New format, I am not bothering with listing stars or directors and will just get to the point....the review.
The Transformers films are largely about marketing, the films are meant to work as cash cows on their own while, simultaneously, serving as a 2 hour commercial for action figures. The first Transformers film did a fabulous job of combining these two aspirations, with the capable Steven Spielberg behind the scenes pulling the strings.
The latest film, with Michael Bay given free reign, takes a decidedly different course, one that is not necessarily for the best. It is difficult to say that any film with giant alien robots could be genuinely unwatchable but, Transformers:ROTF certainly skates terrible close to that line.
The film has several glaring issues that make for a less than stellar viewing experience. The film is overlong at around two hours and thirty minutes and tries to do far too much. The storylines are pieced together and at least one of them could have been removed or all of them could have been edited more successfully. The first specific problem with the film is it introduces a number of new Transformers. Typically the addition of new characters would not be an issue but, these additions are handled poorly, at best. Almost none of the new bots are introduced, much less given names. Rather, they are thrown into battle, without the audiences having a clue who they are, much less caring about what happens to them. The only two that get any sort of screen time are the twins and they are more annoying than useful and serve as another misfire by Bay and the producers akin to the break dancing Jazz from the first film.
Another issue that hampers the film is the lack of clear direction it takes. The film seems to fly by at break-neck speed, going in multiple directions at once but, getting nowhere. Not only is a new villain introduced, The Fallen, but, the film also attempts to deal with multiple other storylines at once, causing serious problems for the flow of the film as it jumps from the issues between the Transformers and the Government to the Fallen's attempt to destroy the world to Sam's struggles at college; all these events are connected but, they are done so loosely and the film suffers from it.
The filmmakers himself, Mr. Bay, also becomes a problem. Bay's lust for explosion and action is certainly more noticeable in this film as he throws robot fight scene after fight scene onto the screen presumably in hopes that he can beat the audience into submission. What it really accomplishes is burnout for the audience as Bay manages to actually make a giant robot fights so repetitive and prevalent throughout that they lose that spectacular and impressive feel they should have. Bay also seems to rear his head in the new character development as the most prominent new members, Mudflap and Skid, are horrible charactures lacking in depth and overall purpose a signature of Bay's filmmaking resume.
Megan Fox somehow manages to impact the films quality negatively in her limited screentime. She is so utterly inept at acting that she ceases to be believable whatsoever and actually becomes distracting, in a bad way. She delivers lines without any sort of appropriate emotion or any emotion at all, opting to delivers them in a flat, almost disinterested tone. Fox is clearly in the film as eye-candy as she is in seemingly EVERY slow motion running scene there is film but, this does not excuse her clear inability to properly deliver her lines.
While there are a lot of problems with the latest Transformers, it is not bad enough to warrant skipping it altogether. The robots once again look great, with the ever capable ILM once again managing to make them very believable. The fights scenes, while excessive, are well done and the fight between Optimus and the Decepticons in the forest is a must see. If you aren't expecting a complete film like the first Transformers, and just want to see some giant robots throw down than Transformers: ROTF may be enjoyable, just keep your expectations low.
Score: 6/10
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