Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – Review (Special FX take center stage)

Movie: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen * 32 Images * Gecko Links * Official Site	In Theaters: June 24, 2009
Runtime: 150 minutes	Directed by: Michael Bay
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action, violence, language, some crude and sexual material, and brief drug material	Gecko Rating:

It’s best if you go into "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" expecting nothing more than a big action flick with giant robots, because that’s pretty much what it is. The special effects are darn awesome, but the plot can be summed up by saying that two factions of warring robots battle it out on earth, and the humans get involved. Yeah, that’s pretty much it.

But let’s start at the beginning. After a brief bit of Transformers history, we learn that Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) is heading off to college. His dad (Kevin Dunn) is happy to have him out of the house and plans to make his room into a home theater. His mom (Julie White) is weeping hysterically and wandering around with Sam’s baby shoes draped around her neck.

Working at her dad’s motorcycle shop is Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox), Sam’s girlfriend from the first movie. Of course, our first shot of her is sitting seductively over a motorcycle doing some custom paint work, wearing a skimpy top and short shorts.

I thought to myself, there’s no way that anyone doing that sort of work would be doing it in that position! And my thoughts on the rest of the movie were much the same. Somewhere around half-way through, I finally stopped myself from thoughts that started with, "There’s no way…" and started thinking, "It’s a movie about giant robots! It doesn’t have to be realistic! It’s not GOING to be realistic!"

And from that point on, I started to enjoy the movie for what it is: a big action flick about two warring factions of giant robots.

There’s a plot buried in there somewhere: As Sam is packing to go to college, an ancient object drops out of his belongings and a complex series of symbols is transported into Sam’s brain. He’s obsessed with getting these symbols out, whether it’s in the middle of a class or in his dorm room, where he maniacally starts scribbling the symbols on chalkboards and walls.

His roommate, Leo (Ramon Rodriguez), is cute but kind of nerdy, running a YouTube-type web site with a bunch of other nerds. They’ve heard rumors of giant robots, but Sam tries to tell them there’s no truth to any of it. But of course, we know there is.

In the first movie, the central thing was the AllSpark; in this movie, it’s the Matrix. I’m still not really sure exactly what it does – oh yeah, take out the earth’s sun – but it’s up to Sam and his team of Autobots (the good guys), including Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) and Bumblebee (Sam’s guardian angel, who’s been living in his garage) to defeat the Decepticons (the bad guys) before the planet is wiped out.

And there are humans helping out, as well. John Turturro plays a disgraced government agent who gets back into the game, and Josh Duhamel is Captain Lennox, leader of a Special Forces troop.

After two and a half hours of ear-splitting, robot-on-robot action, you’ll probably leave the theater feeling like you’ve been through a war yourself. Like I said, it’s best if you just sit back and enjoy the special effects ride. The robots are pretty cool – and complex with all of their shiny parts that transform into other things.

NOTE TO PARENTS: There are a lot of things about this movie that just aren’t appropriate for kids, including two goofy, smallish robots who spout phrases like "get up in that ass." Lots of cleavage, dogs humping each other, a tiny robot humping a human (is humping ever funny? I think not), and frat-talk at college.

Violence includes nonstop robot battles, gunfire, explosions, and hand-to-hand combat. There’s also a scene where a parent mistakenly eats some marijuana brownies and starts acting loopy and babbling incoherently. Mildly amusing, but not something you want to kids to see. For all these reasons, this movie is best for kids 15 and older.

Image: © 2009 DW Studios L.L.C. and Paramount Pictures Corporation. All Rights Reserved.