Trailer Tuesday - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

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I made a few comments about Transformers sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen back when the 30 second Superbowl spot first appeared online. Watching this atmospheric teaser trailer above, or the second full trailer here, honestly my opinion hasn't changed much at all.

Clearly if you loved the first overblown action/sci-fi flick from director Michael Bay, you'll love this one because it looks like more of the exact same CGI-enhanced silliness. To be fair, I never really got into the animated TV series (or related toy line) growing up, and I wasn't a fan of the first film. In fact, I still delight in yelling out "Bumblebee, NOOOO!" whenever Transformers is mentioned. So yes, I'm clearly not the audience demographic Transformers is targeting, and I may be biased as a result.


I included the teaser trailer in this post, as opposed to the full trailer, because it is packed with so many "WTF is going on?!" moments, it was impossible to resist (I half expected the aircraft carrier to transform). The second trailer, however, attempts to explain the plot a bit more - Shia LaBeouf's character is apparently mentally embedded with vital Transformer information. It also includes more gratuitous footage of Megan Fox all sweaty and glistening on a motorcycle.

Neither Revenge of the Fallen trailer does much to reassure me that the filmmakers have learned from the mistakes of the first film. Humans still seem to take centre stage while the Autobots (good Transformers) and Decepticons (bad Transformers) remain undeveloped characters who exist merely to throw themselves into combat. There have been plenty of CGI-characters by now in cinema history who have garnered audience affection, and really we should be given the same opportunity to bond with, and actually care about, these extraterrestrial tin cans.

The only thing I'm marginally interested in / optimistic about is the apparent inclusion of an Ancient Egypt story arc (presumably Transformers drove humanity's technological advancement). Of course the concept sounds ridiculous and very overdone, but Transformers duking it out in front of the Pyramids at least is more like something from the old 80's cartoon.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen opens in North America on 24 June, and 2 days later the explosions and CGI-carnage will reach us in South Africa on Friday, 26 June.

Comments

MJenks said…
Personally, I expected to hate the first movie. It was...alright. I didn't hate it nearly as much as I thought I would.

But you're absolutely right. I need less Shia LaBoof and more giant robots beating the crap out of each other.
3:23 PM
Pfangirl said…
The first movie was incredibly dumb but given the impressive eye candy, you could try and shut off your mind to the massive flaws.

However, I never really got a sense of who the robots were. When they weren't fighting they seemed like clumsy goofballs. And for some reason the filmmakers kept adding more and more unnecessary human characters to the movie, which was a complete waste of time...
9:55 AM
MJenks said…
Yeah, the whole Bumblebee as the fore-runner thing was dumb. Call me a traditionalist if you want, but I liked the storyline where both Autobots and Decepticons crashed landed here on earth millions of years ago and lay dormant forever.

Plus, I didn't ever really get the sense that Cybertron was locked in the middle of a civil war during the movie.

But, like I said, if I just sat there and watched the giant robots beating each other up, it was cool.
9:54 PM
Pfangirl said…
Well, I do believe this Transformers picks up on the whole "Transformers here for Millenia" idea. Apparently if you up the brightness on the original teaser poster, the Decepticon starts looking like Egyptian death god Anubis.
9:33 AM
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