So I went to see Transformers 2 today.
Don't judge me.
Right off the top, I am not by any means a critical moviegoer. Comic Janeane Garofalo, when talking about the early years of the TV show "er", once commented that, although she knew she was being manipulated, she didn't really care-"I'm not made of stone, here, people!" I have been favorably disposed towards just about every movie I've ever seen-and you're talking to someone who, in the same lifetime, spent American money to go see "Buckaroo Banzai", "Time Bandits", "Hudson Hawk", and "Meet Dave".
Even given that fact, I was prepared for some eye rolling moments. Comic Doug Benson (@dougbenson on Twitter), who does a podcast called "I Love Movies", was, I'm pretty sure, the person who came up with the following capsule review: Was Michael Bay molested by an explosion as a child?
But really, are you expecting much? It's Transformers. It's a movie based on a toy. It's pretty much unreviewable-anything negative you say about it, it's Transformers, for pity's sake. This isn't Chekhov we're dealing with. Similar to Darth Vader spinning out of control at the end of Star Wars, you knew 30 seconds after the first one ended that there would be a second one.
First item: Megan Fox. Hubba hubba.
Second item: The graphics were spectacular, of course. Things are exploding everywhere.
Third item: The plot? Eh. Of course, they left some wide open holes in the first so there would be a second, but at the same time, there are some gaping holes in this one, too. Major suspension of disbelief problems.
Overall, what did I expect? It banged, it zoomed, it crashed. You tear up at the appropriate moments, and you're done. A perfectly acceptable way to spend 2 or so hours. But not exactly The Cherry Orchard.
(Probably the most exciting part was a preview for M.Night Shamalayan, whom my wife and I call Shammalammadingdong, who is doing a live action movie version of the Nickelodeon cartoon "Avatar: The Last Airbender". It is a surprisingly engrossing comic bookish story about a preteen boy who is a Dalai Lama-like figure, gifted with the power to manipulate elements like fire, water, earth, and air.)
When the very first Transformer movie came out... the cartoon one... another mom and I ditched our kids and ran to see it! We loved it and have loved every other one since.
ReplyDeleteSometimes you have to just enjoy something and not worry about perfection. It's entertainment!
Michael Moore said something like that Transformers was the worst movie of all time, and it had the 2nd best opening of all time.
ReplyDeleteThis, considering that a few months ago, he chose to show a trailer for "Transformers 2" at his theatre.
One thought I had from the first one was that in the real world, any humans near any of these robot battles would be torn to bits by shrapnel and other bits of stray metal that might get knocked off robots as they slug each other.