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Blackjack
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ROTF: Cyber Missions

Post by Blackjack »

Because I'm bored, that's why. And it's short! ;) For those who have no clue what this is: click here.

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CYBER MISSIONS 1
Airdate: 21 January 2010
Written By: Scott Beatty

SYNOPSIS
A holographic image of Optimus Prime in the database of Vector Sigma brings us up to date on the recent Autobot/Decepticon conflict. Ironhide and Bumblebee watch this footage in the NEST base. Suddenly, a tank opens fire outside the base. Ironhide leaves to investigate, while Bumblebee is left to secure Vector Sigma. As Ironhide leaves, Soundwave breaks in and uses a sonic boom to knock out Bumblebee.

Outside, the Decepticon tank crashes through the jungle, and Ironhide slams him in vehicle mode. The Decepticon, Bludgeon, transforms and battles with Ironhide. In the NEST base, Bumblebee has recovered, and opens fire at Soundwave, who repels the sonic boom back with his powers. Bumblebee lets rip with both his shoulder cannons, overwhelming Soundwave and defeating him. Bludgeon, meanwhile, uses a tree to bludgeon Ironhide. Ironhide tells Bumblebee not to disturb the fight, as it's between the two of them...

To be continued...

Featured Transformers: Optimus Prime (Computer Image), Bludgeon, Ironhide, Bumblebee, Soundwave

REVIEW
(Two out of ten)
It's basically a short CG advertisement for the NEST: Global Alliance sub-lines, with a couple of G1 references thrown in, for the visitors to Transformers.com to watch for free. But it's got very little charm, what with the dialogue sounding unclear at times, and the CG not being any good. Is it so hard to animate a moving mouth? And Soundwave having his fists perpetually clenched like his toy is stupid. Still, the plot's simple (a simple two on two fight) and it's free, at least, and it's interesting enough, though not really good. Still it sets the pace for more videos. Oh, and Bludgeon.

NOTES
Cyber Missions is a monthly installment at transformers.com, done mainly by TG studios. It features the newest toy of the month, generally.

Basically it's just a commercial for the toys out at that time. Bumblebee and Soundwave are based on their NEST two-pack toys, with Soundwave's G1 homage paintjob and Bumblebee's shoulder cannons. Ironhide's paintjob has the streaks on his new Recon Ironhide toy. Bludgeon is one of the newest toys at that time.

Vector Sigma and Alpha Trion are obvious references to G1.

GOOFS
Prime says that the Autobots are the keepers of the AllSpark, although at that post-movie time, the AllSpark is gone.

Prime's dialogue is truncated, ending at 'once and for...' when there should've been an 'all' at the end.

Why are there no other soldiers guarding NEST's base? Or at least perimeter guards which could detect Soundwave coming...

The shade of Soundwave's blue changes in intensity between scenes, and his yellow streaks disappear and reappear at random.

Considering how big Soundwave should be in the movie, he's out of scale compared to Bumblebee.

Soundwave says that Bumblebee's the Autobots' smallest soldier, when Arcee, Skids and Mudflap should hold that record. Of course, it's yet another shameless reference to G1...
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Blackjack
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Post by Blackjack »

Cyber Missions 2
Airdate: 7 February 2010
Written By: Scott Beatty

SYNOPSIS
After a recap of the first episode, Bumblebee has sealed Soundwave in a vacuum bubble, rendering his sonic weapons useless. Ironhide pursues Bludgeon through the jungles around the NEST base. Optimus Prime comms him, telling Ironhide to avoid confronting Bludgeon until reinforcements arrive. Ironhide engages camouflage, which apparently is so good that Bludgeon doesn't see him until he smacks into him.

Ironhide and Bludgeon rumble, exchanging insults as they do. After a few blows, Ironhide invites Bludgeon to join the Autobots. Not wanting to anger Megatron, Bludgeon jumps off a cliff to escape Ironhide.

Featured Transformers: Optimus Prime (Computer Image), Bumblebee, Soundwave, Ironhide, Bludgeon

REVIEW
(One out of Ten)
The episode takes too much time of recapping the first episode, and frankly it's bad. Prime narrating the whole thing is rather banal. Ironhide changing into his Recon colours would be a nice touch if he hadn't used it before, but it's another shameless hawking of a toy. Bludgeon's turned from an evil bad guy to a coward, while Ironhide's triggerhappy characterisation in the movies is changed to a guy who gives Bludgeon a second chance. The conclusion is too sudden. Frankly, it's a bad second installment to a decent first one.

