It is a widely held belief that the best way to break news is to start with the positive. So let's start by saying at least Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen wasn't as bad as the first one.
The previous Transformers tried to please everyone by throwing 90 minutes of insipid teen romance in our faces. That was pretty insulting since it took time away from robot killing and, let's face it, that is what the crowd wants in a Transformers movie.
But don't get too excited, there is still a good hour of Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox playing the "why can't you say I love you" game. Seriously, this movie is targeted to 13 year old boys, so why would they?
Oh yes, "they" is producer Michael Bay, and Michael is not a clever-story or plot guy. Michael is a horrible-plot-but-cool-explosions guy, and for that we can be grateful for the final 30 minutes of this film.
One weird part was the short and oddly out of place "Obama is a sissy president" message. Another bizarre twist was the numerous GM commercials.
Every time the Autobots rolled in it was in classic car commercial fashion with the dust flying and the logos gleaming. But in 2009 it's really hard to see that without thinking, "Did all the bailout money go to pay for placement in a summer blockbuster?" Yeah tax dollar flush!
In the end this movie will most definitely satiate any desire to see car and plane robots beating each other up and blowing things up real good.
