Let me say I’m a Transformers fan. I watched it growing up and still have the toys. I enjoyed the first movie (with reservations about the sexual dialog and hints). I saw Transformers 2 today and let me just say I was disappointed on several levels. I did enjoy the story. I saw character progression in the human characters. I also liked the way they handled Soundwave & Ravage. It was a good follow up in many ways but here are the problems from my point of view.
1. Language: It was crazy. Every character in the movie human or other wise spouted out profanity. It ruined scenes and was totally uncalled for.
2. Sexual content: We had dogs having sex, a robot with testicles, a robot disguised as a human wanted to have sex, and way to much more.
3. Drug use: Sam’s mom eats some pot laces brownies and goes crazy with bad language & behavior.
These three categories eliminate the movie from bringing kids to it.
4. Racially stereotyped characters: We have 2 Autobots who are “twins” and the way they act and speak is like a bad (and wrong) stereotype of African Americans. Then we have little people being made fun of. Plus people of Arab decent being made fun of. It was just poor.
5. Battle scenes that are way to fast and chaotic. There are a few good battles but the the majority are so fast paced that you can’t tell who is fighting who.
6. The Character of the Robots: Both movies have Transformers in the title but they are not really about transformers. They are about humans. I’m sorry but both movies have disappointed me with the lack of character development of the actual Transformers. Part of the draw of the cartoon series and the comics was the interaction of humans and the Transformers. We get the impression that that has happened between the movies but we don’t really see it on screen. The majority of the Transformers are 1 dimensional characters. The may look cool as they transform and fight but we never really build a relationship with them.
Bottom line is that someone besides Michael Bay need to direct future movies. Someone who was a fan of the cartoons and who can bring the right touch to the movies. Someone who will take out the needless language, sexual content, and stereotypes. Someone who will focus on character development of both humans and robots. The draw is that these giant robotic beings have emotions, dreams and values just like human beings. They need us and we need them.
I totally agree, Jeff. We went to see it before I wentto Spain because I am a big Transformers fan….very disappointing. I still love the HUGE-ness of it, the action, the acting, and all that….but all that you mentioned above ruined it for me. Thanks for writing a review on it. It’s good to know that not all people can just overlook that stuff.