It's an alien's world

MANILA, Philippines – Malls must be supremely thankful whenever summer blockbusters like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen come along. If Greenbelt and Rockwell were anything to go by, the weekend that was must have meant great business for the whole mall as thousands upon thousands of people trooped to watch the film which ran in all the theaters of those malls, patronized the various eateries, and entered the shops while waiting for their screenings. I know my own sons made it a point to catch the film before the weekend was over, and as the two older ones went with friends, I brought my youngest to a Saturday night screening.

I have to confess that I haven’t watched the first installment, and as a rule, stay away from the films of Michael Bay, as I find him a bit too slick — great on the effects, on the sound and fury, but always weak on the giving his films a real “heart.” Give me Christopher Nolan and his conflicted, brooding heroes, as they provide the passion and humanity that a film like Transformers sorely lacks. And this my sons readily concurred on, as we sat over Sunday dinner discussing the film’s merits. Sure, they enjoyed the film, but they also saw the film as something one enjoys while watching, but like a roller-coaster ride, it’s over as soon as the ride ends or the credits roll.

There’s not much to say about the storyline as along with the whole audience, one is just waiting for the Transformers to transform, and for the mind-jarring combat and action to commence. Bumblebee and Optimus Prime share as much screentime as our real-life actors Shia LaBeouf (Sam) and Megan Fox (Mikaela), and it is when these Autobots are on the screen that the audience really perks up. Michael has often mistaken annoying for funny, and this film is no exception, as the parents of Shia’s character do nothing but whine and shout, and Shia’s college roommate dangerously teeters towards being a mere caricature. Thank God for John Turturro and Megan, as they portray characters with some semblance of blood and guts — most of the others get by on guts alone.

As for the CGIs and special effects, it’s vintage Michael Bay, and you can’t fault him in this department. I did notice though that the scene where the Decepticons attack the US naval fleet was a little bit too reminiscent of Pearl Harbor in camera angles and effects. And there are shades of The Matrix when Hugo Weaving’s voice takes over as Megatron, the main villain.

So in the tradition of most summer films, Transformers 2 will be one of the must-sees of 2009 and it was a joyride, I just don’t feel it will end up as one of my “must-see again” films.