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At The Movies: Transformers - Revenge Of The Fallen. The first Transformers movie was a big, and most satisfying surprise for me, not being a fan of the source material (guess I missed that trend somehow), so the big question is this: does the second movie live up to the expectations?
Not quite.
Don't get me wrong. This isn't Star Trek V, or even a disappointment on the scale of Spider-man III or X-Men The Last Stand, but the first big-screen Autobots Vs Decepticons cast a big, BIG shadow, and ...Revenge Of The Fallen doesn't quite manage to get out from under that.
So, what's wrong? Very little, in fact. There are maybe too many slow-motion explosions, and sometimes the FX don't quite hold up - also, there's not a lot of build-up, not that it's really needed this time around. Movie 1 made you wait for the big reveals, such as the first appearance of Optimus Prime, but since that was all done before, we just go ploughing straight into the action, as humans and Autobots go Decepticon-hunting...
Now, hang on a minute - I think I see the flaw. The 'bots, of whatever alignment, look much better, and more believeable in the dark, but 95% of their appearances are in full daylight. That could be the flaw that lets this production down, albeit only by a very small amount.
But, apart from all that... your money is not wasted. The action gets going straight away, as I said, and the scale of that opening makes it easily the equal of any other movie's finale. "Scale" is very much the operative word, and even Autobots get dwarfed by some of the new hardware in this movie. This allows for a different perspective in some of the fight scenes; instead of humans cowering as giant robots kick each other's asses, giant robots scale even bigger robots (outside AND inside)!
Oh, hang on - thought of another niggle: the two comedy sidekick Autobots. Sorry, they were just annoying.
Not coming across as a Transformers-basher, am I? I certainly hope not. This movie is fun, and that's the important thing. I went, I saw, I enjoyed - it just feels that, this year, the blockbusters aren't trying quite as hard. Maybe Iron Man and The Dark Knight really were that good.
The Verdict... Still a good, no-nonsense blockbuster. Big robots fight. Stuff explodes. Not a socio-political critique of the contemporary urban zeitgeist - but what did you expect? Sit back and enjoy, or go watch something else. 8/10
Elsewhat... New story posting slips a day. I'm tired. Sorry. At least writing is getting done.
Oh, and hasn't Family Guy already done the "I Got A Golden Ticket" thing before...?
Not quite.
Don't get me wrong. This isn't Star Trek V, or even a disappointment on the scale of Spider-man III or X-Men The Last Stand, but the first big-screen Autobots Vs Decepticons cast a big, BIG shadow, and ...Revenge Of The Fallen doesn't quite manage to get out from under that.
So, what's wrong? Very little, in fact. There are maybe too many slow-motion explosions, and sometimes the FX don't quite hold up - also, there's not a lot of build-up, not that it's really needed this time around. Movie 1 made you wait for the big reveals, such as the first appearance of Optimus Prime, but since that was all done before, we just go ploughing straight into the action, as humans and Autobots go Decepticon-hunting...
Now, hang on a minute - I think I see the flaw. The 'bots, of whatever alignment, look much better, and more believeable in the dark, but 95% of their appearances are in full daylight. That could be the flaw that lets this production down, albeit only by a very small amount.
But, apart from all that... your money is not wasted. The action gets going straight away, as I said, and the scale of that opening makes it easily the equal of any other movie's finale. "Scale" is very much the operative word, and even Autobots get dwarfed by some of the new hardware in this movie. This allows for a different perspective in some of the fight scenes; instead of humans cowering as giant robots kick each other's asses, giant robots scale even bigger robots (outside AND inside)!
Oh, hang on - thought of another niggle: the two comedy sidekick Autobots. Sorry, they were just annoying.
Not coming across as a Transformers-basher, am I? I certainly hope not. This movie is fun, and that's the important thing. I went, I saw, I enjoyed - it just feels that, this year, the blockbusters aren't trying quite as hard. Maybe Iron Man and The Dark Knight really were that good.
The Verdict... Still a good, no-nonsense blockbuster. Big robots fight. Stuff explodes. Not a socio-political critique of the contemporary urban zeitgeist - but what did you expect? Sit back and enjoy, or go watch something else. 8/10
Elsewhat... New story posting slips a day. I'm tired. Sorry. At least writing is getting done.
Oh, and hasn't Family Guy already done the "I Got A Golden Ticket" thing before...?