NOTES
Soundwave's now under Autobot custody. Oh, he now has proper hands instead of the toy fists he was seen with in the first Cyber Mission.

Bludgeon finally uses a sword in this episode, instead of a tree.

Instead of killing the Decepticons, this is the first time we see the movieverse Autobots take one as prisoner, namely Soundwave.

GOOFS
So... Soundwave and Bludgeon risk their necks to steal the datatracks of Vector Sigma, which apparently is like Prime's log about the present. Why would they want to do that?

Last episode, Ironhide is already in his 'Recon Ironhide' toy colour scheme. In this episode, he's in his normal colours, before engaging the Recon Ironhide colour scheme as his camouflage paint.

Ironhide's camouflage is so stupidly effective that Bludgeon literally runs into him, when Ironhide's still in robot mode.

For such battle-hardened warriors, Bludgeon and Ironhide call it a day waaaaay too soon.

Despite another 'To Be Continued' at the end of the episode, Cyber Missions 3 doesn't follow this storyline.
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Post by Blackjack »

Cyber Missions 3
Airdate: 4 March 2010
Written By: Scott Beatty

SYNOPSIS
Ratchet is alone at a NEST lab, while all of the human team members are asleep. He is testing out his EMP blaster at a portable stereo, when Optimus Prime notifies him that Lockdown is up to some trouble in Mission City. A vengeful Ratchet goes off to battle him.

Ratchet chases Lockdown through the city, and slow the Decepticon down with his EMP blaster. They face off, but Ratchet's EMP blaster malfunctions. Lockdown beats Ratchet up, steals his EMP and runs away.

Featured Transformers: Optimus Prime (computer image), Ratchet, Lockdown

REVIEW
(One out of Ten)
Worse than the second installment. The location is unclear, (are we in NEST base? Or in Mission City?) Lockdown is lifeless, Ratchet is not so good, and the whole plot is just a ripoff of a cartoon aired several months ago. Homaging a twenty-five-year-old cartoon or comic is one thing, reusing the plot of a recent cartoon is another. Come on, people... come up with something new. Copying characters and releasing them as different toys is bad enough, since the two lines run concurrently (Animated ripped off Blackout, while ROTF ripped off Lockdown), but copying the plot is just plain lazy. The fight scenes are dull as well.

NOTES
Ratchet is in his new Deluxe class toy body design, complete with the previously-unseen EMP blaster. Lockdown's also based on the new ROTF toy, which, in turn, is a reference to the Animated character.

It's a very big ripoff/homage of Animated's Lockdown and Ratchet, only with less charm. In Animated, Lockdown also has a hook and turns into a muscle car, and he stole that series' Ratchet's EMP blaster as well. Both the Animated and Movie Ratchet have a grudge against their respective Lockdowns. Lockdown makes a great deal about Ratchet being old and small, and about 'science not winning the war', two more callbacks to the Animated character.

As with the previous two installments, the same stock footage of the cyberglyphics and Optimus Prime's hologram talking about us accessing Vector Sigma and such is reused in the beginning of the episode.

GOOFS
All the humans are asleep. In a 'highest security level' base.

Ratchet's EMP blaster has the plastic bullet of the toy stuck in it for the entire clip.

For some reason, there is a NEST lab inside a high-rise building in Mission City.

Interstate 95 is located in the East Coast, but it turns up nearby Mission City. Unless there are two Insterstate 95s, it's another error.

Lockdown is taller than Ratchet. While this is true in toy form (Ratchet's deluxe class toy anyway), and might be a dig at the ultra-tall deluxe Lockdown toy from Animated, it shouldn't be in this case in the Movie continuity. After all, how does a muscle car get so much bigger than a Hummer?

Another 'To Be Continued' at the end of this short clip. Cyber Missions Four does not reference this plot line in any way.
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Blackjack
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Movie Site Material Archive

Post by Blackjack »

Had this in my hard drive for a month or so, but haven't bothered to upload it until now. Hope that this meets with approval...

