Okay, I'm not going to start having some kind of Kermodian rant about how stupid this film is. Anybody who takes a film based on kids toys too seriously clearly needs to chill out. The first film was indeed quite stupid. It lacked any kind of logic and was absolutely devoid of subtlety. But, what it did have was fun, lots of fun. The characters were likable and the explosions and mayhem came thick and fast. There were times when the forced moments of humour threatened to derail the whole thing, but luckily, they managed to reign these moments in and get back on track. None of this can be said about the second film.
Revenge of the Fallen is nowhere near as solid in the entertainment department as the first film. Many of the supposedly humorous characters are just downright annoying. The gangster rapper style twin robots are the main culprits. I just felt embarrassed every time they came on screen.
The sad fact of the matter is that most of the so-called humour seems to have a very child-like quality to it. This would not usually be a problem with a film like this. How else are they going to get the kids to buy the toys? But when it runs alongside gags that are clearly directed at adults, and have no place being in a kids film, I really start to wander if the filmmakers even know who they are making this film for. That Steven Spielberg's name is attached only adds to the disappointment. You would think that he of all people would know better.
It's not like the film makes up for it in the action stakes either. All of the action just feels like a rehash of scenes from the first film only not as good. We are told that the big bad in this film, the Fallen of the title, can only be defeated by a Prime but absolutely no reason is given as to why this is so.
Some scenes have clearly been thrown in because some clever studio execs have said 'Like, hey guys, we need to see Megan taking her kit off'. Yeah, okay, we get it, Megan Fox is hot. Get over it! Also, at times I felt that this film was simply an advertisement for the new Green Day album. I'm not too fussed about that. I like Green Day.
So far, with the exception of Watchmen and Star Trek, this has been a terrible year for blockbusters. First Wolverine. Then Terminator: Salvation. Now this! I still enjoyed many parts of this film and I think that, due to its nature, it cannot be criticised in the same light as Wolverine and T4. I expect those films to be a lot more serious and give me something to think about. In that respect they failed. Likewise, I expected this to be a non-stop roller coaster ride of fun. While it did offer some of this I couldn't help but feel I had been cheated.
Not a bad film by any stretch of the imagination. But still somewhat disappointing.
5/10
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