Transformers

[absintheisfun]

What a complete let-down:bsjerk:

I loved the first one, but this was horrible! A semi-decent story that took about 5 minutes of air time. The other 2 hours and 25 minutes were bad puns and crash, boom bang shoot 'em up and tear em down.

Really, there is no way the same writer worked on this one...if he did, he did it soley for a paycheck.

I had to fight off the sleep monster for the last half hour. The action was so damn fast, that you really couldn't tell who was hitting who or what the hell was going on...just loud booms and yelling.

Not that the cartoon I grew up with was known for its mind-blowing plots, and I'm a sucker for a kick-butt action movie, but this was far from acceptable. I want a refund!

[nicks67camaro]

I heard the same thing....I'll wait till its HBO

[-The Stig-]

The first one had action that was too fast to follow on screen. Almost gave me a headache... and I'm a huge fan of the cartoon from my childhood.

Going to see it this weekend, hoping it'll be acceptable to my standards.

[79-TA]

I absolutely loved the first movie and would be hard pressed to find ways to improve it. With this in mind, I tried to keep my expectations low for this next movie. I was still let down and am still suffering emotional trauma as a result. Seriously, I sat in my car for an hour afterwards wondering what the heck just happened.

Suspension of disbelief is a major problem in this movie. It's too early for spoilers, so I won't go into detail on that.

If you're a Transformers fan, some weird things pop up that bring up worrying questions.

It's kind of cool when Michael Bay makes subtle reference to his other movies, but it was way overdone in this movie to the point where it was distracting and took the viewer out of the scene. If you weren't in on the joke, then the scene would just seem weirdly shot . . . look for the spinning shot that doesn't seem to ever end.

While the first movie featured many production cars and a sweet 2nd gen beater, this movie is full of concepts and a couple of discontinued cars . . . kind of like the GM vaporware movie. With that in mind, they probably shouldn't have the Volt in among all of those other unobtainable concepts. The car aspect was really lost in this sequel.

For example:
- Bumblebee has a never-was Z-28 body kit
- Sideswipe is a Chevrolet Centennial Concept Corvette which has yet to even be displayed in real life
- the military uses those Warthog-esque Hummer concepts
- Ironhide, the GMC Topkick truck, is no longer in production
- the Saturn Astra that Megan Fox makes a getaway in is no longer in production
- A Chevy Beat and Trax concept cars are featured. The Beat, or Spark as it may be called, might make it to production give CAFE and GM's desperation to seem "green."
- Jolt is a Chevy Volt which will make it to production, though many people still see the Volt as vaporware





Lastly, as a note to those with young kids, this movie is quite a bit more crass than the first. They overused the overreacting mom routine and bad words are much more common. and a robot humps Megan Fox's leg


It's definitely worth checking out, but don't go out and spend extra on it . . . not worth the Imax ticket price. Maybe save money and see a matinee showing.

[novaderrik]

i liked everything but the scenes with Sam's parents.. all of that could have been left out.
the racial stereotypes didn't bother me- after all, those two jive talking black stereotype robots did a good amount of damage to the bad guys when they put their minds to it..
the use of concept cars seemed kind of weird to me- they are, after all, supposed to blend into human society.
as for the Bumblebee's body kit and the Vette that never will be- the movie was probably completely shot over a year ago, and a LOT has happened in the auto industry since that time. there was no way to change the movie- and the toy line you can buy in the stores- without setting it back a long time and costing a lot of money.
my biggest complaints about the movie was how they ruined Devastator and made Jetfire into a senile old man. and Megan Fox's over inflated lips...

[budweasel]

Wish I would have passed or not taken him. I agree with posts from above about being crass/crude and too fast of action sequences.

The first was much better.

[bl1tzw1ng]

I was always a huge TF fan. My screen names are usually based on a Transformer and most email accounts. I really enjoyed the 1st movie and thought it was well done. Saw the new one opening day and couldn't believe how much I really didn't enjoy it. A few things aggrivated me. These are pretty much non spoilers:

The girl who is essentially a Transformer. If I wanna see a robot disguised as a human, I watch Terminator.

Jetfire talks of his parents. TF's don't need parents and it was pointless to even suggest they do or should.

All the humping. Every movie doesn't need forced teenage driven humor.

Hatchlings. WTF?! TF's are mechanical, they don't grow, aren't born in the sense humans are.

I'm not even one of those nerdy types that pick apart plot holes or lineage issues. I wanted to see cars and robots kicking butt. Instead I got a movie about humans and robots that apparently should be human. Just imagine how bad the 3rd one can be if he decides to incorporate the Dinobots......

