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Why Transformers 2 is better than you think it is
If there's a summer blockbuster that inspired more disagreements and debates this year than Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, I don't know what it is. Michael Bay's monolithic sequel earned more than $800 million worldwide, and also received some of the harshest criticism of any film in the director's career.
Newly released on Blu-ray, it remains to be seen whether the film's oft-contested winning streak continues on home video, but for my money, the film is actually a lot more effective on the small screen, thanks in no small part to the two-disc special edition set's abundance of extras and bonus materials—not to mention the availability of the "pause" button.
Truth be told, I actually enjoyed the film the first time I saw it, or at least took it for what it was—namely, the biggest, "most" movie I'd ever seen—and dismissed its many logical and narrative shortcomings as something that perhaps should be expected in a sequel to a film based upon a line of toys. If you disagree, fair enough—and far be it from me to sing the praises of stuff like twin robots that sport (at least) borderline-racist hip-hop accents—but given the subject matter and (especially) the director involved, it seems disingenuous to be surprised at almost anything that happens in Revenge of the Fallen.
On the small screen—or at least smaller, depending on the size of your TV—the movie plays surprisingly well, especially its first half. The scope and literal size of the images on a movie screen are overwhelming, massive, and cut so frenetically by Bay's four editors that it's no wonder that people said they couldn't keep track of what was happening. But at home, where you're able to capture the entirety of each frame in your field of view without having to scan the equivalent of the broad side of a barn, the movie actually make a lot more visual sense, if not always narrative.
Additionally, you can go backwards and forwards in its often troubled timeline to revisit a detail that you might have missed previously. And, finally, there's the all-powerful pause button, which can and should be used frequently in order to stave off headaches, provide potty breaks and break up the film's single-minded momentum.
Perhaps tellingly, the commentary track features Bay, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, but the screenwriters were not present in the director's recording session, and vice versa. While that makes for a lot less backbiting than one might expect, Bay's vision for the film as a fun thrill ride seemed to be almost directly at odds with Orci and Kurtzman's focus on story and characters, and while everyone involved is respectful of one another, their comments suggest that the film is almost shockingly good given the odd and unwieldy way in which it was conceived. Not only did the delay caused by the writers' strike adversely impact the amount of time and focus that Orci and Kurtzman (along with Ehren Kruger) could devote to the script, but Bay's use of a 13-page outline to propel the film through preproduction stymied many of their efforts to create something that was more cohesive, since Bay found locations and came up with some of the set pieces himself that later had to be forced into the rest of the story.
In which case, there's something pretty amazing—sociologically, if not artistically—about the fact that with only the most marginal of blueprints, Bay and company put together a hugely successful summer blockbuster. Just the idea of having a massive budget, incomparable production infrastructure and a looming release date and pulling off what ultimately became one of the biggest movies of the year is incredible. Not to mention the fact that no matter what you think of the end result, Bay understands virtually all aspects of the production process; on multiple occasions during the commentary track, the director discusses collaborating with his crew and generally achieving his shots in very specific ways that reflect a comprehensive understanding not only of technique but the effect of all of that muscular imagery he creates.
The bonus materials on the second disc delve specifically into all aspects of the production, starting with "The Human Factor," a documentary about the making of the movie that includes behind-the-scenes footage, interviews and background details about Transformers' development. As is perhaps to be expected, this is significantly more revealing than it might even intend to be, given some of the aforementioned constraints; notwithstanding stuff like one designer's confession that he knows nothing about cars and therefore designs the 'bots simply from his own imagination, there's footage of Orci, Kurtzman and Kruger holed up in a hotel suite furiously trying to finish pages—and later, shape existing scenes—as the film's release date grows near.
"A Day With Bay," meanwhile, follows the director through 24 hours of the promotion campaign, including interviews with Japanese journalists and shots of the Japan premiere; while the most surprising revelation here is that Japanese journalists are just as stupid as American ones (the most frequently asked question at the junket is "If you could transform into anything, what would it be?"), Bay dropped a few hints about his participation in subsequent press events that explain a lot about the limited number of interviews domestic audiences read with him ("I'm going to ditch the American junket," he says candidly).
