Transformers 2
Transformers: The Revenge of the Fallen
One big can full of junk, shining chrome and worrying undertones.
First of all it was excruciating to stay alert throught the the sheer length and fireworks of effects. Michael Bay opened fire on every single nerve of the audience and at least that’s what he did very well. What actually gives me the cramps is the weird and worrying mix of themes – was this movie intended to be a slapstick comedy, action movie, war flick or probably just a visualization of a (male) pubescent youngster?
The Good
As we all expected, the CGI effects are a dream. Although most of the time the pace is lightspeed at least and it is hard to actually see any details when the superbly animated robots bash each other through cities, deserts or woods, it is a definitely a fest for the viewer’s eyes and ears. I will have to buy the DVD just to see several scenes again in slow-motion. Velocity, moves, sounds, colors, lights, camera, everything is like taking a rollercoaster on speed - and that’s what we wanted to see. Unfortunately, that’s all that you can enjoy here (unless you are a 14 year old drooling male unconcerned by politics or human dignity).
The Bad
Oh my…where shall I start? The plot is clear…autobots vs. decepticons. We learn a little bit about their history and race, although all of it is hilarious fantasy stuff that only a six-year old will gladly accept. Who cares…the movie recreates those days when we all were six-year old boys playing with transformer models. Still, a few new ideas would have been welcome, this was just a rip-off from older movies and themes that have been used too often by now. I could see everything here from Gremlins to Stargate.
The actual story is really plain…they come back to attack. And sure…there is a key that unlocks all secrets (repels the attack) if held by the right person…umh….ok. The twists and turns of the story are rather dull and there are no surprises to be found here. Every boss of the evil robots answers to another superior until we finally meet the Fallen, the very most evil of all decepticons (who is actually a coward, letting others fight his fights, and can’t stand against revived and enhanced Megtatron for a single minute). Whatever, we have seen far worse and I can take the story as it fits the style of the funny toys from my childhood.
The Ugly
What I hated the most about this movie is the plain racist and sexist undertone shown here. The very first scene of Megan Fox posing on a bike like a pinup was a clear statement about the target audience and the image of women created in this movie. All girls at college are sexy blondes wearing hot clothes and waiting to be laid…yeah sure.
The shot of Megan wearing a burqa in the arabian desert while „hiding“ (yeah – hiding with 12m tall brightly colored robots behind you) was pure exploitation and a clear offense to the traditions and beliefs of some arab societies. Depicting the egyptian officer as a dwarf and imbecile in the following scenes showed even more how much the authors care about the values and rights of arab people and women in general. Again, the american military is depicted as omipotent and above all laws, entering foreign countries to wage their war to save the world from evil. A movie full of faecal and slapstick humor, old stereotypes, harsh violence (it’s no violence if it bleeds oil, when the heart is being ripped out, yeah yeah) and the most outrageous display of disrespect for arabs, muslims and women.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
USA 2009
Director: Michael Bay
Writers: Ehren Kruger, Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman
Genre: Action
Score: 4 von 10
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