481: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: 188, let's get to the second Michael Bay Transformers film which is Transformers Revenge of the Fallen

[00:00:08] [SPEAKER_00]: came out in 2009.

[00:00:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Star is mostly the same cast, not really a lot of others, and the synopsis is Sam Whitwicky,

[00:00:20] [SPEAKER_00]: terrible last name, leaves the Autobots behind for a normal life.

[00:00:25] [SPEAKER_00]: But when his mind is filled with cryptic symbols, the Decepticons target him and is dragged back into the Transformers war.

[00:00:34] [SPEAKER_00]: So of course with the first one being such a huge hit they had to do a sequel and Michael Bay came back to direct

[00:00:40] [SPEAKER_00]: and everybody really same from the first.

[00:00:44] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think I saw, I may have seen this one when it came out, I was old enough for sure

[00:00:49] [SPEAKER_00]: but I really do not remember but I've seen it a handful of times over the years

[00:00:56] [SPEAKER_00]: and not to say it's inherently terrible, but I find that two and three really run together for me.

[00:01:04] [SPEAKER_00]: I can never remember what action sequences went in, what movie, what stories going on,

[00:01:10] [SPEAKER_00]: like I feel like these two almost could be the same movie

[00:01:14] [SPEAKER_00]: whereas I feel like one, four and five all feel fairly distinctive

[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_00]: and there's a lot of things that I remember specifically from those

[00:01:22] [SPEAKER_00]: and in two and three I don't.

[00:01:24] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know why that is but that's just how it's always been no matter how many times I rewatch it.

[00:01:31] [SPEAKER_00]: This one starts out with I think the opening sequence with Optimus Prime is pretty awesome

[00:01:37] [SPEAKER_00]: and there's that very signature Bayhem moment where Optimus Prime jumps while transforming

[00:01:45] [SPEAKER_00]: and Michael Bay has the camera going one way and then Prime going the other

[00:01:50] [SPEAKER_00]: and so it creates this very almost vertigo inducing but pretty cool visual moment

[00:01:57] [SPEAKER_00]: and whenever you see the Transformers popping out of the different warehouses

[00:02:02] [SPEAKER_00]: and there's that whole chase on the highways that's pretty well done.

[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Then we meet back up with Sam and sweet Sam is going off to college

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_00]: and his parents just can't take it they're distraught

[00:02:16] [SPEAKER_00]: and there's the really just disgusto a bar fo stuff with the mom

[00:02:22] [SPEAKER_00]: where she has his baby shoes and she's crying like crazy

[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_00]: and of course we have to see the dogs they have having sex

[00:02:31] [SPEAKER_00]: while all this is going on because that's just so funny

[00:02:35] [SPEAKER_00]: then the house gets destroyed which I like that

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_00]: and one thing actually that I do enjoy about the Bumblebee character is

[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_00]: because of his malfunctioning voice box he only can speak through different recordings

[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_00]: like bits of recordings from movies or from songs I think that's pretty funny

[00:02:54] [SPEAKER_00]: sometimes they use the obvious choice but I actually don't mind that

[00:02:58] [SPEAKER_00]: and it's pretty clever more often than not

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_00]: then when we see Megan Fox for the first time again

[00:03:06] [SPEAKER_00]: we see her from the back her ass is like right in front of the camera zooming in

[00:03:10] [SPEAKER_00]: while she's wearing short shorts of course she's in the motorcycles

[00:03:13] [SPEAKER_00]: and as a black thumb in this big sweaty auto shop with a bunch of burly guys

[00:03:20] [SPEAKER_00]: like I'm just like dude this is gross

[00:03:24] [SPEAKER_00]: for one thing not that it's I think any big news but

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf very little chemistry if anything

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_00]: I do appreciate since Green Day is my favorite band

[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_00]: there is a Green Day song in this briefly but

[00:03:38] [SPEAKER_00]: it's the Michael Bay thing too alright what's popular right now

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_00]: let's choose this song and so in that way feels very dated

[00:03:45] [SPEAKER_00]: as much as I love the song it's just come on man

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_00]: try harder please

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_00]: then when we see Sam going to college

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_00]: his mother is running around like crazy I'm not going to recap the whole movie

[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_00]: don't worry but this opening is pretty iconic in the worst way

[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_00]: there's Sam meeting his roommates who of course have pictures of

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_00]: seemingly like random girls all over their

[00:04:12] [SPEAKER_00]: cyber computer gamer room in their dorm

[00:04:15] [SPEAKER_00]: and it's like dude what is wrong with you like it's just

[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_00]: it's just so unnecessary interjections of these

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_00]: visual teases and you tell exactly what kind of person he likes

[00:04:28] [SPEAKER_00]: what he's into some other things though overall the sound design

[00:04:35] [SPEAKER_00]: in all of Michael Bay's movies are very good

[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_00]: I love good sound design and movie so I appreciate that