"25 Years of Transformers" and "Giant Effing Movie" provide even more background about the film and the franchise, the former examining the legacy of the toy series and the latter chronicling the production in a more intimate and personal way. While there's a surprising lack of footage of Megan Fox in much of this—not owing to any particular reason, mind you—Shia LaBeouf makes a game host, playing to the camera and goofing off in a way that really highlights what a talented and centered guy he is.
Additional interactive features offer fans a chance to look at scene-specific breakdowns of the film's blitzkrieg action, to peruse biographies and backstories for each of the characters in the film and to create their very own Transformers. But even as someone who defended the film or maybe just celebrated what it was rather than decried what it wasn't, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen really seems to have a chance to be rediscovered and re-evaluated on Blu-ray. And ultimately, even if the extras, bonus materials and Bay's comments fail to transform your expectations, at least you can re-examine the experience at your leisure rather than relentlessly, all at once, and on a screen that swallows you whole.
By mykl at 9:24 AM ON 10/21/09
Put whatever spin you want on this, the movie still was lousy and a waste of time. The plot was nowhere to be found, the acting was horrible (which is amazing considering the acting in the first one was bad to begin with), the use of the robots doesn't fit well at all (it just felt like they were plugged in where needed), and the overall excitement for watching a movie like this just isn't there. Half the time you find yourself asking what is going on action wise cause the shots are blocked so badly.
.
By thecursor at 9:30 AM ON 10/21/09
"Why Transformers 2 is better then you think it is"
I know why, it's because out of the fifty gabillion conglomerates owned by NBC-Universal, one of them will earn a little coin from the Transformers 2 DVDs and some jerk far up the line said "Hey, push the DVDs"
Is that why it's better then I think?
By trickfred at 9:44 AM ON 10/21/09
...No, no it isn't. A polished turd is still a turd.
By drkknght1138 at 9:46 AM ON 10/21/09
Here is my reason. Megan fox running in Slow motion-- in slow motion!
By MD at 9:51 AM ON 10/21/09
This site goes out of its way to fill up the homepage with some junk sometimes, but this is offensive. The movie is better because you can pause for potty breaks and to stop headaches? This movie is a complete disaster, and you know it.
By Artifex at 9:55 AM ON 10/21/09
This is one of the worst movies of 2009. It was a mess from beginning to end, and I nearly walked out after the "other" hottie turned into a robot. Michael Bay at his self-gratifying best.
By IronOre at 10:13 AM ON 10/21/09
You have a typo in your column. In the second paragraph you say "not to mention the availability of the "pause" button." It should have read "not to mention the availability of the "fast forward" button so you can get to the end faster."
By MCP-001 at 10:17 AM ON 10/21/09
"I know why, it's because out of the fifty gabillion conglomerates owned by NBC-Universal, one of them will earn a little coin from the Transformers 2 DVDs and some jerk far up the line said "Hey, push the DVDs"
Now now, thecursor.
The moderators here hate it when people point out the truth and knock the all high and mighty parent company.
By cspears162 at 10:20 AM ON 10/21/09
ok, now each one of you, mykl, thecursor, trickfred, MD, & Artifex, list your favorite movie of all time, not just this year, and why it is. No plagerism from reknowned critics either. Use your own words from your obvious depth of knowledge and cinema experiance. It's high time all you negative nay-sayers were called to task.
By Cyrus at 10:30 AM ON 10/21/09
i love it when media giants tell us what to think. we only thought the movie was crap, but apparently we were all wrong.
glad they can do my thinking of me. i'll be buying the dvd for sure.
By dumb article again! at 10:30 AM ON 10/21/09
Ah, so it is better than I think because of all the features that can take me away from the film. That makes sense.