[MrQuick]

. and a robot humps Megan Fox's leg

ok, I was definatly going to wait but I'll go see it just for that. LOL



nice run down though.

vince

[WS6]

I liked it but I like big budget action packed movie likes this. It's very funny and the language is not for kids. The two twins are hilarious

[Mathius]

You guys deserve to be disappointed for thinking a Michael Bay movie would have a plot.

Mathius

[Brandon Miller]

While the first movie featured many production cars and a sweet 2nd gen beater, this movie is full of concepts and a couple of discontinued cars . . . kind of like the GM vaporware movie. With that in mind, they probably should have the Volt in among all of those other unobtainable concepts. The car aspect was really lost in this sequel.

For example:
- Bumblebee has a never-was Z-28 body kit
- Sideswipe is a Chevrolet Centennial Concept Corvette which has yet to even be displayed in real life
- the military uses those Warthog-esque Hummer concepts
- Ironhide, the GMC Topkick truck, is no longer in production
- the Saturn Astra that Megan Fox makes a getaway in is no longer in production
- A Chevy Beat and Trax concept cars are featured. The Beat, or Spark as it may be called, might make it to production give CAFE and GM's desperation to seem "green."
- Jolt is a Chevy Volt which will make it to production, though many people still see the Volt as vaporware

Some of these points need to be looked at because at the time of filming, GM wasn't in the place they are now.

- Bumblebee has a never-was Z-28 body kit It was planned before GM hit the crapper.
- Sideswipe is a Chevrolet Centennial Concept Corvette which has yet to even be displayed in real life Again may have been planned before GM hit the crapper.
- the military uses those Warthog-esque Hummer concepts Last I heard they are using them now.
- Ironhide, the GMC Topkick truck, is no longer in production So what's your point? The original Bumblee Camaro hasn't been in production for some 30 years.
- the Saturn Astra that Megan Fox makes a getaway in is no longer in production Again why does it matter if it's a current production model or not?

[TonyL]

Atually, you CAN get the bumblebee "Z28" body kit from chevy now. Just order the bumblebee Camaro. It comes with those wheels and that bumper and spoiler.

[69TAPoser]

KID WARNING as stated above!

Be warned that this one is not as "clean" as the first. I was fine with my 12 yr old son being there, but my 10 year old daughter was embarassed multiple times, as I was for her being there. Be prepared to explain some language/actions to young kids if u bring them. I took this risk in bringing her as it is rated PG-13, but the 1st movie set an expectation that is way different with the 2nd.

I thought it was pretty good overall, more crass than it needed to be to be funny, but it was good. Not as good as the 1st but I do think it was good.

Phil

[toxicz28]

....a robot humps Megan Fox's leg

I never wanted to be a robot so bad in my whole life!
Oh wait, was that my out loud voice...

[DarkoNova]

My friend paid for my ticket to see this last night. Right when it starts there's horrible special effects, and I think it was Prime that says "punk ass Decepticons." Once I heard that I wanted to walk out, but I wanted to at least see Megan Fox. So I waited a bit longer and then toasters and coffee makers started transforming (with more cheesy special effects) and I said "I'm done" and walked out.

I went to the bar across the street and got a chick's number. Way better than watching that stupid movie.

Matt

[Steve1968LS2]

The F-16s were carrying practice ordanance (painted orange)

Why didn't they use the super secret rail gun earlier?

Overall we liked the movie though..

[absintheisfun]

My three biggest issues:

1. It is almost as if the director from the Bourne movies jumped on board for the fight sequences.
Kinda cool the first time I saw it. . .with people. With robots in disguise it is impossible to tell who is who and what I'm looking at...especially when the camera is SO painfully close to the action.

2. The character's lost their character. Really? Prime as a bad ass out for blood? I remember him fighting in the cartoons, but it was almost Ghandi like. This was a blood-thirsty UFC Prime.
--cool to see him kick butt, but just not quite right!

3. What the hell was up with Devistator?? I was so looking forward to see this MASSIVE transformation with the constructicons, but I couldn't tell what or who went where. It was just a big transforminator that ate sand

and...really, robot balls? I see how someone thought it would be funny, but once they watched the final cut it should have been left on the cutting room floor!

[PonchoJohn]

Yup, gotta agree w/ the above.
I take my 8 YO son and my 10 YO daughter to see it. My wife and I are staring at each other over the language right off the bat. I almost left then, but I figured maybe... MAYBE it'd get better. The crude humor (more like lack of humor) was rediculous.

