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 In cinemas from Wednesday
Director: Michael Bay
Runtime: 147mins
Michael Bay’s first Transformers movie exceeded the admittedly pretty low expectations most of us had for a big-budget marketing exercise based on toys, but the sequel has to contend with the fact that the bar has now been ratcheted up. He’s not competing with Pokemon: The Movie any more, he’s competing with a movie that actually didn’t suck.
Set a couple years after the first movie, Transformers 2 finds Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf) heading off to college, trying to maintain a long-distance relationship with girlfriend Mikaela (Megan Fox) – who, let’s be honest, is mainly here to bend over and drape herself on a motorbike – and lead a normal life that doesn’t involve any more invasions by giant alien robots. Meanwhile, the Autobots have teamed up with the military to hunt down the last remaining Decepticons on Earth, who make cryptic references to ‘The Fallen’. Cue giant alien robot invasion.
Transformers 2 repeats one of its predecessor’s failings by spending so much time with its human characters that many of the robots never feel like anything more than cool-looking action figures. In particular, the irrelevant new computer hacker Leo (Ramon Rodriguez) seriously outstays his welcome. Even those Transformers returning from the first movie sometimes lack personality, and with the influx of new characters some are hard to tell apart unless you’re eight years old and already own all of the toys. Adding to the confusion, Bay keeps spinning the camera around its subjects, making it tough to see what’s going on or enjoy all of the otherwise frantic and exciting action.
The new Transformers who do stand out are the comic relief characters, and they are pretty funny. In particular the two Autobots who talk like hillbilly wiggers are hilarious (and voiced by Tom Kenny, AKA SpongeBob SquarePants). I didn’t catch their names, so in my head they’ll have to stay Jedbot and Cletustron. Those who grew up with the robots in disguise will be pleased to see updated versions of characters like Soundwave, Devastator and Jetfire to spread the warm tingle of nostalgia through your memories of the 1980s.
Although Transformers 2 is something of a jumble, and it drags out the set-up in favour of rushing through the climax on its way to the inevitable opening for a third entry in the series, there’s enough bombast and spectacle for the kind of action blockbuster it is.
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JODY MACGREGOR
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