The review section does seem a little too long.

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TRANSFORMERS 2007

SYNOPSIS
The AllSpark, an ancient artifact that had created the Transformers and their home planet of Cybertron, is lost in space. Some time ago the AllSpark crash-land on a planet named Earth.

Now- the Decepticon Blackout, masquerading as a helicopter, lands on a SOCCENT base in Qatar. He transforms and attacks in an attempt to hack the US Military database. The base commander, Colonel Sharp, severes the hardlines before the Decepticon could download all the data. Blackout obliterates the base, but a small band of survivors led by Captain Lennox escapes. Blackout dispatches Scorponok to hunt them down, since they had caught a thermal photograph of him.

Meanwhile, an average teenage boy named Sam Witwicky is saving up to buy a car. A genealogy report reveals that Sam is the great-grandson of Archibald Witwicky, an Arctic Explorer. Afterwards, his father takes him to buy a second-hand car. The Autobot Bumblebee, disguised as a beat-up old Camaro, arrives on the car lot. After smashing the windows of all the other cars in the lot, Sam and his father buys Bumblebee. Sam then uses his new car to impress the girl of his dreams, Mikaela Banes, when she was dumped by her boyfriend. Bumblebee helps Sam out with some quirky tricks.

Meanwhile, Scorponok assaults Captain Lennox's team and kills Donnely, as well as possibly several others as well. Lennox, Epps, Figueroa and the remaining soldiers reach a settlement. Epps and the others manage to hold Scorponok back while Lennox contacts the Pentagon. An air strike arrives, and Scorponok escapes after being assaulted with high-temperature shells.

Secretary of Defense John Keller arranges for them to be retrieved, while he assembles a team of computer experts to determine the attackers. Maggie Madsen, one of the experts, insists that the attackers must be alien or something similar, but she is ignored. Meanwhile, the tiny Decepticon Frenzy sneaks aboard Air Force One and nearly succeeds in downloading the database. However, Maggie and her team discover this, and they manage to cut off the connection before Frenzy could finish downloading. Frenzy, however, comes across a classified file called 'Project Iceman', as well as about Archibald Witwicky. After killing several agents and making his way out of Air Force One, Frenzy rendezvouses with Barricade. Together, they learn the existence of Archibald Witwicky and his glasses (now sold on Sam's eBay page), which had Cybertronian language imprinted on it. The duo heads off to hunt down Sam.

Maggie Madsen had downloaded the classified data of Blackout and Frenzy's signatures and takes it to her fellow hacker Glen Whitman. But before they could decipher much, government agents storm in and apprehend them.

Bumblebee heads off alone at night to contact his fellow Autobots in space. Sam, thinking that his car had been stolen, follows in pursuit. He witnesses Bumblebee transform, and is freaked out. The police that take him in for questioning passes this off as drugs or something similar. The next day, a driverless Bumblebee returns to Sam's house. Convinced that it is 'Satan's Camaro', Sam runs away from Bumblebee, only to be cornered by Barricade, who questions him about the glasses. Sam manages to escape, running into Mikaela on the way. The two escape with Bumblebee, who Sam trusts to some capacity. At an abandoned power plant, Bumblebee and Barricade both transform and battle, while Frenzy attacks Sam. Mikaela manages to behead Frenzy with a chainsaw, while Bumblebee defeats Barricade. Sam and Mikaela discover that Bumblebee can only talk through the radio, and decides to trust and go along with the Autobot. However, Frenzy's head is still able to move and hitches a ride in Mikaela's handbag, disguised as her mobile phone.

After upgrading his alternate mode to a concept Camaro, Bumblebee takes the humans to witness the arrival of Autobot reinforcements—Autobot leader Optimus Prime, first lieutenant Jazz, weapons specialist Ironhide and the medic Ratchet. After scanning alternate modes, they meet Bumblebee and the humans at an abandoned alley. Optimus tell the humans about the war, and that the AllSpark had crash-landed on Earth years ago. The leader of the Decepticons, Megatron, had followed the AllSpark to Earth but is entombed in the Arctic. Archibald Witwicky had apparently discovered Megatron's body, accidentally activating some of Megatron's systems, which imprinted the AllSpark's location on his glasses (as well as driving him insane).

