«
»

Movie Review: Transformers 2

June 27, 2009, 6:39 pm

The original was a sort of surprise -- one expected a movie based on a toy franchise to suck, but it was actually OK.  It had a bit of wit, probably Spielberg's influence.  The new movie is not nearly as good.  I give it about 2.5 stars, with that being an average of 1.5 stars when Megan Fox is off the screen and 5 stars when she is on the screen.   The director avoids doing anything to advance the plot when she is on the screen, which is good because it is hard to concentrate during those moments.

The one highlight for me was that most of the college scenes were filmed at my old alma mater Princeton.  With all due appologies to my friends, there is a certain amount of cognitive dissonance to seeing 40 or 50 consistently smoking hot college girls wandering around the Princeton campus.  We had a name for women like that when I was there -- we called them "visitors."

One bit of credit -- unlike a lot action movie sequels, the plot was mostly coherant.   The humor was strained, more sophomoric and less witty than the original.  Thedogs having sex in the beginning was gratuitous, for example.

Anyway, my kids enjoyed it, and it was a decent way to spend a summer afternoon when it was 107 outside.  Air conditioning always adds at least 1 star to every movie during a Phoenix summer.

Tags: , , , ,
Category: Movies & Entertainment
  • Bob

    (1.5+5)/2=3.25

    So, it must have been a weighted average based on the amount of time Megan Fox was onscreen, Huh?

  • Michael

    Now Bob, Warren is a married man, so the AC was the weighing factor.

  • Scott

    Saw the movie this afternoon with lots of families. Had a kid behind me that talked all through the show. Most annoying. It reminded me why we usually wait for the DVD.

  • Joe Antognini

    I know what you mean about that cognitive dissonance. It's always very strange to walk through the Caltech campus when someone is filming a movie. All of a sudden the average student on campus becomes an order of magnitude more attractive and mysteriously imbued with a perfect sense of fashion.

  • Michael

    I saw 'UP' with my mom, sister and her son; if you like family and values; then see the movie.

  • coyote little sis

    As your sister, I won't get offended by the Princeton women comment. If I was not segregated from that discussion, well, you have a lot more pressing issues than nostalgia for your old stomping grounds. Having said that, I know a few of my male classmates would have peed themselves to see Ms. Fox filming on campus.

  • epobirs

    The only thing that made it possible for me to get through the first movie was the added Rifftrax audio layer.

  • Brandybuck

    I remember decades ago when there were cameras on my campus filming a television episode. What rang my cognitive dissonance bell wasn't the smoking hot chicks (it was San Diego, after all), but the other people. One guy in a zoot suit, a couple of surfer dudes, a smattering of New England preppies, etc. We were watching the filming and wondering who those extras were supposed to be portraying.