Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – Positives

On July 3, 2007, film director Michael Bay brought an extremely successful American toy series out of its paper comic pages and cartoon roots and turned it into a live-action film that created quite a stir in the movie community, as well as the fans of the series. This series is Transformers, well known among the youth of today, but hidden behind relatively newer shows. Transformers was released to a box office success and while it got a rise out of the audiences, it didn’t manage to garner any extremely high-end praise. It did manage to break a few records in America, but those were shattered again right away. What did the shattering of those records? It’s bigger, louder, and more expensive sequel.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was released to theaters on June 24, 2009 and quickly began to rake in the cash. Despite the massive cash influx at the box office, the outflow of reviews quickly turned sour. However, there is so much focus on the negative aspects of the film, not many people remember that there were some praises given as well. While most well known critics tended to lambaste the film, such as Roger Ebert and The Washington Post, audience reception right out of the theaters was more positive. CinemaScore, a market research firm located in Las Vegas, surveyed audiences as they left theaters to see how the people would rate Revenge of the Fallen on an A+ to F scale. It turned out that the average came out to a B+.

So what were some of the positives about the film? Well for one, it definitely reached its target audience. A summer flick with giant metal robots beating the living daylights out of each other, explosions galore, and near continuous, non-stop action? What ten-year old, hyperactive kid couldn’t resist this film? Because of that, parents were the ones to pay and go with their kids, so the film made its money. Another positive was the little spits of humor thrown into the middle of this action packed war movie. Some of the more memorable examples include Sam’s flustered bickering with Mikaela while they’re being hunted down by the Deceptions, one of the soldiers sly/cruel method of getting rid of an obnoxious and disrespecting politician, and Optimus’ ominous speech to another politician about the Autobots continual presence on Earth. A third positive aspect could be the visuals, but they have been highly praised by some and heavily criticized by others. Most of the criticism comes from one too many explosions. However, the more detailed shots of the Transformers themselves were positively received, such as closer viewings of mechanical heads, joints, and weaponry, if one is into that kind of thing. The voice acting for the robots was also receive with little criticism and the wide range of Transformers in the film gave a more hearty range and variety for toy manufacturers to work with, undoubtedly making the movie a potential cash pot for them, despite what the critics said.

While critics have already put Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen into the ground with their printed reviews that will last for years, at least there are people who will remember the movie as one that they liked, unbiased by what other people say. Though this is just one side of a coin, unfortunately where there is good, there must also be bad.

Till next time,

Richard Jicha