June 25th, 2009 9:02 am

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” has hit theatres and it’s big, its sexy and there’s plenty of collateral damage. But does it hit the mark?

Following on from the hugely successful 2007 smash hit “Transformers”, comes “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”, the second film based on the Hasbro toyline by the same name.

Director Michael Bay (‘Armageddon’, ‘Peal Harbour’) returns to helm the multi-million dollar blockbuster with stars Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson and John Turturro.

So where do we begin with “Revenge of the Fallen”?  Well, let’s start with the action.

Let’s just say there’s plenty of it. Loud, messy, chaotic action. The film jumps from city to city destroying everything in its path. Not unlike is prequel.

You can’t go past Michael Bay when it comes to action blockbusters. He’s the king, right?

Well, unfortunately for “Revenge of the Fallen”, as great as the action is, its almost like one giant ego-stroking rehash of every other Michael Bay film. Whether this was intentional, or perhaps I’m just too familiar with Bay’s previous work, there really wasn’t anything in there that hasn’t been seen before. Asteroids, sinking warships, you name it. It’s all in there.

Half an hour into the film and you’ve pretty much filled your action quota. There’s just too much of the same action and nothing really stands out.

That being said, the visual effects are truly unbelievable. Industrial Light and Magic have absolutely nailed a visual style for the Autobots and Decepticons which is both realistic and other worldly.

The Witwicky clan are back to fill your ears with plenty of mindless banter. Shia LeBeouf (Sam Witwicky), Kevin Dunn (Ron Witwicky) and Julie White (Judy Witwicky) provide reasonably strong comedic performances, which help break up the excessive action scenes.

John Turturro (former Sector 7 agent Seymour Simmons) and Ramón Rodríguez  (Sam’s college roommate, Leo Spitz) also provide some comic relief.

What made the first film so great, was its ability to not take itself to seriously, thanks to its strong comedic cast. However in “Revenge of the Fallen” you start to feel as though the film is almost trying too hard to be funny and sometimes actually verges on annoying.

Megan Fox (Mikaela Banes) resumes her role as the resident hottie, a role which everyone knows she does all too well. Michael Bay clearly intended to up the ante, by strategically dressing her in even more scant clothing.

Australia’s Isabel Lucas (Alice) adds a second layer of sex appeal, just in case Megan Fox straddling a motorcycle wasn’t enough for you. Lucas has never been the strongest actor in our books and “Revenge of the Fallen” is no different. If it weren’t for her looks, would she have been cast? Doubtful…

What lets “Revenge of the Fallen” down so much is its rather poor storyline. Everything is made out to be so eventful, that by the end, nothing stands out.

Hollywood writing duo Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, who’ve brought us a number of Hollywood blockbusters over the last few years including “The Ledged of Zorro”, “The Island” and “Mission Impossible III”, resume their writing positions on “Transformers”.

While “Revenge of the Fallen” was in development, Kurtzman and Orci were also hard at work writing “Star Trek” and co-creating television series ‘Fringe’ with J.J. Abrams. They were also making final (but uncredited) script revisions to Zack Snyder’s “Watchmen”, serving as producers on “Eagle Eye” and executive producers on romantic-comedy “The Proposal”.

Perhaps the fact that they’ve been just so busy with so many projects is why “Revenge of the Fallen” fails to hit the mark. The storyline feels so thinly stretched between all the rampant collateral damage, if someone asked me what the film is about, I’d really have to think hard to try and remember.

So, what’s the bottom line?

“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” is a great action blockbuster for those who love fun popcorn flicks. Its even a little easier to sit through from just a motion sickness inducing persecutive, thanks to less chaotic camera work. But for anyone who was expecting something different to the first or a little more in terms story, then perhaps you might leave a little disappointed.