Sunday, June 28, 2009
A+E, Movies, Reviews

Toy Story 2

‘Transformers’ sequel pumps up the volume

BY STEVE WARREN

Wouldn’t it be cool if, with the push of a button, a mild-mannered film critic could be transformed into a huge, fearless, mega-freakin’-awesome creature capable of doing battle against soulless, equally mega-freakin’-awesome robot machines? Well, such a button exists. It’s the “send” button on my computer.

Since I only use my powers for good, I’ll cut “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” some slack. The second edition of this Hasbro toy commercial has more action, more drama, more comedy, more romance, more CG effects, more robots and less coherence than the first. The obvious intent was to make it the only summer blockbuster you’ll ever need ... at least until Part Three comes along. (There’s even a scene in the National Air and Space Museum, so you needn’t have wasted your money on “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.”)

A brief prologue shows that Transformers from planet Cybertron visited Earth in 17,000 B.C., setting us up for the theory that they also built the pyramids. Two years ago, high-schooler Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) joined forces with the Autobots (good Transformers) to save our civilization from the Decepticons (bad Transformers), with the help of his Autobot protector, Bumblebee, a 1976 Camaro.

Now Sam is going off to college, leaving behind his parents (Kevin Dunn and Julie White) and his impossibly hot girlfriend, Mikaela (Megan Fox), with whom he plans to have nightly cyberdates. (Sam swears he’s “a one-woman guy,” which is too bad, because she’s a woman and a half.)

Meanwhile, the neat resolution of Part One is beginning to unravel. Some Autobots who stayed behind to work with the U.S. Army to hunt down any remaining Decepticons are called to Shanghai to investigate a “toxic spill,” and a vanquished foe warns, “The Fallen shall rise again.”

Just before he leaves for college, Sam finds a sliver of the cube that was destroyed in the last movie. Besides transforming all their household appliances and nearly burning the place down, it burns information into Sam’s brain that takes possession of him at odd times, making him spew information or draw strange symbols. (Speeded-up photography makes LaBeouf believably manic—it’s his finest hour.)

Sam’s college roommate, Leo (Ramon Rodriguez), is a conspiracy theorist with a Web site that tries to expose the very things Sam tries to keep secret. At a party the first night Sam’s hit on by lovely Alice (Isabel Lucas), who will cause problems aside from the obvious.

Head Autobot Optimus Prime comes to seek Sam’s assistance for reasons too complicated to go into. (There’s also more plot than Part One.) Soon Sam, Mikaela and Leo are on the run, joined by former agent Simmons (John Turturro), now a civilian.

The second hour is less entertaining than the first, mainly leading step by step to the climax in Egypt, where Bay doesn’t stint on the fireworks. It’s a typical battle scene, but with giant robots ... and pyramids. And the Sphinx.

There’s plenty of pyrotechnics and metallic pugilism throughout, plus transformations and chases galore. Arguably the best sequence involves a Decepticon invading a government facility with ball bearings that transform into spider-bots, which then coalesce into a larger robot.

Is “Revenge of the Fallen” better than the first “Transformers”? Since there’s more of almost everything and this isn’t a “less is more” genre, I’d have to say yes. Michael Bay says he’s had enough of “Transformers” movies for now, and so have I. But if you’re only going to see one of them this week, it should be “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.”

Now look out! I’m going to push “send.” 3 STARS