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Transformers Revenge of the Fallen Review

Having learned their lesson last time, the makers of TF2 launched with an IMAX version of the movie alongside their standard release. They also made good on their promise that if the first movie did well, the second one would feature more robots, more action, and more...well, everything. Judging by fan reaction in the show I was at, they succeeded.

In my review of the first movie, I commented that there were a few things that didn't quite work for me, mostly centered around forced humor. that has been fixed this time around: John Turturro's Simmons was toned down a bit - not really changed, just less overt. The comic relief this time came from the twins, Skids and Mudflap. They were on the verge of being too much, but managed to redeem themselves by being legitimate fighters as well as trash-talkers. The product placement is still there and the sun still sets every half-hour in Michael Bay's world, but those didn't bother me the first time.

What was good the first time was good this time as well: Sam (Shia LaBeouf) hit a good balance between reluctant nerd and hero-in-waiting, Mikaela (Megan Fox) was more than just window dressing (saving Sam's life more than once, hotwiring a car when a quick escape was needed, etc.), and the Transformers themselves both looked and sounded amazing.

There was a lot of Transformers history thrown in as well, and I don't mean the backstory in the movie. Long-time fans of the series will recognize a lot of things like the Matrix of Leadership, the Space Bridge, Apex Armor Optimus, Pretenders, and more. Some were directly referred to in the movie, while others were left recognizable to fans but simply cool looking to general audiences.

Overall: the cars looked great, the robots looked near-perfect, the actors all did terrific jobs, and it made good on its promise to be bigger, louder, and overall better than the first movie. I was impressed that they managed to add so many new characters without crowding the movie, plus they managed to fit a pretty good story in there as well. I wouldn't necessarily recommend bringing little ones to go see it: it's got a few moments they might find too intense, and there is a fair amount of swearing, but if you liked the last one you'll enjoy this one even more.

Collector/Modeler Interest:
Not much in the way of 1/24 options, but Hasbro's extensive RotF toy line includes a "Human Alliance" series of figures that are very close at approximately 1/28 scale.


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