Sam, Mikaela and the Autobots head back to retrieve the glasses from Sam's house, but before the humans could give the glasses to Optimus a government agency named Sector Seven arrives and arrests Sam, his family and Mikaela. The Autobots arrive and manages to disarm the initial wave of agents led by Agent Simmons, but reinforcements equipped with specialized weapons manage to knock down Bumblebee, who had broken cover to save Sam and Mikaela from plummeting to their deaths. Bumblebee, Sam and Mikaela are subsequently captured.

Another Sector Seven agent, Tom Banachek, contacts Keller and convinces him of alien involvement. However, a virus inserted into the system by Frenzy earlier on activates and takes out worldwide communications. Banachek takes Keller (as well as Maggie and Glen) and Lennox's team to Hoover Dam. Simmons also takes Sam and Mikaela there. Meanwhile, Optimus Prime proposes that if all else fails, he would merge the AllSpark with his own spark to deny Megatron from obtaining its power.

Simmons and Banachek show the others top secret discoveries that the agency had hidden for years. The frozen Megatron, as well as the AllSpark itself. After a little demonstration of the AllSpark's ability to create feral life from existing technology, the power in the Dam begins to give out. Frenzy had wandered off and had discovered the AllSpark. His body restored, Frenzy contacts Starscream, who mobilizes the rest of the Decepticons.

Sam and Lennox manage to convince Sector Seven to release Bumblebee after an aggressive stand-off. Bumblebee shrinks the AllSpark into a football-sized cube, and along with Lennox's team they head off to nearby Mission City.

Frenzy, meanwhile, deactivates the cooling systems holding Megatron in place, while Starscream opens fire on Hoover Dam's power station. Megatron is released and meets up with Starscream, not too impressed with his second-in-command's performance. Simmons, Keller, Maggie and Glen try to find a way to contact the air force, but are assaulted by Frenzy.

Barricade and Bonecrusher try to intercept the convoy (who had been joined by the Autobots). Bonecrusher tears through several vehicles and engages Optimus Prime, but is quickly beheaded. The convoy, minus Optimus, reaches Mission City. Starscream strafes them, tearing Bumblebee's legs apart in the assault. Meanwhile, back at the Hoover Dam, Glen manages to get a morse code message to the air force, while Frenzy's face is cleaved apart by his own ricocheting projectile. The battle in Mission City did not fare well with Devastator's arrival, who takes all three Autobots to hold back. Blackout and Megatron soon join the fray. Jazz tries to hold off Megatron, but the Decepticon leader kills the valiant Autobot. Sam races to pass the AllSpark to a military airlift. Ironhide and Ratchet are knocked down by Starscream, and Sam is faced alone to confront Megatron. Optimus Prime arrives, and saves Sam from falling down several stories. Optimus Prime and Megatron begin to battle, tearing through buildings in the process.

Meanwhile, Mikaela jury-rigs Bumblebee to a tow truck, and with the help of Lennox's rangers, manage to kill Devastator. The air force arrives, and although Starscream manages to kill some of them, they (along with Captain Lennox's attack on Blackout's unarmoured chest) manage to launch an airstrike that kill Blackout.

After a long battle, Sam thrusts the AllSpark into the damaged Megatron's chest, overloading the Decepticon leader and killing him. Optimus laments Megatron and Jazz's deaths, and pulls out the remaining AllSpark sliver from Megatron's corpse. Bumblebee stays with Sam as his guardian. After the battle, Sector Seven is disbanded by Keller and the president, while the remains of the Decepticons' bodies and dropped into the Laurentian Trench. Optimus Prime sends out a message calling the other Autobots to Earth.

Meanwhile, the mostly undamaged Starscream flies into space, while Sam's parents are interviewed by a television channel, but did not reveal anything.

