Transformers 2 — More Robotic Nonsense
You have to give director Michael Bay credit for one thing — he sure makes destruction look pretty. This is a dubious skill to be sure and it's on display, ad nauseum in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the sequel to the 2007 eardrum-buster that made a huge amount of money around the world. This entry is just as loud, just as obnoxious and just as simplistic as the first and yet for some odd reason, I had a relatively good time though I have an appointment with my doctor to check for any hearing loss.
This time out, Sam (Shia LaBeouf) is fleeing for his life once more as he finds himself in possession of information that will lead the evil Decepticons to the location of a key that will activate a machine that will destroy our sun. Not really sure why this is a good thing but it's quite a mess as the military becomes involved, Paris and the Egyptian Pyramids are wiped out and good robot Optimus Prime has his dead metallic carcass hauled half-way round the world to be reactivated for the film's final throw down.
There's something dangerously seductive about Bay's style. Without question, he has the attention span of a piss-ant, as evidenced by the hyperactive editing rhythm he employs which prevents the viewer from being able to every truly focus on what is going on. One of the great ironies of these films is that there's so much attention given to the details that make up the robots, yet I'll be damned if I can really get a good look at them to appreciate the work that's gone into them. Be that as it may, Bay is a master at filling the screen with beautifully composed shots that hold to basic cinematic precepts. He knows how to use backlighting to enhance mood, he moves the camera to accent action like a pro and the color palette at use in these films is complimentary and quite attractive. One moment I wish I could go back and truly examine is when an aircraft carrier is destroyed by a flaming meteor and sinks in all its backlit glory. There's no pause given to the thousands heading to a watery grave — you're just too taken by how cool it all looks, which was one of the problems that prevented Bay's Pearl Harbor from being a success.
In the end, Bay knows his audience (teenage boys) and gives them exactly want they want — explosions, sophomoric humor and Megan Fox, whose cleavage should get a separate credit, as it appears so often on screen here. On the plus side John Turturro provides much needed comic relief as a disgraced government agent looking for redemption. On the down side, the robots Skids and Mudflap are the most offensive racial stereotypes since Amos and Andy. Of course, you may not notice any of this, as the bludgeoning Bay inflicts is relentless. The only thing bigger than the film's decibel level is its emptiness.
As evidenced by the box office take during the film's first five days ($201 million — that's Dark Knight territory folks...), no one seems too concerned about its glorified violence, offensive characters or the fact that movies of this sort foster a laziness in young filmgoers that eventually comes home to roost in the form of films that are more and more vacuous. Nope, the Transformers franchise is a money machine and as long as there are plenty of viewers willing to plunk down their hard-earned money to go in and get beaten senseless by Bay, this dysfunctional relationship will continue. All the rest of us can do is sit back and hope viewers will eventually find the strength to leave their abuser.
7 comments
chuck
You are a moron.
Alezmendi
Nice review! Most people I know who have seen it now say they wish they had their money back and that seeing the movie was just a terrible experience.
WX
When it comes to racism, you politically correct popinjays are the worst kind of racists. The two robots in question are not even black in colour. They may speak like hiphop stars and ‘don’t do much reading’, but how do their personalities refer to black people? I am sure there are pretty of whites, yellows - I’m Chinese by race and I just made a ‘racist’ comment so whack me - and people of other colours, who speak and act like some rapper, and hate to read. So I ask you again, why BLACK?
It’s just an ACTION movie. Why so…serious?
pat
WX, they don’t have to be black in color to be minstrel stereotypes, just like if they were saying “Ching chong, me usey chopasticks to fighta Decepticons,“ they wouldn’t have to be yellow for us to know they’re terrible Asian stereotypes. Read a history book and open your eyes.
Pat
And it’s not about being “politically correct.“ These representations have real-world effects. And we are not “the worst kind of racists” because we point out that mainstream society isn’t past racism. You’re the one who wants to make excuses and give people like Bay a free pass.
DeeJay
WX… by your rationale, the original radio broadcast of “Amos ‘N Andy” wasn’t racist, as past radio characters didn’t technically have *any* color. For goodness sake, your entire post reads like someone shouting, “it’s NOT 4—- it’s 2+2!!!“
A person may enjoy “Transformers 2” despite the offensive stereotypes (or even because of them). Whatever the case, let’s not pretend as if Koplinski is somehow believing his “lying eyes.“
Just to answer your question about “why so serious”; because the blatant stereotypes served as distractions from the story and the potential for many of us to enjoy the movie.
Beyond that… the vast majority of hip hop artists don’t even speak like those absurd characters. The twin robots actually sounded like someone trying to maliciously mock inner-city African Americans.
not to get too off subject here, but…Speaking of Amos ‘N Andy, I have to wonder if people in the future will treat “Will and Grace” much in the same way. It seems to me that it could be treated equally as offensive…Why can’t gay actors play gay people? Isn’t it sort of like blackface? I don’t get it when everyone gets excited about a straight actor playing a gay person. But then again, I suppose gay actors play straight people all the time…Forget I mentioned it….what about Mickey Rooney in Breakfast in Tiffany’s..
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The main character’s name is actually Lisbeth, in case you want to correct.