K. Close III

They keep Transforming and Rolling out…

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 | Entertainment

…in which I talk about our advance screening of Transformers 2, and pretty much nothing else.

Last night we had the opportunity, thanks to Chase at Gordon and the Whale, to see Transformers 2 in an advance screening. It wasn’t too much in advance since people will be able to see it tonight at midnight, but we got to go for free, and got to see it at a reasonable hour, so it was still a great deal. Thanks again, Chase, for hooking me up!

To start, here is my completely, guaranteed spoiler free review: I liked it.

To continue, however, I’m going to do my best not to give away the plot or key plot points, but I can’t make any promises. Read with caution, or wait until after you’ve seen the film. And finally, this is not an objective review, these are my opinions and thoughts on the film. You don’t have to agree with me, but there’s no point in arguing with me either. You probably won’t change my mind.

The affair itself was a decent experience. We got to the theater with supposedly more than enough time to get our passes and hopefully grab a bite to eat when Heather realized that there was a crazy long line of people waiting for something. On a Monday evening, there was really only one thing they could be waiting for… they were all there for the pre-screening. Heather and I jumped in line and I tried to call Chase, but he didn’t answer. While Heather held our place in line, I tried to get the skinny on what was going on. I found our names on a list and got our “passes” which amounted to nothing more than purple wrist bands. The purple wrist bands were supposedly better than the yellow bands, but not as good as the green ones. This statement is still up for debate, however.

You can never recapture the wonder of a new vision. The first time you see something carries with it not only the spectacle of the event itself, but also the childlike magic of seeing something you’ve never seen before. The original live-action Transformers film had the honor of that magic. Seeing the first vehicle transform “live” on screen was nothing that can ever be duplicated. A sequel, as such, can never recapture that spectacle, but can only strive to live up to the heart and soul of the original.

Watching Transformers 2, I was not disappointed. I feel like Revenge of the Fallen was, at it’s heart and soul, an honest continuation of the story. The plot was no more or less convoluted or convenient, the action was no more or less intense, and the characters were no more or less three-dimensional. There were, as unavoidable as it is, aspect of the movie that I didn’t entirely enjoy, but the same can be said for any movie.

One thing that can be said about Revenge of the Fallen, however, is that there is and only ever will be one Optimus Prime. He proves himself the leader of the Autobots and defender of the human race twice over in this film. Where in the first iteration, he was occasionally an awkward and ill mannered alien on a new planet, now he is established, comfortable, and kicking some serious tailpipe.

Surprisingly, a character that came close to recapturing the awe of the first movie was Ravage. Having seen the first three episodes of the Generation 1 cartoons on Sunday, which heavily feature the robotic panther, I was amazed to see how true to form the live action version of him was. He was every bit as fluid and sleek as he was in the original cartoon and twice as deadly.

Some other characters, however, were fairly off-putting. Mudflap and Skids, in my opinion, got too much screen time. While I’m a fan of Tom Kenny, usually, I think both of these characters were a bit too integral to the plot, and way too over the top. Sadly, they almost had a Jar-Jar feel to them.

Other new additions to the cast were Jetfire and Wheelie, of whom both I enjoyed thoroughly. I liked the concept of an aging transformer, growing old and dodgy. While not a duo, per se, neither was completely dedicated to the civil war, and it was nice to see that the world of the Transformers is not completely black and white. And one final point of contention with my friend, Chase, was Alice. While I think she may have been a bit of a stretch, she was a logical advancement for the Decepticons, and given that they have been on earth for 14,000 years, nothing inexcusable. While Chase felt that it was a blatant ripoff of Terminator 3, the concept of the female predator, even in robotic form, far predates Terminator 3, let alone Transformers 2. She was convenient to the film, but definitely not a deal-breaker

Annoying characters aside, I really enjoyed the story and the action, the humor and the heart. The plot was of equivalent strength as the first, and an appropriate vessel to propel the action. The action was intense and at times both Heather and I could definitely feel a visceral concern for the characters. I know I winced and she jumped, which is the sign of a good scene. And understandably, I am anxiously awaiting it’s DVD release now (the curses of seeing a movie as soon as possible is that it takes even longer to get it on DVD), because the one thing that was for sure true about both Transformers movies, is that they’re simply too busy to visually digest all the imagery. I remember when we finished watching the first film, how I still wasn’t entirely sure what the robots looked like or how they transformed because there was just too much on screen and it’s only been through subsequent viewings that I’ve been able to wrap my eyes around everything. I had the same feeling after Revenge of the Fallen.

We actually discussed this phenomenon at our bi-weekly movie night this past Friday when we watched the first movie. We surmised that part of the problem, aside from any technical reasons, stems from the fact that modern western action is filmed from the chest up, or equivalently close shots. In a typical action movie, this is to play down the fact that the actors don’t fight as well as their characters, but that the actors were still, in fact, willing to get into the action and run the fight sequences anyway. A noble effort on their part, and it brings a touch of honesty to the film itself. When your actors, however, are fifty foot tall robots, there’s no reason to be up so close. I don’t need to see Bumblebee’s face when he’s trying to claw Scorponok off of his back. They could film it from further back and I’d still be able to recognize the bright yellow robot and the robotic scorpion crawling all over him… and I’d be able to see what they were doing.

And if you absolutely, positively need to know if you need tissues, just ask me in person…

Tags: movies

1 Comment to They keep Transforming and Rolling out…

Leave a comment