Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Rated: PG-13
Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, John Turturro, Matthew Marsden, Isabel Lucas, Ramon Rodriguez, Rainn Wilson
Director: Michael Bay
WorkNameSort: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Our Rating: 3.00
No matter what generation one represents, it’s hardly debatable that Reagan-era cowboy directors like John McTiernan and Tony Scott helped define their era. Their ’80s work on Die Hard and Top Gun, respectively, allows us to look back on that decade with a hint of embarrassment and more than a little bit of pride: Yes, we were coke-fueled, plastic-worshipping idiots back then, but wasn’t it fun while it lasted? Similarly, Michael Bay is the well-coiffed, filthy rich holdover of Gingrich-era moralistic swagger; ‘America rules, you pussy,â?� he gloats in Armageddon, Pearl Harbor and the Transformers movies. Bay’s is a narrow vision, but one perfectly in keeping with the classic ideology to which his work is indentured.
For this sequel to the enjoyable Transformers, Bay has thankfully done away with that film’s Rumsfeld-as-action-hero subplot and replaced it with a vaguely Bushian troop withdrawal metaphor that sees a tight-assed Obama stand-in questioning the presence of the Optimus Prime’led Autobots and their use of Earth as the playground for their civil war. Maybe the only reason the Decepticons are here is because of them? (You think?) The noble Prime claims they will leave if they’re asked, but asks, ‘What if you’re wrong?â?� These are the kind of fear tactics that are now firmly ensconced in our vernacular, but it’s surprising to hear it coming from Optimus, heretofore a relatively non-meddling figure.
He’s right, of course: The evil Decepticons, on a mission from a Miltonian figure called the Fallen and emboldened by the resurrection of their leader, Megatron, are now after an energy source that can only be gained by blotting out Earth’s sun. The only hope of stopping them is Shia LeBeouf’s Sam Witwicky and his beautiful girlfriend, Mikaela. (In a nice touch, Sam’s new college is filled to the brim with Megan Fox lookalikes.)
Everything is bigger, bolder and badder in Revenge of the Fallen, and if it weren’t for the endless, clumsily delivered exposition, the film would work like gangbusters as the ultimate garish escapism.
The action is clearer this time, even if the stakes feel lower, and LeBeouf’s rat-a-tat personality is given plenty of room to shine. If only the Transformers would shut up for a moment; we really don’t want to hear about their ancient history. Bay should know better than anyone that cowboys work better as the silent type.
This article appears in Jun 24-30, 2009.