Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

In one word - AWESOME!!!

The premiere for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was held on Tuesday 28th July 2009 & I went to see it the next day (& so did @__Sun__, @sjdvda & @tushal).

Ever since I watched Transformers (my first movie I downloaded), I knew if there was to be a sequel, it just had to be bigger, better, longer & have more explosions... & more Megan Fox! So my expectations were huge, as was my anticipation.

On its release, critics unanimously bashed the film, while the public had only one reaction - awesome! Transformers: Revenge of Fallen is up to now the highest grossing movie of 2009, with total earnings excess of $800 million.
If it was really that bad, how could it have been such a massive success?

After watching the film, there's no doubt that the critics were barking up the wrong tree.
If you were looking for drama & great acting, watch a Martin Scorsese or a Clint Eastwood! Adventure? Steven Spielberg. Dialogues & elaborate plot? Christopher Nolan. Epic movies? Peter Jackson or Ridley Scott.
But for action, explosions & CGI, there's only one man - Michael Bay!
Transformers was all about robots fighting each other. & T:ROTF gives you what you always wanted - more robots fighting each other!

The Story

The story is pretty straight-forward - the Fallen needs the Matrix of Leadership to activate a Sun Harvester on Earth to produce Energon - the energy that sustains the Transformers.

When Sam touches a shard of the All Spark, he has visions of the location of the Matrix, which actually is a riddle. The Decepticons revive Megatron & hence begins the search for the Matrix of Leadership...

Overall the story is much darker, has less humor than the first film, especially after Optimus Prime dies. Wheelie was way funnier than the Twins. There are very few quotable lines & not much character development of the humans & the Transformers. Many of them are left unnamed, which may lead to confusion. Sideswipe, Arcee & Jolt have less screen time than the Twins or Jetfire.

Original Transformers fans won't like the plot because of the great diversions from the original story (just like I hate most of the Harry Potter movies).

The CGI

T:ROTF is the movie with the best CGI ever. ILM have outdone themselves with the transformations & action scenes! From the intricate details on Optimus Prime's Peterbilt truck parts, the emotions on Bumblebee's face to the eye-popping transformation of Devastator, it's a visual feast from start to finish. Mind-blowing stuff!

Anyone spotted the R2-D2 in the movie? (Will need to watch the 720p to spot that)

The Action

The prologue - NEST (Networked Elements: Supporters and Transformers or Nonbiological Extraterrestrial Species Treaty) hunting Decepticons in Shanghai. A Terex RH-400 transforming into Demolishor. An Audi R8 (Sideways) is chased by Arcee & then sliced by Sideswipe.

Optimus Prime then makes his grand entry & takes down Demolishor! & that was just a teaser... that left everyone drooling in the cinema.

Can anyone suggest a better action movie than T:ROTF? Because there is none! Even if you didn't like the plot or the dialogues, there's no way you weren't mesmerized by those fight sequences that make you go... OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!

One thing you don't miss in Michael Bay movies is explosions! It surpasses even the Dark Knight's blowing up of Gotham's Central Hospital. T:ROTF set a Guinness Book Record for the biggest explosion on film with actors present.

The Scenery

Although that's the last thing you'd expect from Transformers, the Petra & Pyramid scenes were fantastic. The last time I saw Petra in a film was in Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade. T:ROTF was one of the rare movies which got permission to film on the Pyramids & to have aerial shots of it.

But what topped it off was Optimus Prime standing next to the Sphinx!

Optimus Prime

In T:ROTF, Optimus Prime played a much more crucial role. Right from the start with that wonderful intro scene to the forest fight, where he bravely takes on 3 Decepticons at the same time & sacrifices himself to save Sam.

& when he is resurrected into the much stronger “Jetfired” Optimus Prime that effortlessly kills the Fallen - that leaves little doubt that the star of T:ROTF is indeed Optimus Prime.

Megan Fox

Isabel Lucas

The other hot asset of T:ROTF. Too bad she was killed. ;)

The Soundtrack

Despite all the on-screen action, I still managed to keep track of the background score. There were gems like Prime & Tomb of the Primes & of course parts of New Divide. & finally, at the end of the film came the moment I was most waiting for, the complete track of New Divide! Superb achievement from Steve Jablonsky & Hans Zimmer.

Faults?

The only thing that sucked in this film was that it was in French. I tried hard to find mistakes, but there's not much.
- According to moviemistakes.com, T:ROTF has the most mistakes than any other movie. But frankly, when you are so engrossed in the action, you never notice these! You can check the trivia here.
- The General Morshower that was watching over NEST is the same general who was at the Qatar base when it was attacked by Blackout, leaving no survivors.
- Footage from the first film was used for two scenes - the Predator flying & protoforms travelling through space.
- In the forest scene, that's not Blackout revived, but it's another Decepticon Grindor.
- How come Bumblebee never recognises Alice as a Pretender? It seems to me that Transformers are undetectable by other Transformers when they go in camouflage mode. Only humans can detect them via radioactive signature.
- Why does the AllSpark transforms machines into Decepticons? Remember that all of Earth's technology was reverse-engineered by studying Megatron.
- According to the prequel novels, The Fallen was trapped in another dimension. But the movie shows him trapped in the crashed spaceship on a planet. Probably the explanation lies in the novelization.
- Jolt (Chevrolet Volt) is not seen much throughout the movie, except for the crucial Spark exchange. According to the film-makers, it was a late addition.
- If the US Army had a secret experimental Transformer-killing weapon, why didn't they use it before? Because they didn't want the Autobots to know about that weapon!
- What happened to Wheelie?
- Autobot gender not explained! How are Transformers conceived?

Awesome!!!

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a true geek movie! It completely exceeded my expectations in all aspects, a great sequel to Transformers. Two and half hours long of mind-boggling CGI action, an exceptional soundtrack & Megan Fox eye candy, everything that leaves you wanting for more. At the end of the movie, you are left with only one word to describe it - AWESOME!!!
The biggest entertainer & the best movie I've seen this year. I enjoyed it so much that when I left the cinema, I had stomach ache because of the excess adrenaline!

Rating - 8.5/10

See you all in 2012, for the next Transformers movie. :)

The Real Effing Deal
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