Featured Transformers: Blackout (killed), Scorponok, Bumblebee, Frenzy (killed), Barricade, Optimus Prime, Jazz (killed), Ratchet, Ironhide, Megatron (killed), Starscream, Devastator (killed), Bonecrusher (killed), Nokia Robot (killed) Steering Wheel Robot, X-Box Robot, Dispensor
Notable Others: Sergeant Figueroa, Captain William Lennox, Sergeant Robert Epps, Sergeant Donnelly (killed), Burke, Mahfouz, Colonel Sharp (killed), Sarah Lennox, Sam Witwicky, Mikaela Banes, Archibald Witwicky (flashback), Ron Witwicky, John Keller, Maggie Madsen, Mojo, Judy Witwicky, Miles, Glen Whitman, Agent Simmons, Tom Banachek

REVIEW
I am a relatively young to the Transformers world compared to many other fans in this site. They probably got hooked into the Transformers by the G1 cartoon or comic, or the 1986 movie. Or perhaps even the excellent Beast Wars cartoon.

I was not so lucky. I was born long after G1 has ended, and this part of the world never received any shows like Beast Wars, or even the Japanese dubbed shows. So to me, Transformers is a simple kids' toyline with robots and stuff. I did, however, remember playing with a knockoff Protectobots set, some BM Dinobots and RiD Megatron. No idea where they all are now, though.

So, anyway, come 2007. There's this new movie titled 'Transformers'. Knowing absolutely nothing about it except for seeing a trailer once, and figuring out that it's a sci-fi action movie, I watched it.

I was overwhelmed.

It was the beginning of a journey into geekdom and into the amazing (and sometimes creepy) world of Transformers. Right after watching the movie I got me one of those Titan reprints of G1 as well as IDW's Escalation, and I was hooked onto it ever since. Took me some time to get the hang of continuities, of course.

But we're not here to talk about me.

We're here to talk Transformers.

Most of the 'experienced' critics, like those you see in the newspapers and such, universally pan all action films, all science fiction films and anything based from something in the past to be rubbish. Let's ignore them for now, shall we?

Transformers is a decent movie for a two-hour flick. Even watching it now nearly three years later, it still holds down together. There are, of course, some bad scenes like the completely unnecessary cyber-kids, the daftness of the signal's screechy sound, or Jazz's pathetic introduction, but the rest of the film is superbly done that those errors are easily overlooked. Michael Bay manages not to make a two-hour film a bore. Human romance scenes or exposition should be an automatic turn-off, but they are done with such charm and speed, with jokes abound, that they are not painful to watch.

The real centerpieces of the movie, is, of course, the epic robot-to-robot fighting scenes. Say all you want about plot and characterization, but these fighting pieces are what the mainstream viewer wants to see. Those are necessary, but battles and other impressive scenes are what will be burnt in a watcher's memory. Sure, it's a big, blockbuster movie that could hardly be called literary art (what art has masturbation references or urinating robots in it?) but it's what makes it enjoyable. Humour and the good guys duking it out with the bad guys. It's simply fun and enjoyable to watch it.

Still, it's not that the plot isn't terribly bad. It's full of cliches for the human scenes, but the thing is handled so well that it seems unique. The Allspark is a decent enough plot device, and the motivations for both factions to obtain it are realistic and well-scripted, and the pieces of the plot all thread together nicely. I do feel that way too much time is given to Maggie (Rachael Taylor) and Glen hacking into Blackout's alien signal thing early on, and it's something of a disappointment when all they did at the end is just crowd-filling and contacting the air force. A shame since they're introduced so early on yet fail to do anything much. However, they are still enjoyable to watch on the screen, and that's the cast's strength. Every main human character is likeable in some way.

The main lead is Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBouf). Shia delivers an excellent role, and his character isn't exactly a stereotype. He's sort of a kooky geek with bullying problems at school, but has enough pride in him to stand up when needed. I simply love the 'huh?' look he has for many of the earlier scenes whenever something unexpected happens to him. Megan Fox manages to avoid the 'hot damsel in distress' stereotype, handling her role as Mikaela Banes nicely. She's not a tomboy, but she doesn't look weak with skills in automobiles, and her participation in the final battle with Bumblebee is amazing.

Josh Duhammel also delivers an interesting role as Captain Lennox. He's got that dry humour as well as the right amount of badassery. His sidekick, Sergeant Epps (Tyrese Gibson), however, doesn't do much although the short scenes where he does anything, like the visa comedy, is well done. The rest of the soldiers are not spectacular, but their meagre amounts of characterization (Donnely the glasses guy and Figueroa the Spanish guy) are sufficient to make their deaths at the claws of Scorponok mean something. Jon Voight, playing as the Secretary of Defence, handles his role with style and class, someone who doesn't revert to a joke every five minutes. The same goes for Sector Seven agent Tom Banachek.

