The Transformers Sequel: Does It Suck?

[ShadowFyre]

I saw it twice, once in a regular theater and once on IMAX. I went in knowing exactly what to expect, being it's a Michael Bay movie that is based on a cartoon. I went to see it with an open mind and refused to listen to any negative reviews.

Did I like it? Yes, it was a decent movie. I also agree that the movie focused a bit too much on the human characters. It is supposed to be all about giant robots that transform and beat on each other. I didn't think that the movie dragged on, however. I felt that the pacing was good enough to keep my attention without looking at my watch.

Were there plot holes? Yes there were, but if you watch the cartoon, there were many plot holes in that as well. I felt that the new autobots really needed to be better developed. As for the Twins, Mudflap and Skids? I thought they were ok and had some good lines, but there were other autobots that would have filled the screen better.

Overall, I thought it was a fun movie, though I do agree that the first was better overall, but this one had better action sequences between the robots.

Just remember one line: "I'll take you ALL on!" When you see where that line is in the movie, you will see what I mean about the fighting between the robots.

 

[Lonestar327]

I remember that line, that scene was incredible.

But as a member of the general movie watch public, allow me to pose this question to all, if Michael Bay was working this film, if say, action/sci-fi director man, (cant really think of anyone) did the first one and this one, would your opinion change?

To futher debate this, these movies are that bad, why do they keep making money? Why do DVD sales and ticket sales go through the roof? Wouldn't word of mouth kill them?

 

[Dussicar]

change those actor names and you have just explained 70% of movies

There is a defined difference between formulaic and "Insult to my intelligence."

Other movies tend repeat the last one adnauseum until our theatres are filled with crap. Michael Bay tends to do even less than that adding unellegant, oversimplified, and belicose elements to his own movies.

as slacker or krazie dog said you hate michael bay because people on the internet say its cool

Actually, in my defense, I disliked Bay LONG before it was the thing to do. I didn't know about the net bashing thing. I guess this kind of makes me a trailblazer.

 

[syzygy]

If you loved the 80's Transformers, then you'll enjoy the hell out of this one. It harkens back to the old 80's movie. And, as for bringing Megatron back to life...well of course, it's been done in one Transformers movie, why not another?

 

[Redmage]

I saw it this weekend, and it reminded me of an old Southern saying.

"Ya know, Clancy, that weren't half bad."
"Weren't half good neither, Chauncy."

That about sums up Transformers 2: Not half bad, but not half good. SFX were technically awesome, but the cutting was so rapid that often you couldn't see what was happening. There basically was no plot to speak of, just a series of scenes each designed to justify the explosions that followed.

If you ask nothing more of a movie than explosions, awesome CGI robots, and Megan Fox in short shorts, then you'll like this movie. If you want anything else at all, then you'll be disappointed.

 

[-Hari-]

(POTENTIAL SPOILERS IN RED)

I recommend it, ive been to see it twice and il probably go again.

I thought it was brillient, I LOVE transformers, I played with them as I was growing up and on my 21st birthday, I was bought the latest Optimus Prime as I was dragged by the scruff of my neck into adulthood 😛

The first film was amazing and my friends and I who used to play together when we were younger all went and it kinda made us feel like we were back in my living room pretending sofas were mountains and tables were bases for our multitude of Transformers.

The film was never going to be like the cartoon and im glad cause it just wouldnt had worked and it would have put a tint on whats already been done.

I dont think they could have done it much differently. The humour is cheesy but its entertaining and keeps the film fun, cause too much seriousness could have ruined it too.

I like how they keep hinting on things about older versions of the story, like the the optimus/jetfire merge, and how cocky sideswipe was, and the relationship between megatron and starsceam (which they do alot better in this second film) Its a good film and I cant wait for the next one 😀

 

[TheTickleMonster]

i thought the movie was amazinggggggg. I can't say that it was better than the first, but it wasn't worse..

what would maybe make me consider this movie better is that they don't have to explain the transformers got there, it was action packed from the beginning, The first one it took them an hour to get all the main transformers there. So that could make this one better, but anyways. This movie was really funny. I loved the twins and the ice cream truck, hecka funny. And I think it was just really well done. And I think Michael Bay is an Amazing director.

 

[Tiger.Lily]

That about sums up Transformers 2: Not half bad, but not half good. SFX were technically awesome, but the cutting was so rapid that often you couldn't see what was happening. There basically was no plot to speak of, just a series of scenes each designed to justify the explosions that followed.

If you ask nothing more of a movie than explosions, awesome CGI robots, and Megan Fox in short shorts, then you'll like this movie. If you want anything else at all, then you'll be disappointed.

Bingo!

Basically, you go for the explosions and the transforming robots. The plot is crap. The dialogue is cheesy. But the robots are badass and the special effects are wicked.

