Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases

Updates:

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen (2009)

Director: Michael Bay

Time Out rating

Average user rating

98 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

With this cash-cow sequel to his widely derided, hugely succesful original, Michael Bay comes closer than any director in history to boiling the blockbuster down to its most basic components: PG-violence, safe sex and special effects. And while it would be hard to make a case for ‘Revenge of the Fallen’ as ‘good’ in any normal sense of the word, it possesses such brute force that the viewer is left with two options: surrender, or suffer in silence.

The first hour is essentially ‘Maxim: the Movie’, a parade of sweaty denim, product placement and gadgets, punctuated with eardrum-rupturing action and increasingly tiresome gags. The story is largely absent, as Shia LaBeouf’s Sam Witwicky heads to college, only to find himself suffering spasmodic, brain-scrambling visions which seem to have some connection to the ongoing Transformer war.

Somehow, a total absence of narrative logic doesn’t feel like an insult to the viewers’ intelligence: it’s not that the writers believe their audience are too stupid to notice the gaping holes in the plot; it’s just that they know they don’t give a damn. And Bay’s direction offers sparks of genuine invention, including a stunning break-in involving a metallic cougar and a herd of smart ball bearings.

Then somewhere around the mid point, it begins to come together. A smash-and-plunder forest battle ups the action ante, and the return of John Turturro adds a lightness of tone which is totally lacking in LaBeouf and Megan Fox. Perhaps it’s just that the sheer volume and ferocity of the thing becomes impossible to resist, but by the climactic desert conflict, in which the entire Valley of the Kings is razed to the ground, the film has become so utterly lunatic, so breathtakingly, boneheadedly brazen, that it’s easier just to give in.

Author: Tom Huddleston 2009-06-16 12:09:28

Time Out London issue 2026, June 18 - 24, 2008

Bookmark

User reviews of this film

Jake said...

Posted on Jul 01 2009 14:42 Ugh. The action scenes were terrible, the plot holes obvious, the attempts at jokes pathetic, and the use of sex to sell overdone. I'd rate it 1, but bumblebee was awesome. The only thing about the film that was good WAS bumblebee.

Report as inappropriate
usman khawaja said...

Posted on Jul 01 2009 05:24 nauseating use of sound and light -while the first part had some tongue-in-cheek banter and endearing robots -this was just a seriously retarded piece of junk like a juvenile delinquent had directed the clumsy script while on speed .
it gave me a blinding headache and i liked the first part -had to walk out midway -it is a blatantly exploitative hollywood chain reaction

Report as inappropriate
Midge said...

Posted on Jul 01 2009 00:40 Don't waste your money on this film, it's rubbish. Nothing wrong with the cursing, it's just a complete load of rubbish, the script, the acting, the direction, atrocious! Not worth a rating, just don't bother going to see it, save your money and time for something less dull.

Report as inappropriate
gene said...

Posted on Jun 30 2009 11:30 and one other thing....at least starscream didnt use his wristwatch in the movies like he did in the cartoon hahaha

Report as inappropriate
Otto said...

Posted on Jun 30 2009 06:54 On the plus side: Unlimited budget and competent CGI work. On the negative: Crappy writing, no competent military technical oversight (White Sands Missile Range Helicopter in Egypt?), no continuity, impossible location scene jumps (Petra Jordan then the Pyramids), lame creature development (Hot Chick decepticon and the SR-71 Scotsmen/Irish(?) decepticon/autobot. Much of this battle scene appears as if it was filmed during the first movie and simply left out. I see now why the South Park guys dislike Michael Bey so much. He doesn't make very good action movies. (Although I liked the Island for some reason).
This movie may have well been a cartoon with the less than sophmorish plot and humor. Please don't rush to spend your movie money on this film unitl it shows up at a dollar theater or even better, HBO.

Report as inappropriate
gene said...

Posted on Jun 30 2009 00:35 this movie was wild man i give it five. i got what i paid for. the first time around not one person seemed disappointed. there was laughter at just about every joke and even an applause at the end. people who did not like it are retarded they should have known what they were getting into, being it was a michael bay film. you people go to these movies only to ruin it for others. piss off. and if youre takin your 11 year old to a pg-13 and come out feeling it was inappropriate for them....then youre an idiot.
the fight scenes were tight. i was pleased everyones performance. i enjoyed the story that is apparently absent. i just sat back, watched the movie and thought it was simply amazing.
if you people wanted some amazing story go watch green mile or schindler's list.

