kid, destroying everything in his path and making a big spectacle. It’s a fun movie. Not the best of the summer by any means but I had a fun time in the theater watching it. Cut out the scenes with Sam’s Mom, his college buddy, and the Twins and it’s a far better film. Well maybe not far better but at least there’s less stuff to cringe at.
IMDB – 6.8/10
Rotten Tomatoes – 21%
Movie Wiseguys – 7/10