 

[Marquis De Sade]

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[Shade]

It kinda did. I liked the first one a lot better. This one was wayyyyyyy too long. The light comedy touches from the first one were way over done on the sequel, with the Witwicky's in particular being turned into full on hyperactive caricatures.

The acting was...suitable, I suppose. No one goes to a movie like this for nuance. I like Shia LeBeouf, but he's held hostage by a script that doesn't require him so much to act as exist in a state of perpetual panic. Megan Fox does what is asked of her, which is basically to look hot. I thought the objectification of women, even for a Michael Bay action movie, was hilariously over the top (witness the very first shot of Megan Fox, bent over on a motorcycle in shorts that Daisy Duke would reject on the grounds of good taste). Other than Sam's mom, I'm not sure there's a single girl in this movie who isn't an aspiring Maxim cover model, even the extras.

The robot fights were cool, seemed a lot more intricate than the first one. I wanted more of Devestator, The Fallen, and Sideswipe, who I felt had the best designs. But there were way too many bots for me to follow. Feels like they fell victim to Mortal Kombat: Annihilation Syndrome, in which they try to jam in as many characters as they can, resulting in most of them being given short shrift.

Jetfire was probably my favourite part of the whole flick. Really like the idea of the older Autobots, hope it gets explored more in the next sequel. On the flip side of the coin, I wanted to murder Mudflap and Skidz the second the showed up on screen. I can't believe they actually gave a robot a monkey face and gold tooth. I damn near gave a standing ovation when the one of them got sucked up by Devestator. Then the bastard came back.

It's like a 4/10 for me. The robot battles were cool, everything else, not so much.

 

[MrMacphisto]

This movie suffered what I call... The Phantom Syndrome.

What I mean is, this movie sucked in the same ways that Phantom Menace did. Clearly, Lucas was looking to cash in on younger viewers with that movie, and that's basically what Michael Bay did with this one.

In the Phantom Menace, there was the loathsome Jar Jar Binks. In Transformers 2, you have two "twin" robots that are basically really bad ghetto stereotypes. In both cases, these characters were useless and would have been forgettable if they weren't so annoying. In addition, Transformers 2 also had a completely useless Hispanic roommate character for Shia.

In the first Transformers, the humor was well-timed and well-written. In this movie, there is an obsession with genitals that was funny the first time or so, but by the time a visual joke is made with one of the robots having two seemingly random dangling wreckingballs, you can't help but groan.

Like the Phantom Menace, this movie would be about ten times better if all the annoying parts were edited out. The movie would also be about half as long and mostly composed of really cool action scenes.

Another major mistake Bay makes with this one is that he very feebly attempts to develop the relationship between Shia's and Megan Fox's characters. Whoever wrote the screenplay penned some lines that are possibly worse than the awkward "sand gets everywhere" conversation in Attack of the Clones.

In the first movie, the parents of the main character were thankfully given very brief scenes and very little screen time. They functioned well as one-dimensional foils. In the second movie, Bay makes the mistake of making them more significant.

The mother of the main character is exceptionally annoying, and even when giving some leniency to her because of the bad lines she has, she's still a terrible actress. To give you an idea of how bad she is, Megan Fox out-acts her.

The plot holes in the first movie were tolerable, but this movie has Grand Canyon size ones.

Overall, the movie has kind of a schizophrenic feel to it, alternating between serious action sequences and melodrama, and penis-esque jokes and weak comedic lines in the next moment. I haven't seen a movie this conflicted in style since "A.I."

If you do go out to see it, it probably helps to be a little drunk and willing to quietly joke with friends during the awkwardly bad melodramatic scenes and the middle school jokes (and any of the scenes with the "twins".)

Oh yeah, I won't give too much away here, but there is a part that will have you thinking... "Wow, somebody ripped off Terminator 3."

And another thing... Jetfire was pretty annoying after a while.

 

[TheTickleMonster]

In the first Transformers, the humor was well-timed and well-written. In this movie, there is an obsession with genitals that was funny the first time or so, but by the time a visual joke is made with one of the robots having two seemingly random dangling wreckingballs, you can't help but groan.


If you do go out to see it, it probably helps to be a little drunk and willing to quietly joke with friends during the awkwardly bad melodramatic scenes and the middle school jokes (and any of the scenes with the "twins".)

And another thing... Jetfire was pretty annoying after a while.

okay, apparently all of the audience when i went to see it disagrees with you about the genitals jokes... i believe atleast most of us in the audience found the part where "one of the rombots having two seeminlgy random dangling wreckingballs" very funny.

And I loved the Twins. I thought they were hillarious. And Jetfire wasn't that annoying, he wasn't in the movie that much. He had what? 3 scenes? You must get annoyed too easily.

