Film: Transformers 2

STARRING: Shia LaBeouf (Indy 4, Disturbia ); Josh Duhamel (Las Vegas); John Turturro (Quiz Show, Mr. Deeds)
DIRECTOR: Micahel Bay (The Island)
WRITERS: Robert Orci & Alex Kurtzman (Transformers, Star Trek) Ehren Kruger (Reindeer Games)
PLOT: Sam is the key (of course) to reviving both Optimus Prime and some do-hickey that will destroy the earth. Explosions ensue.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS
4 I have the same complaint I had with the first installment. These Transformers don’t look like the toys I used to play with. They’re too complicated. They have too many parts. And something I noticed more this time around is that I can’t tell what facial expressions they’re making. Are they angry, sad, concerned, happy? I can’t tell because their face is too busy with gears and crap. I knew this going into the film but it still bothers me. I still prefer the cartoon.
4 The human acting is so over-the-top. Everyone seems like an action cliché. It’s very disappointing. One scene I did like is when Shia LaBeouf’s Sam screams like a little girl when he is attacked in his dorm room. Funny. But that was it. I feel sorry for John Turturro who deserves better than this garbage. His character is so poorly conceived, he has nowhere to go but insane.
4 I think Michael Bay has been given too much power since going over to Dreamworks. When he was working with Jerry Bruckheimer, things were fun. Bad Boys and The Rock had a wonderful mix of action and humour. Because Bruckhemier is so hands-on, Bay was kept at bay. Michael’s last three films with Dreamworks have a much colder and darker look and are lacking in the light humour department. Bay knows how to blow things up and shoot complicated sequences but that’s not enough. Which leads me to plot.
4 In the film, Turturro’s character asks one of the old Transformers to just tell him the basic plot. I wish the audience could have got one for this movie. The plot is paper-thin. In one scene, Sam says he has to go two miles from one end of a rundown town to the other. This takes one hour on film because of all the explosions in between. I hoping I can blame Kruger for the flimsy storytelling. Orci and Kurtzman wrote Star Trek. They are in my good books. I’m assuming Kruger took the initial storyline and punched it up until it was unrecognizable. Sad. Also, since the film is called Transformers, I would hope there would be more about the Transformers rather than focussing 90% on the human element. The human angle in important since the movie takes place on earth but still.
4 I know this film is supposed to be aimed at teenagers, but the humour was so juvenile, it made me fear for mankind. But if you like seeing dogs hump each other and you snicker at any mention of the word “balls”, then this is the film for you. It’s also for those who just want to ogle Megan Fox’s body as she runs from place to place and leans over cars in slow motion.

RECOMMENDATION
Avoid at all costs

COMING SOON
Public Enemies