Nerdy Blogger

The newest Transformers film has garnered good, bad, and mediocre reviews all across the board from critics and fans alike.  I, myself, grew up watching the 80s cartoon, and had a fit in the movie theater (quite literally jumping out of my seat) three years ago when I saw the teaser trailer for the first Transformers film.  I saw the first film opening night and left the theater wowed.  The transforming sequences were immaculate, streaming flawlessly from vehicle to giant robot without missing a beat, while still looking incredibly realistic and just plain cool.  The story was really interesting, and aside from some unnecessary sexual references, this first live action Transformers film was awesome!  I loved it.

Revenge of the Fallen picks up with Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf) leaving for college and in pursuit of a “normal” life, since freshmen aren’t allowed cars on his college campus, thus leaving Bumblebee at home.  Sam, however, soon learns that a “normal” life is something that he’ll never have.  Sam discovers a shard of the Allspark that was still stuck to his clothes from the final battle of the last movie.  Upon touching it, Sam has a similar experience to his grandfather, Captain Archibald Witwicky, gaining knowledge of the ancient history of the Transformers, and causing him to see visions and have fits where all he can do is write the letters and signs he sees in his visions.  With the added pressure of a long distance relationship with Mikaela (Megan Fox), (let’s forget about being hunted down by the Decepticons), Sam’s first few days in college become the toughest of his life. 

While the first Transformers combines a great story with flawless action sequences and epic battles, creating a movie that could’ve been incredibly corny, but is instead AWESOME, Revenge of the Fallen has a lot of explosions, a choppy story, and a ridiculous and unnecessary amount of sexual references and crude language.  Quite frankly, I could’ve handled the former two a lot better if the latter hadn’t been so gratuitous.  I simply don’t understand how Megan Fox’s front or backside advances the plot, nor the excessive lewd jokes made by nearly everyone throughout the film.  The action sequences in this installment weren’t quite as exciting as the previous film, and maybe my Transformers knowledge is rusty, but I didn’t recognize several of the new Autobots and Decepticons introduced.  I think they could’ve introduced the new characters a little better.  Character development (even just a little bit) isn’t a bad thing, people. 

Highlights of the film for me were Peter Cullen, the original voice of Optimus Prime in the 80s cartoon, reprising his role as the leader of the Autobots (gotta love that deep, booming voice), as well as Rainn Wilson (Dwight from The Office) making an appearance as Professor Colan, although the sexually charged introduction to his Astronomy class could’ve been skipped (for real, it’s not even a Biology or Human A&P class!).  Still, watching Wilson assume the role of a college professor was quite funny.  Overall, the basic storyline was interesting, but all the bathroom humor and explosions got in the way of developing a good storyline.  The final rating on the Nerdy Blogger Scale:

A “Huh?”

This is the rating I’ll be giving for film, books, television, music, and pocasts I’m not quite sure what to do with.  Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen could’ve been a lot better, but it wasn’t the worst film I’ve ever seen either.  I hope the third installment (due in 2012 according to IMDB.com) is a lot better.  It can only go up from here, right?

Blessings,

Nerdy Blogger