Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen: It’s been a while since my last review on Lightness. In my defense, I’ve been in Monte-Carlo for the last 6 months where theatres only offer movies in french. Now I don’t know about you, but for me watching dubbed flicks should be considered a felony. Luckily, my long journey through the desert came to an end last night when I attended the opening of the Monte-Carlo Summer Theater for Transformers 2. Before I start reviewing the movie, I’d just like to say this open air theatre is something else. Located right under the beautiful Oceanographic Museum on a terrace hanging 50 meters over the Mediterranean, this venue is truly unique. As I sat in my comfortable armchair enjoying a cold beer, Tex Avery cartoons started rolling which immediately made me think of those drive-in movie theatres. Of course, me being me, I was worried about what the sound quality might be. But as soon as the movie got underway, my negative thoughts were washed away by the sweet sound of DTS. So there I was, in almost perfect conditions to watch the movie I’d been waiting for all year. The first time I saw Transformers, I thought it was too loud, too fast, too long and pretty much “too everything”. I’m not a huge fan of action flicks unless they’ve got a certain amount of “charm”. And I had to watch it a couple more times to start enjoying it. I’d read a lot of critics for this sequel before seeing it, and most of them could describe my initial impressions for the first movie. But I have to say, I was surprisingly pleased by Transformers 2. For one, it was great to see all the characters back together again and excuse me for saying but I am one of those who actually enjoy Shia Laboeuf’s performances. As for the robots, all the new additions were pretty kick ass especially on the Decepticon side. Now this being a Michael Bay flick, we’re a long way from being spared the gigantic plot holes, the presidential envoy character on a mission to shut down any rational effort to save the planet and of course the big cheesy moment where the main character is brought back to life with a kiss. Not to mention that according to Bay, half the college population in America is made out of blissfully hot skanks (what am I still doing in Europe?). But all of these elements aren’t really a problem since you’d be stupid not to be expecting them in the first place. On the plus side, I really wasn’t expecting any of the jokes to make me giggle, but I have to confess I got caught laughing (out loud!) more than a few times! But more importantly, I have to say Michael Bay has managed to make these robots and explosions as real as they can get. From that point of view, Transformers 2 is truly a work of art and the huge budget really shows on the screen. Unfortunately, 4 beers and an hour forty five of metal on metal action into it, the movie started losing a lot of steam. I remember looking at my watch about an hour and a half into it and thinking “Thank god there’s still an hour left cuz I can’t get enough of this!”. And wouldn’t you know it, right after that the whole gang gets sent to the Egyptian desert in some half-assed Benjamin Gates (which is already less than half an ass) type treasure hunt. And everything from that point just keeps dragging on, especially since parts of the last act seem very similar to parts of the first installment (i.e. Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson in a sandy ruin shooting ineffective bullets toward robots). Now I don’t know what’s up with summer blockbusters this year, but I’ve seen Terminator: Salvation and this ending blows just as much! Although I’ve enjoyed both movies, it just seems the writers were in an awful hurry to finish the last page. The huge “mano a mano” duel (I guess “robo a robo” would be more appropriate) you’d be expecting ends up being a huge disappointment. Why would you leave an audience hanging in the wind like that? The last 10 minutes are just an excuse to wrap up the movie. Even Optimus Prime’s end monologue/message to outer space feels more like a “tweet” (As in 140 characters maximum!). So, all in all, my feelings are mixed about Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I had a lot of fun during most of the movie and I can honestly say that the special effects were unbelievably gorgeous. My expectations weren’t that high from the start and I guess it’s achieved what Popcorn movies are supposed to so I’d give the movie by itself a 7 out of 10. As for the overall experience (Open air theatre and all), I’d say it’s closer to a big fat 9.
Nicolaï BK
