Heat Wave

The temp around here is around 103 degrees Fahrenheit. Yeah, fun. And it's even more fun when you have a refrigerator that spews heat from its exhaust vent into the main section of the apartment. Fans can only help so much.

I'm also using water, juice, and the occasional ice cream sandwich to beat the heat. I miss the rainy season. Hopefully it will cool down soon.

Transformers!!!!!

In case you can’t tell by the title of this post, I went to see “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (on opening day, no less). And I loved it. I honestly don’t know why the critics are panning it. I’ve read a couple of their reviews and I still don’t see where they’re coming from. Initially, I thought that there might be something wrong with me (aside from my usual quirks, glitches, and all around malfunctions), but after talking with some friends, I came to the realization that there’s nothing wrong with me liking this movie regardless of who hated it.

Now for those of you who read this and don’t know me, I am a huge Transformers fan. I watched every episode of the cartoon back in the 80’s (usually multiple viewings of each episode). I was completely angry that Optimus Prime died in the original Transformers film while Megatron was reformatted into Galvatron. (However, I was overjoyed when I first learned of Optimus’ impending return at the end of season three.) I collected the toys. I even wrote to Hasbro with a TF toy idea that I had (and I kept the rejection letter that they sent back). I’ve collected the Dreamwave TF comics (at least until CEO Pat Lee screwed everyone over and bankrupted the company). I collected a handful of the Marvel TF comics. And I’ve collected some of the IDW TF comics. On top of that, I have the entire series of Generation 1 and Beast Wars/Beast Machines (which I consider to be a continuation of G1) on DVD.

I thoroughly enjoyed Michael Bay’s 2007 “Transformers” film which re-imagined the G1 characters in an action-fest of pure awesomeness (though I was annoyed with the scene in the garden and felt that it could have been excised from the film).
Which brings me to “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”. After watching the various trailers that have been shown during and since the Superbowl, I’ve been excited to see what would become of some of my favorite battling bots since we last viewed them. I went into the film, hoping for greatness and it delivered. We got a great story that delved into the history of the cybertronians while also adding new characters and developments to the epic tale of the Cybertronian Great War.

The special effects were also of important note in this film. In the prior TF film, there were a lot of complaints by viewers about not being able to see who was fighting whom (robotically speaking). This time around, the effects artists really clarified the TFs visually so you could clearly see Bumblebee or Prime or Ironhide decimate the Decepticon ranks with their warrior skills.

Another element that was improved upon with this film was the shift in focus from the humans to the cybertronians. In the previous film, it seemed like Bay was trying to tell a story about the cybertronians from the human perspective. And the problem with that was that we didn’t get to see as much of the transformers. And if the movie is called “Transformers”, it should show lots of footage of giant, transforming robots. This time around, we got what we wanted. There was at least one cybertronian in nearly every scene. As a result, we got to see more of the antagonistic relationship between Megatron and Starscream (something that many fans of the original cartoon felt was sorely lacking from the previous film). In short, this film improved on the original in so many ways.

That’s not to say it was perfect. Rose-tinted sunglasses of nostalgia will only gloss over so much. Some of the CGI could have used some touch-up work because you could clearly see the “CGI seams” in a few shots. Also, I didn’t care much for Weelie’s canine-like antics. Nor did I care much for the lack of Autobot screentime. It’s a minor nitpick, I know. But I wanted to see Ironhide really throwdown with Starscream or Devastator instead of have his hands tied (metaphorically) by the politicians (like the rest of Lennox’s unit). And then there were the Twins. They weren’t as annoying as I thought they’d be, but they also didn’t contribute much to the overall story. The Twins felt like some stupid executive decision to add “comedic/hip” characters that the kids could giggle at instead of someone you’d want with you in the middle of a battle. I would rather have seen Bumblebee paired up with his brother, Cliffjumper or maybe one of the other minibots from G1 (like Brawn or Windcharger), or even the Arcee motorcycles. I realize that it’s a minor complaint; I’m just saying that I’d rather have seen someone else from the cartoon who could have contributed more to the story. And finally, while we still have the great Peter Cullen providing Prime’s voice, I was upset that we have yet to hear Optimus give the order: “Autobots! Transform and roll out!” I mean, c’mon! It’s his signature line and he has yet to say it, even once, in either of these films (saying part of it in the previous film was close, but no cigar). The writers or Bay need to get on the ball and make sure it’s said when they get around to making TF3. And those are the end of my problems with this film. As you can see, they’re pretty miniscule.

All in all, it was an excellent film and I will definitely be picking it up when it comes out on DVD to add to my Transformers collection. Why? Because it made me feel like a little kid watching his heroes save the day. And isn’t that why we go to the movies? To be transported into these fantastic worlds where things are more than meets the eye? (Sorry! I couldn’t resist.)