You have to give director Michael Bay credit for one thing — he sure makes destruction look pretty. This is a dubious skill to be sure and
it’s on display, ad nauseum, in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the sequel to the 2007 eardrum-buster that made a huge amount of money around
the world. This entry is just as loud, just as obnoxious and just as simplistic
as the first. Yet, for some odd reason, I had a relatively good time, though I
have an appointment with my doctor to check for hearing loss.
This time out, Sam (Shia LaBeouf) is fleeing for his life once more as he finds
himself in possession of information that will lead the evil Decepticons to the
location of a key that will activate a machine that will destroy our sun. Not
really sure why this is a good thing, but it’s quite a mess as the military becomes involved, Paris and the Egyptian Pyramids
are wiped out and good robot Optimus Prime has his dead metallic carcass hauled
halfway round the world to be reactivated for the film’s final throwdown.
Bay knows his audience (teenage boys) and gives them exactly want they want — explosions, sophomoric humor and Megan Fox, whose cleavage should get a
separate credit, as it appears so often on screen here. On the plus side, John
Turturro provides much-needed comic relief as a disgraced government agent
looking for redemption. On the down side, the robots Skids and Mudflap are the
most offensive racial stereotypes since Amos and Andy. Of course, you may not
notice any of this, as the bludgeoning Bay inflicts is relentless. The only
thing bigger than the film’s decibel level is its emptiness.
Contact Chuck Koplinski at ckoplinski@usd116.org.
This article appears in Jul 2-8, 2009.
