A little less than 10 hours ago, I got out of a midnight showing of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The theater was surprisingly empty (it was not even half-full) and the audience was excited in a low-key, pleasant sort of way. When the movie was finished, people were subdued as they exited the theater, benignly bemoaning the two and a half hour run-time as a few got in line for the 3:30 am showing.
It was basically how I felt about the movie. Probably the best thing about the first Transformers was that it knew it was ridiculous: it was charming and preposterous and genuinely funny. This time around, the comedy takes a back seat to the action and lots of it falls flat. The plot is more mainstream (though no less convoluted), the main characters are played straight, which some of the actors can pull off and some of them can’t: a few marriage proposals were shouted out to Megan Fox when she appeared onscreen, but they clearly weren’t for her talents as an actress.
The Transformers themselves are still incredible to watch, less so after two hours, but there were a few well-deserved oohs and ahhs during battle scenes.
After seeing the movie, I wasn’t moved to any kind of passionate critical opinion – I wouldn’t warn people against it, but I wouldn’t quite recommend it, either.
–Sylvia