Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhmael, Tyrese Gibson, John Tuturro, Kevin Dunn, Julie White, Ramon Rodriguez, Isabel Lucas, and John Benjamin Hickey. Special Cameos by Rainn Wilson, Katie Lowes (Scandal), and Aaron Hill (Greek). With the voices of Peter Cullen, Hugo Weaving, Mark Ryan, Tony Todd, Frank Welker, and Michael York.
Directed By: Michael Bay
The first film was the perfect balance of action and comedy. The second film could have built on the first film, but I blame the addition of Ehren Kruger to the writing team, and not allowing Rachael Taylor and Jon Voight to return for the sequel. Also, not nearly enough John Tuturro. His scenery chewing Agent Simmons is pretty perfect for this type of film.
I still miss Shia Labeouf from acting. I enjoy his manic, and aggressive approach to acting. He really throws himself into his part, with extreme sillyness. Speaking of sillyness… we really didn’t need the new racially specific Transformers. With gold teeth. Really? REALLY?
Megan Fox perfects the “smolder” in this film. I find it silly that LaBeouf has to hold her hand when they’re running through intense action sequences. It’s like she didn’t earn her right to run free in the first film.
The Transformers are silly though in this film. Everyone has an attitude. They’re all some form of comic relief. Even Optimus has a comic relief moment. The plot is sillier this time around…. with LaBeouf being able to see a secret alien language. The sequel introduces Ramon Rodriguez as a new buddy for LaBeouf, and invests in him as a sidekick. Of course, if you’ve seen the trilogy… you’ll remember that several franchise favorites were jettisoned from the third film, including recently introduced Rodriguez, making his entire character arc pointless. They don’t even follow up on his website, or what happens to him afterward.
Even though this film is profoundly silly, I think I used the word like eight times in the review… it is still pretty enjoyable. It’s not as strong as the first film, I don’t really even think they tried to make a better film. I think they just tried to make a cash cow.
On a side note, what the hell happened to Isabel Lucas? Her career went virtually nowhere. I realize the only film I’ve seen her in other than this was Red Dawn. And I barely remember her being in that film.
FINAL GRADE: B-