By the realscifi fan at 10:38 AM ON 10/21/09
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was 1 of this years best movie and all of you are not reaal scifi fans anr you are all gay
By IronOre at 10:44 AM ON 10/21/09
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was 1 of this years best movie and all of you are not reaal scifi fans anr you are all gay"
This would be the best argument ever if "the realscifi fan" had managed to work Nazis in. It's pretty close as it is though.
By graygrizzly at 10:44 AM ON 10/21/09
Just to put my 2 cents in (and I also disliked the movie alot)........ the thing that made me craziest is when the two head "bots" were on an open wrecked ship orbiting Jupiter(?), you coul SEE THEIR BREATH!!!!!.
a. Breath in a vacuum??/
b. Why are robots "breathing" in the first place.
Also why do the bots blink??
Thought this should get some discussion going
By graygrizzly at 10:49 AM ON 10/21/09
I'm a real sci-fi fan (been reading it since 1958) and I'M gay. and my previous post actually ponted out the lousy science in this so- called sf movie. Are you in grade school that you have to call names?
By awr at 11:06 AM ON 10/21/09
Sometimes i think you people just want to hate things no matter what..Look the movie was good for what it was.. A MOVIE!...800 million dollars proves that. Good lord people get a life and move on already.
By asfm at 11:12 AM ON 10/21/09
A film can't be better than you think it is.
By rodee at 11:17 AM ON 10/21/09
Sorry for the haters. I liked Transformers 2. I thought it was funny, and filled with lots of action.
I'm looking forward to Transformers 3.
By luvvedT2 at 11:47 AM ON 10/21/09
Loved it. I laughed and even cried. Will gladly buy it and play parts over and over.
By a different tim at 11:50 AM ON 10/21/09
I can see this articles point of view, but having seen it last night for the first time I saw that there was so much missing. It almost would have been worth it to wait for the strike to be over so that the story and plot could have been better. Blame the studio for wanting to make money though and pushing the deadline. It just felt like it was trying to be a good movie, there were parts that suggested it anyway, it was just ok. Also the autobots had such a minimal role in the story, it almost seemed that they were just background noise and that was wierd. They should have been the main focus. It was still nice to see Optimus tear some bitches up though!
By zosolias at 12:11 PM ON 10/21/09
I'll wait for the remake...
By bruntword at 12:40 PM ON 10/21/09
Ok to put things into perspective folks.
This is a movie based on a franchise that involves TOYS, COMIC BOOKS, and TV ANIMATION!
Y'all take things way to serious. Fact is that if a movie makes 800 million world wide, breaks records, etc. then you are wrong on all of you assumptions and opinons (wait wrong opinons?).
Money talks, BS walks. Let the reviewer put down their talk and keep your bashing to your self. You lost. Movie was great, fun, and will probably sell out the DVD.
Go back to watching your pretty shows (ie, Gigli, etc) and leave the real comments to folks who know what they are talking about.
Before I go.. The bashers of the movie - gotta ask - did you think the movie Superman Returns was better?
God I love messing with the pretty (petty) people.
Cut back on the expresso folks your loosing your sense of humor. I mean it's toys on screen not Gone with the wind.
By thecursor at 4:28 PM ON 10/21/09
My favorite movie, cspears162?
The Maltese Falcon, Ghostbusters, anything that isn't directed by Bay.
I'm sorry, did i come off like a film snob just because I thought that a poorly made film was poorly made? Well, that's because I AM ONE!
By FactChecking at 4:30 PM ON 10/21/09
I'm pretty sure NBC Universal isn't forcing anyone to promote the movie since it's put out by Paramount, which is owned by Viacom, who are probably VERY happy they made both films giving how much $$$ they brought in. Hard to slam someone for being a corporate lacky when it's not their corporation being promoted.
By wab1701 at 4:57 PM ON 10/21/09
Arguments can be taken a little more seriously if there aren't so many gramatical errors I could hardly read it...