 

[MrMacphisto]

okay, apparently all of the audience when i went to see it disagrees with you about the genitals jokes... i believe atleast most of us in the audience found the part where "one of the rombots having two seeminlgy random dangling wreckingballs" very funny.

And I loved the Twins. I thought they were hillarious. And Jetfire wasn't that annoying, he wasn't in the movie that much. He had what? 3 scenes? You must get annoyed too easily.

Admittedly, I'm not exactly the target audience for this movie.

 

[Goodieluver]

okay, apparently all of the audience when i went to see it disagrees with you about the genitals jokes... i believe atleast most of us in the audience found the part where "one of the rombots having two seeminlgy random dangling wreckingballs" very funny.

And I loved the Twins. I thought they were hillarious. And Jetfire wasn't that annoying, he wasn't in the movie that much. He had what? 3 scenes? You must get annoyed too easily.

Thats prob the same type of crowd that were snickering and obsessing over Manhattan's junk in Watchmen

 

[Korastus]

I liked the movie. The plot was nothing special, and some of the dialogue was kind of stiff, but it was fun to watch. The robots looked great, the fights were fantastic, and it satisfied my love for Transformers.

More Megatron and Starscream dialogue was great though.
Also, I give them kudos for using the Fallen, a lesser known villain, and for having a Pretender in the film.
The 3rd movie is totally gonna have Unicron in it. I don't even care what complaints people have about it.

 

[Dussicar]

So, the bottom line is that Transformers 2 is a lot like X- Men 3, am I right?

 

[Goodieluver]

This will have spoilers but then again i would assume people who havent seen it wouldn't be here

I found a good copy and watched, my views

Movie entirely too long
Was awesome they included skyfire\jetfire but woulda liked if they would have acknowledged the history between him and starscream
Heh, I got the terminator 3 nod right away.
The stupid jokes they added in just did nothing for me. From wheelie humping Fox's foot to everything with Tutorro and the wretched scenes with the parents.
Was very happy with soundwave being included and his role. I understand they didn't want to mess with the size differentials of being a boombox to whatever but this worked very well.
Im surprised they got away with 2 racial stereotype autobots(jive talking, gold tooth, the flappy ears and big eyes, to be honest, I was actually waiting for one of them to drop a N bomb when talking to the other one)
DEVASTATOR kicked ASS but his death was too cheap and easy! Also i was not pleased with how mudflap was supposedly eaten yet caused alot of damage to him. Also for his nuts, see above about cheap jokes that weren't needed

 

[Korastus]

So, the bottom line is that Transformers 2 is a lot like X- Men 3, am I right?

No. X-Men 3 failed to even be fun to watch.
Plus, Transformers 2 still portrays most of it's characters accurately, while X3 pretty much spent it's entire running time fucking up plot point after plot point.

 

[syzygy]

I'd say Transformers 2 is...hmm, well, like Superman Returns. It was a sequel with a kind of pointless plot-line, a pretty good cast (with some minor annoyances) and a whole lot of amazing action scenes. Yet, it leaves a void, almost as if the movie wasn't fully realized. Though, it is a great Summer flick.

 

[MrMacphisto]

So, the bottom line is that Transformers 2 is a lot like X- Men 3, am I right?

X-Men 3 was way better. People are harsher on that movie than is necessary.

Wolverine Origins is a better comparison, because both Transformers 2 and that movie are equally as weak.

 

[Morpheus72]

I went into this movie with a bag of popcorn and a desire to see over-the-top action and SFX. That's exactly what I got. For what it was, the movie was a great experience.

 

[Synful Pryde]

I went to this movie expecting to see a lot of giant robots smashing and blasting each other. That's what I saw, so I was satisfied. I felt that this movie was superior to the first because the action was better, the human screentime was lower, the insipid humor was less intrusive, and did I mention the action? The plot was about the same, i.e. nonexistent.

I agree with complaints that some scenes were too fast to follow, and I wished there had been more development with a half-dozen new bots rather than a nameless mob absolutely devoid of personality.
Overall, it was worth my ticket cost. I would recommend theater over home viewing.

Syn

 

[Tortuga]

Saw it last night, loved it, almost run up to the IMAX screen and humped it.

 

[ShadowFyre]

X-Men 3 was way better. People are harsher on that movie than is necessary.

Wolverine Origins is a better comparison, because both Transformers 2 and that movie are equally as weak.

We can agree to disagree. I think X3 was worse than this movie. I felt that there were more issues with X3 than there were with ROTF. As for X-Men Origins, that movie was a waste of celluloid.

 

[syzygy]

X-3 was horrible in terms of...comic book X-men...or hell even cartoon X-men. But, I think the problem with comic book fans (myself included) we're just too damn picky. We must remember, that these marvel movies don't take place in Earth 616 (regular Marvel continuity) but in a whole different universe...so, I'm willing to overlook story and character flaws.