Why do I need to see two male dogs going at it? In multiple scenes? And then a robot humping Megan's leg- WTF?? Is somebody in the audience really enjoying this?

Why do I need to see an adult male's rear poking out of a thong??!! Disgusting!

Why do I need to see an adult running out of a bathroom w/ his pants/underwear around his ankles?

If you take every foul word out of the scipt, it would still be just as effective. Don't get me wrong, I can drop the F-bomb w/ the best of 'em, but when I go to see a kid's movie, I don't want to hear it.
The same goes for all the humping/a$$ cheek shots-- way better w/o them even being in the movie.
While Megan Fox is just HOT on her own, putting her in the cut off's and trying to zoom up them was just wrong. Same for the robot girl's dress lifting/panties coming out when the tail-thing emerges. Are geeks really that hard up (no pun intended) that they need to treat a kid's movie like a 70's :bsjerk: flick???!! Who thinks of this garbage? Here's a clue- less is more. Megan was way hot in the first movie, without the need to crawl into her shorts. Again, kid's movie.

When it was over, I felt bad for not following my first instinct and just leaving. My son was sooooo amped up to see it, he had been counting down the days (and making sure EVERYTHING chore-wise was done!!), but when I asked my kids how they liked it, they both said they disliked everything I mentioned.

[PonchoJohn]

and...really, robot balls? I see how someone thought it would be funny, but once they watched the final cut it should have been left on the cutting room floor!

Forgot about this little "jewel"- WHY??!!
LAME!!

[79-TA]

Some of these points need to be looked at because at the time of filming, GM wasn't in the place they are now.

- Bumblebee has a never-was Z-28 body kit It was planned before GM hit the crapper.
- Sideswipe is a Chevrolet Centennial Concept Corvette which has yet to even be displayed in real life Again may have been planned before GM hit the crapper.
- the military uses those Warthog-esque Hummer concepts Last I heard they are using them now.
- Ironhide, the GMC Topkick truck, is no longer in production So what's your point? The original Bumblee Camaro hasn't been in production for some 30 years.
- the Saturn Astra that Megan Fox makes a getaway in is no longer in production Again why does it matter if it's a current production model or not?

I understand perfectly about when it was filmed, but it doesn't take away from the fact that it is unfortunate. So, point by point:

Yes, the Z28 was planned and is now dead. All that is left is a funny looking bodykit that didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. Why did Bumblebee have to be a Z28 in the first place? (and since when did Z28 mean uber-drag race horsepower insread of Trans Am inspired handling???)

The Centennial concept Corvette is just that, a concept, and will never be anything more. At best, it will hint at a few styling changes. Oddly enough, it has yet to be shown only once. (Chicago Autoshow . . . not 0 times as stated by myself above)

To clarify, when I say Warthog-esque Hummer, I mean the recent HX concept that many likened to the Warthogs used in the X-box Halo series. It is a concept and concept only. The real military (and non-NEST military in the movie) uses Humvees, a vehicle still made my AM General that I was not referring to at all.

http://www.seriouswheels.com/cars/20...HX-Concept.htm

Ironhind and the Topkick are just unfortunate and GM can't be blamed - like I said, unfortunate

The Astra was only a very minor point on my above list, but its fate is not news. http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.ph...=KBhVg&u=Qxfnz It was going away before GM ever let Saturn go. More importantly however the new 2010 model is already confirmed and easily seen on the internet. http://www.autoblog.com/2009/02/10/s...t-in-the-buff/ So in June, 2008, when that scene was filmed (http://jalopnik.com/396235/yes-thats...transformers-2) it's not like GM didn't know what it had in the pipe. Nevertheless, I love current Astra and thought it looked awesome in its short-lived film career. This was likely the most relevant vehicle in the film.

Though it was odd the airbags didn't go off during the first (fairly major) crash.


Now on the other side of the spectrum, all of the economic changes made the Beat and Trax concepts features far more likely to be produced. The Beat would likely be called the Spark and I still doubt the Trax will ever see the light of day . . . poor Groove concept didn't even make the movie after finishing last in GM's poll on the 3 concepts at the NY autoshow.




To your question why does it matter? The film is an advertising medium for GM to show off with. If there are not enough vehicles available for actual purchase, the viewer will not consider GM seriously. Just go take a look at how many people are STILL calling the 2010 Volt nothing more than GM vaporware. If all the audience sees is unobtainable, then it seems that GM has no real products to show off. It's just a simple matter of credibility.



That and I miss Jazz.