I honestly don't remember much of ROTF. I saw it in theaters and remember thinking my brain hurt. A lot. Being the consumer whore that I am, I'll probably end up buying it because I have the first one. I'll have to re-watch it before I can remember what to think. As for the articles assertions that this movie was based on a toy line and is what it is, I can't disagree with that. O & K wrote the other Sci-Fi movie this Summer and it completely ROCKED MY SOCKS. I can only assume the Studio and Bay did what they did to it after it was written.
By pcch7 at 7:41 PM ON 10/21/09
this movie sucks hard, and having the possibility to pause, fastforward (could be useful) or go backwards doesn´t make it better.. You shouldn´t have to rewind to understand a movie like this.. And the fact that I can hardly remember anything from the movie says it all
By hermy at 9:56 PM ON 10/21/09
at least G.I.JOE told a story that made sence.the Transformers animated movie had a better story!i liked the back story of how the autobots and decepticons split.why diden't they focus more on that.and they really lost me with how they screwed up the autobot matrix thing.the bottom line is that when you get bored with the effects.its a bad movie
By JimmyD at 11:39 PM ON 10/21/09
I dug the movie when I saw it in the theater and am looking forward to revisiting it on DVD. As for all you haters?? Ya still took time out of your day to read the article and then post your already set thoughts in the comments section OR you went straight to the comments and posted your already set thoughts. Bottom line: You spent MORE time on something you say you hate rather than spend the same time doing something you think you like. It's classic internet bs. All the snotty comments are coming from stereotypical internet dorks! How many of you saw 'Moon'??
By diesel at 7:55 AM ON 10/22/09
Stop Transformers 2 hating already. It was the best movie this year. Yes it could have been better. Its weakness was its story should have been more polished. However, that is explained by the writers’ strike.
Transformers 2 is one of the best action / special effects movies of all time. I challenge all directors to do better.
Anyone who liked Batman The Dark Knight or Superbad has no business insulting Transformers 2. Dark Knight had way more mistakes than Transformers 2 and yet it was critically acclaimed. That is because it was done in dark / gritty style which critics like but is not necessarily better. Transformers 2 was done in a more juvenile style like Superbad. That is why a lot of teenagers and children liked it. I am not a fan of either style but Transformers had good pacing, great action and special effects that allow me to enjoy the movie in spite of the juvenile comedy.
I loved seeing Optimus Prime battle the Decepticons. Also his voice acting was a whole lot better than Batman’s in the Dark Knight.
There are many aspects of Transformers 2 that beat out Batman the Dark Knight.
I would have loved to see Michael Bay’s version of Xmen, Superman and the Fantastic Four. Then you might have actually seen a better depiction of the characters powers. If he did Fantastic Four 2, there would have been the big battle between the Fantastic Four, Silver Surfer and Galactis that we were all craving. That one missing piece is what kept Fantastic Four 2 from being a great movie instead of the okay movie it was.
By vaughaknot at 9:14 AM ON 10/22/09
Really...dude did anyone ever follow the comics, the actual story line? oh yeah and lets throw and over rated slut in the mix. Facts are critics, audience and people working with Michael bay the butcher thought it was a failure.
I read the comments above and hey might as well of called it 2012.
By Necronomic Recovery at 8:05 AM ON 10/23/09
"only the most marginal of blueprints,"
What exactly do you mean by this? He had 25 YEARS of stories, characters and plots to pull from. He could have mixed and matched some amazing elements from the rich history of Transformers.
Instead, he gave us farting robots and stoned mothers. Bravo.
By hermy at 9:04 PM ON 10/23/09
it's one thing when geek nation rips a movie apart before it even comes out.when you point out how bad a movie is your called a hater.i love movies,all kinds even chick flicks.if the story is good.but come on.how could you be with megan fox and not tell her you love her?guys tell girls not even half as hot as her they love them all the time just to get into there pants.duh, why diden't he just say 'ditto'
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hermy:
it's one thing when geek nation rips a movie apart before it even comes out.when you point out how bad a movie is y...More »