Film Review: Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen

Okay, so this is a great example of a "best friend movie." Sure, structurally it isn't very well done. There's plenty of redundancy around, including redundant characters who don't add anything to the plot, contrived situations that wouldn't happen in a million years -- i..e, Shia LaBeouf can't tell Megan Fox he loves her (you've got to be kidding me -- is there a guy on the face of the planet who wouldn't tell Megan Fox he loves her, especially knowing she wants him to?); plus a teenager with a twelve foot intelligent car robot in his garage, who just wants to be left alone to live his own life? Again, you have to be kidding me. That is your life. Who wouldn't want a cool sportscar that turns into a protective robot for a best friend? And who in their right mind wouldn't take that car -- or Megan Fox -- with him to college? (The contrived explanation is that Megan Fox has to take care of her father, and that cars aren't allowed at college. Huh?) And it suffers from the same problems the first movie had -- when the robots talk, it's very difficult to understand what they're saying, and when the robots fight, they are so intricate looking that you can't figure out what is happening. Like other Michael Bay action sequences, the fighting is tedious and the least entertaining moments of the movie. Michael Bay has never been one to subscribe to the first and most basic tenets of movie making: bad movies are about plot (and special effects and action sequences and explosions etc...), great movies are about character. But the point is, it is still a very entertaining film if you like to see giant robots creating chaos and doing stuff. It's great how the Decepticons all look very very sharp. And there are some great moments of humor and fun, not to mention the first sequence at the beginning of the film which may be one of the best moments in sci fi film history... Overall, it's like your best friend. Sure, he has faults. He can't balance his checkbook all the time, flakes out on you every now and then, but ultimately, he's your best friend because you can count on him to be who he is, and you always have a lot of fun with him. You take the good and the bad because in the end, you know what you're going to get...