Film Review: TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN

Let me just first say that the first Transformers I cared nothing for. It was a film with great special effects and action scenes but that was about it. It had stupid child humor and some of the most ridiculous comedic films of any Michael Bay film and I’ve seen all of his films. This being sad, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is better, but still not a very good film.

I could try to explain the story and plot of the film but why bother, no one cares about that any ways. They only care about the action, which I must say is a vast improvement over the previous film. I found myself engaged in the action scenes of the film. The battle scenes were slowed down and I could actually see what was going on (I’m not one of those action film junkies that need a cut or a close up every 2 seconds). The other thing is that the main Autobot Optimus Prime actually had a story behind him (even though none of the other transformers I could care less about).

Director Bay obviously thought hard about what was needed to improve the franchise as this is by far a better film then the first (despite the over convoluted background story) and the few problems I have with this film (mainly that the transformers are still nothing more then background fodder for Shia LeBeouf’s Sam character when the film is called “Transformers” and not “Sam Witwicky & The Transformers.” I’m nitpicking here as I am a fan of the ‘80s cartoon rather then any of the modern cartoon series of which these films are modeled after, so, I can’t complain too much.

Another great thing about the film is that the special effects have come a long way since the first film as the transformations are more defined and interesting to watch whereas in the previous film they came off as a blur many times. With the rate at which Bay is improving the ways in which these films are made by the next film I should actually be able to say that I like the film.

SPEED RACER on the IMAX!

Anyone who enjoys movies as much as I do knows that seeing a film on the big screen in a multiplex is a completely different experience then watching it at home where you can be interrupted by a multitude of different distractions forcing you to press the pause button or heaven forbid jump back a scene or two that you might have missed. So let me be the first to tell you that viewing the new film SPEED RACER on the gigantic IMAX is an experience unlike anything else I’ve seen on the big screen format (with the exception of U2 3D).

Unlike when I saw SPIDER-MAN 3 on the IMAX, SPEED RACER’s action scenes seemed catered to the format. When I saw SPIDER-MAN 3 many of the big action scenes seemed blurred and you ended up missing details of the scenes causing the film to look more cartoonish then it probably should have been (although I have yet to view it a second time on DVD). With SPEED RACER, which is a film meant for speed, not only the racing scenes were clean but the fight sequences and above all the cinematography that makes the whole film look like something that jumped out of a Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton film was clean and concise and above all entertaining.

The enjoyment of the film lies in brothers Andy and Larry Wachowski’s drop dead perfect adaptation of the beloved anime series. It takes the main theme of the original animation and expands upon it creating a film that doesn’t seem like there are just a bunch on scenes tacked on to expand the running time. With this screenplay and their previous one for V FOR VENDETTA, the Wachowski’s have returned my faith in them that has been missing since the days of BOUND and the first THE MATRIX.

Although the ambiance and world in which the Wachowski’s have created may be a little too much for some viewers I urge everyone to have as much faith in this film as you did with the Wachowski’s THE MATRIX because it is completely worth it. There are strong actors all around from Emile Hirsh as the title character to Christina Ricca, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Kick Gurry, Paulie Litt, Roger Allam, and the exceptional Matthew Fox, who I hate to say did a great job bringing the one character I thought they would mess up – Racer X, to the screen. Although there were some changes made to the character he remained in the spirit of the original animation and it added immensely to the overall film.

I suggest that if you’re able to see it on the IMAX then do because it’s an experience you won’t soon forget.