I’ve been waiting for this. I’ve always been a Transformers fan, the original movie from 1986 is one of my favorites. When Michael Bay was announced as the director for the first film, I was skeptical. Then I saw it and found it to be an enjoyable romp, but wanted something more. Revenge of the Fallen gives me that something more. As in more robots, more action, and of course more Megan Fox. I really liked how Bay and the writers picked and chose aspects from Classic G1, the Japanese “Masterforce” series, the Dreamwave comics, and Armada to flesh out the story as well as Easter eggs to search for. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is exactly what you expect it to be; a big, loud, action packed popcorn flick that takes itself seriously enough that it doesn’t treat the material as a joke, while at the same time not attempting to recreate “War and Peace” with giant robots.

The plot of the movie is much better then the last one. The Decepticons are searching for a satellite that was lost on Earth a long time ago. The satellite will suck energy from the sun so they can convert it to energon (the Transformers’ power source) Sam Witwicky (Shia Lebouf), due to his contact with the All Spark, knows the location. The result a balls-to-the wall search for Sam by both the Autobots and the Decepticons. The movie starts off hard with the Autobots and US Government hunting down renegade Decepticons then shifts to Sam and his parents preparing for college. The juxtaposition of action scenes followed by humor scenes works because it keeps you engaged when the movie slows down. The scene where Sam’s mother eats special brownies at college is priceless. Every scene Megan Fox is in is a treat. Do I need to say why? However, the Fox has some stiff competition from Isabel Lucas, who portrays Alice, a temptress that is “more than meets the eye.”

However, the stars of this movie are of course, the robots. Improvements in CGI allow them blend in with their surrounding a lot better than the previous installment. They fit in with their environment during day time now. My main complaint about the robots is the same as the previous one that the robot on robot action is shaky which makes it difficult to see whats happening.

Several new robots appear including Arcee, the female Autobot, the Twins, two street talking ‘tough guy’ Autobots, Jetfire, reinvented as a crotchedy old bot, and Wheelie, a feisty remote control monster truck who gets tortured by Megan Fox. (If you consider that torture.) However, I was more impressed by the additions to the Decepticons. Soundwave finally shows up, reinvented as a satellite. But what made this great was the return of Frank Welker (who voiced Soundwave and Megatron in the cartoon) returning to voice one of his most famous characters. Then there is Devestator, a combination of five robots that destroys everything in it’s path. The main villain is The Fallen, who is the Emperor to Megatron’s Darth Vader, who was okay and has an interesting backstory. The scenes with Megatron and Starscream are just they were in the cartoon, which was a welcome addition. Also, Optimus Prime has an action sequence that echoes his last stand in the animated movie. (Although the scene where he executes a Decepticon was a but out of character).

If you’re looking for a fun, exciting, escapist adventure with a beautiful woman, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is for you. (Despite the lack of the Transformers theme) If you’re not familiar with the Transformers and don’t get the concept, see it for Megan Fox. If you want Oscar material look elsewhere but remember it’s the profits from movies like this that fund those precious little artsy flicks.