Report as inappropriate
Monica said...

Posted on Jun 29 2009 23:09 Go ahead and blast me for this but you should understand that the rating included sexual humor, language, and violence. Rated PG-13 you got me. So it will be the parents fault for taking their 12 and under kids to see this movie, NOT Bay's. Intentionally, Bay wanted to target teens 13 and over with maturity with in them. So kids under 13 aren't yet to mature enough to see this movie.That's why kids under that age have the cartoons of Transformers, duh! As for my review, I give it 5/5 stars because there was continuous fighting, awesome effects, and just plain out kick ass.

Report as inappropriate
Kaanthan said...

Posted on Jun 29 2009 19:29 THIS FILM IS AWESOME ...... i luv this .... and MEGAN FOX IS ONE SEXY LADY ...... Fighting scenes were made to perfection.... BUMBBLE BEE WAS TO GOOD ..... and my rating fot this is out of 100 is 100 ..... LUV THIS MOVIE

Report as inappropriate
Martin said...

Posted on Jun 29 2009 19:00 Well I thought that this film was amazing, I think there's far too many people who can't just sit back and watch things get blown up

Report as inappropriate
Sam said...

Posted on Jun 29 2009 16:10 I found the first film fun, but I loved this one, I thought some of the lines were funny as hell, but thats me, maybe my sence of Humor is different to many other people.. Anywho, I think this film is just pure awesomeness

Report as inappropriate
lee said...

Posted on Jun 29 2009 15:41 are some of tou people mad this film was brilliant i really enjoyed it i cant wait until the next 1 comes out this 1 was funny a bit darker than the first 1 its really entertaining id go and see this film every day if i could and its my next dvd to buy the 2 disc special edition of course and if some of you people didnt notice its a 12 rated film for a reason like the language its not the first 12 rated film ive seen which has some language anyway this film is awesome i highly reccomend it

Report as inappropriate
yarnigras said...

Posted on Jun 29 2009 14:39 We LOVED the first flick but were disappointed with this one. At our theater, after you bought your ticket, they had another sign inside, by the actual theater, that rated it an "R" for the sex and language. Totally NOT a kid flick. Saying 'f-ing' and pussy, etc. is NOT PG 13 language, nor is a crotch shot of the cougar-bot chick. Oh, and the mom getting stoned just wasn't needed.
The 2 idiot robots ruined it for our kids....I mean, come ON. Even our kids (11 and 13) thought it was too long and convoluted. Oh....and our kids kept asking 'what did Megan Fox do to her LIPS?' They could TELL what she'd done to her boobs. Too bad, she is lovely and didn't need either of those features enhanced, so to speak.

Report as inappropriate
Fsm said...

Posted on Jun 29 2009 00:38 Disney channel plot (going away to college, bumbling parents, OMG CO-ED DORM?!, nerds going to parties?!, shia le boeuf) made me cringe at moments. Entire theater was silenced often when shia attempted some jokes. Hottie with short shorts brought it back for me. Would vote 2.5 stars if I could.

Report as inappropriate
lokgolo said...

Posted on Jun 28 2009 23:40 I loved the first movie. It was so well done, from everything from Shia's witty comments to each of the robots having a wonderful personality to the ending with the epic battle for the cube. With that said, I'm slightly disappointed in this movie. I loved it, but it could have been just as good as the first one. The plot was sketchy and didn't flow well, Shia and Megan were both lacking in their formerly bubbly, witty comments and character, as well as a lack of character development for the res of the cast. The other transformers were also lacking in appearance and charater all together. One perk was to see Optimus's real potential. He truely shined and stood out from the rest of the Transformers. The sexual humor and cursing were used more than necessary, though there were a handful of brilliant moments with these items. The SFX were still just as stunning as the first, I'm still slightly disappointed in this. I left me with a sort of empty feeling, as if the movie didn't accomplish what it was meant to.

Report as inappropriate
J Autobot23 said...

Posted on Jun 28 2009 23:04 In my opinion, this sequal is like the dinner menu in your fav restaurant. Looks great in the menu, but when they bring you the food, u scratch your head and wonder why they brought you a totally different dish! On top of that, I made the mistake of bringing my kid and paying for 2 tickets just to hear a whole gob of things that any kid regardless of age should hear and scenes that had sexual content. THIS WAS SUPPOSE TO BE A COOL MOVIE FOR KIDS AND GR8 SPECIAL EFFECTS AND CAR ADS FOR PARENTS ! ! !

Report as inappropriate