Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen review

Happy Monday movie geeks!
I saw Transformers 2 on Saturday, and I wanted to give you my opinion about the movie. I have read reviews that said "horrible," "worst movie ever," and "absolutely terrible." So, does Michael Bay's newest explosion fest earn those wonderful words of encouragement? Not quite.

The movie revolves around Optimus Prime leading a group of Autobots and human soldiers to hunt down the remaining Decepticons and eliminate them. During that time, Sam Whitwicke (Shiah Lebeuf) is off to college without his insanely hot girlfriend, Macaleh (Megan Fox). Meanwhile, the Decepticons are trying to resurrect Megatron (voiced by Hugo Weaving) so they can destroy the solar system and serve a new, mysterious Decepticon called the Fallen. Sam touches a piece of the all-spark cube from the first movie and quickly becomes the key to finding what the Decepticons and Autobots are after. For the finale, everyone collides in Egypt for a final showdown.

First off, despite some of the really, really harsh reviews, I want to say this movie wasn't that bad. It was a typical summer blockbuster popcorn flick that had crazy amounts of explosions, hot actors and robot fights that were unlike anything seen on the bigscreen. The special effects were incredible, and truly, nearly saved the movie. There is one scene at the beginning beginning that introduces Optimus that is breathtaking. There is also a great fight scene between Optimus and 3 other Decepticons that had me blown away.

Also, besides the special effects, they did try to make it a bit easier to tell who was who in this film, but it was still tough during some of the fight scenes. I would also say the movie was simply more than the first one, in every way. There was more screen time and dialogue for the big draws, the robots than the first film, there was more character development than the first one and there was more action.

Now, that being said, the bad parts of the first movie were worse in the second one, as well. Shiah Lebeuf's parents were terribly annoying, and they added another annoying character in Sams college roommate. The worst part, however, were the twins, Sideswipe and Mudflap. These characters were described as the Jar-Jar Binks of Transfomers, and I think that is completely accurate. As far as racial stereotypes, they seem to focus on it, without going to offensive.

Besides the really annoying characters, Michael Bay's technique of a series of incredibly quick, nauseating shots was in full swing in this movie, making it hard to keep up with the action. While this technique is often very effective during an action scene, separated by long shots to calm the audience back down, that does not happen here, it is nothing but quick cuts that leaves the audience a bit green around the gills and very dizzy by the end. I don't have any problems with the technique, but when you have incredible, groundbreaking special effects, why cut the movie so the audience can't sit and appreciate them?

So, is this movie the worst movie of the year? Absolutely not. Is this movie going to win any Academy Awards, especially since there are now 10 slots? Absolutely not. This movie is simply one giant, 2 and a half hour explosion of fighting robots and stuff blowing up, so as long as your not looking for a smart movie, you'll be ok here.

I would encourage you to take some Dramamine if your going to the IMAX version of this movie, or maybe just drink enough so you get dizzy, and if your lucky, it will counteract the effects of the movie.

Overall, I enjoyed what was simply a fun, stupid popcorn movie.
I give it a 6 out of 10

FUN FACT: Attending a preview of the film, Steven Spielberg is reported to have said upon seeing Devastator in the Giza Guerrilla, "That is fucking awesome!" Michael Bay was proud of the fact that he could make the normally well-mannered Spielberg swear.

Year One bombs, The Proposel Wins!

Happy Monday, movie geeks!
To start things off this week, we're going to look at how last week went for some new movies and some old ones.

The Proposal got first place with a decent $34.1 million, which isn't too shabby, considering the film only had a budget of $40 million. Once again, both Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds show they can bring in the crowd.
The Hangover, one of the funniest movies of the year took second place on its third week with an impressive $26.8 million, which is amazing considering the total is over $150 million for a movie with a $35 million budget. Clearly there will be atleast 10 more of these made in the coming years.
Disney/Pixar's Up got a handsome third place, showing the movie has some real staying power with a total of $21.3 million.
Year One comes in a dismal fourth place with $20.2 million, which could struggle to get its $60 million budget back.

Star Trek is still in the seventh spot, refusing to drop out of the top 10 with a $4.7 million dollar showing. Clearly the new trekkies are just as passionate as the old ones.

So, now, that we know how last week did, its time to put on the Great Kevini hat of predicting stuff. (I'm still working on the name) Transfomers 2 is set to be released on Friday, which will pretty much desimate the movies I listed above, but how high will it go? The first movie got a $70 million opening weekend, and considering sequels generally do better, I'm going with a $86 million opening weekend.

So, given all the hype, are you going to brave the predicted crowds, or are you waiting?
I don't know if I can wait, but if the crowds are bad, I may have to pull a week-day viewing next week.