[00:04:43] [SPEAKER_00]: especially when it comes to the transformers

[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_00]: I did want to mention with Michael Bay's style and blockbusters

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean obviously there's inherently a stupidity to a lot of them

[00:04:57] [SPEAKER_00]: especially when it comes to sci-fi and fantasy that sort of thing

[00:05:00] [SPEAKER_00]: which is fine I can watch the stupidest

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_00]: sci-fi blockbuster out there and enjoy it as long as it's

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_00]: executed well but comparing

[00:05:11] [SPEAKER_00]: blockbuster filmmakers let's say Christopher Nolan

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_00]: to me Christopher Nolan you know he's made comic book films

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_00]: he's made a space movie he's made an action film based around

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_00]: dreams so pretty over the top exaggerated things

[00:05:26] [SPEAKER_00]: and yet he's someone amongst others who can still have

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_00]: a focus and appreciation for intelligence within a film

[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_00]: and appreciation for characters being smart thinking properly

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_00]: not just acting on impulse or at least most of the time

[00:05:44] [SPEAKER_00]: and as mean as it may sound I feel like

[00:05:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Michael Bay like some people can make smart movies about dumb people

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_00]: but I feel like most of the time Michael Bay makes

[00:05:57] [SPEAKER_00]: dumb movies about dumb people

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_00]: who typically rag on the people who are smartest in the room

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_00]: within a scene

[00:06:06] [SPEAKER_00]: and going back to what I said in the first review about his humor

[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_00]: that I really don't like

[00:06:11] [SPEAKER_00]: the main reason thinking about it now is

[00:06:14] [SPEAKER_00]: so much of it is derived from

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_00]: characters degrading others and like whether it's race

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_00]: faith sexuality whatever it's

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_00]: almost always the laughs are coming from or he's thinking the laughs

[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_00]: are coming from people really making others constantly

[00:06:33] [SPEAKER_00]: not a little bit of the time and it's super obvious and blunt

[00:06:36] [SPEAKER_00]: it's characters making others feel lesser than

[00:06:42] [SPEAKER_00]: and he is one of the most

[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_00]: unsubtle filmmakers out there so he is has it come in sorry

[00:06:49] [SPEAKER_00]: there's this scene at the beginning that is a perfect example

[00:06:52] [SPEAKER_00]: of what I was talking about where Sam is giving this presentation

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_00]: on his like great grandfather or something like that and he has all of these

[00:07:01] [SPEAKER_00]: historical artifacts from his ancestor like

[00:07:05] [SPEAKER_00]: newspaper clippings documents things like that and it's really cool

[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_00]: stuff and he's telling this really interesting story and

[00:07:13] [SPEAKER_00]: the teachers like you know this isn't

[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_00]: talk about your family history day or whatever it is something stupid where

[00:07:19] [SPEAKER_00]: he's just degrading here that sucks that's not interesting

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_00]: let's move on some scenes that whether it's so bad it's good

[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_00]: or whatever it still gets a laugh out of me the scene in the college classroom

[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_00]: where Sam Whitwick he's eyes are fluttering he sees the

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_00]: the codes like his mind and he starts

[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_00]: going up on the I don't know why I'm laughing so hard right now it's it is funny

[00:07:45] [SPEAKER_00]: where he goes on the classroom

[00:07:49] [SPEAKER_00]: like stage and starts just writing and talking gibberish that's actually amazing

[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_00]: and so that is one standout scene but

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_00]: one scene I do like action wise is the fight with Optimus Prime

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_00]: out in the woods like the forest I think that's pretty well done

[00:08:05] [SPEAKER_00]: well shot cannot stand

[00:08:08] [SPEAKER_00]: John Turturro's character I love him as an actor but he is by far one of the most unfunny characters

[00:08:13] [SPEAKER_00]: maybe of all time and John Turturro is very funny

[00:08:17] [SPEAKER_00]: in general not in this though trying way too hard

[00:08:23] [SPEAKER_00]: lastly there is some signature

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_00]: other signature shots of Michael Bay that he uses in a lot of movies but

[00:08:30] [SPEAKER_00]: it still works for the most part where there's the I think first used

[00:08:34] [SPEAKER_00]: in bad boys 2 where it revolves around

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Will Smith and Martin Lawrence when he's on the phone and Martin Lawrence gets

[00:08:42] [SPEAKER_00]: up and it's this really epic sweeping shot and looks really cool

[00:08:46] [SPEAKER_00]: but it's used a little too often where that originality

[00:08:49] [SPEAKER_00]: is lost besides that not a whole lot

[00:08:54] [SPEAKER_00]: else to say was a bit of a slog to rewatch

[00:08:57] [SPEAKER_00]: really not a Bay film that I want to go back and revisit anytime soon

[00:09:02] [SPEAKER_00]: or unless I'm doing it for a show like this

[00:09:05] [SPEAKER_00]: so getting it out of the way knocked off the list

[00:09:10] [SPEAKER_00]: so that one is a light 2 out of 5