Agent Simmons, however, is yet another memorable star of the show. John Torturro's character plays off Sam, Mikaela and Lennox pretty well, and creates an entertaining batshit-crazy government agant. He starts off as an enjoyable jerk before mellowing out to an equally charming loony guy. Between Simmons and Banachek, they've made Sector Seven much more interesting than, say, Men In Black. Sam's parents, although they only appear for several short scenes, are nicely done and eeriely realistic at some points.

However, you can't deny that the titular heroes and villains are the true stars of this movie. The Transformers themselves are simply breathtaking and overwhelming. Most of the time we see their impressive, imposing size from the humans' point of view, which conveys the real size of these guys. What I love about the impressive CGI work is that the Transformers really blend into the backgrounds, moving fluidly and naturally, with light reflecting off their bodies in realistic ways. Michael Bay might struggle a bit with character and plot, but action scenes... yum. The action scenes are a bit disorienting at first, especially the whole Devastator/Starscream vs everybody battle where it's hard to tell who is who, but the movie is still exhilirating. Action scenes are served, each one impressive and memorable. The complexity and sheer awesomeness of these battles are simply jaw-dropping. From Blackout's amazing destruction of the Qatar base, to the mad dash away from Scorponok, to Frenzy killing the humans, to Barricade confronting Sam, Bonecrusher and Prime's spectacular duke-out, Prime and Megatron's even more amazing final battle, Bumblebee taking out Devastator... the list goes on and on.

The most dramatic scene, however, would be the introduction of the Autobots as the quartet land on Earth. Steve Jablonsky's amazing music helps to fuel this dramatic scene. Jazz is the Autobot that suffers the most. His introduction isn't exactly endearing and he doesn't get to do much before Megatron kills him. It's a shame that Jazz's death is done seemingly for the hell of it, and the long shot doesn't really do him much justice. His death isn't really feeled until Ratchet and Ironhide walks up with his body and reminds us that he's dead. However, Jazz's fluid motions as he attacks Devastator and his first breakdance transformation are nicely done. Kudos to the animators for doing such a wonderful job in conveying the Transformers as characters instead of simply soulless machines. You won't wonder why Jazz didn't do a breakdance when he transforms, or why Bonecrusher's eye didn't pop out, but the fact that they added those little trinkets more than proves the animators' competence.

Ratchet is another guy who suffers. Other than being introduced as a medic, he doesn't get to do much. Unlike the rest of the robot cast (bar Jazz), Ratchet never get a whole scene for himself. Basically, he's just there, although his short pieces of dialogue are well done. It's also nice to see that the medic isn't wussy and can handle himself in the fight, slashing off Devastator's arm with his buzzsaw thing. However, he's always crowded and doesn't have a moment for himself. Ironhide, meanwhile, for the few short scenes he's given, is portrayed lovingly as a more triggerhappy guy with some wires knocked loose off his head. He's good fun, with the scene where he's ready to blast Mojo the chihuahua into kingdom come or his joke (suggestion?) to kill Sam's parents being his best moments. Oh, and there's that great action sequence where he does that slow-motion flip while fighting Devastator. Ironhide is basically the only Autobot with character development of any sort other than the titular duo.

Optimus Prime is the guy who looks most like his iconic G1 counterpart, yet redone in such a way that while he's still recognizable, he's different at the same time. I've heard some people make a fuss about how 'he has flame decals!' or 'he's a long-nosed cab!' but those are minor cosmetic details. The fact that he has a mouth doesn't really mean that it's the end of the world. Optimus Primal has a mouth as well, so it isn't the first. Prime's basically feels like any good guy. Brave, noble, experienced, with a small amount of dry wit, and cold-blooded when he needs to. He gets a simply wonderful action scene tearing Bonecrusher apart, and the 360 degrees spin-around transformations that we see for him are truly majestic. And that battle blade is just cool.

Bumblebee is undoubtedly the star of the show, though. It's amazing how they managed to make the 'speak through the stereo' thing work so that 'Bee couldn't explain it all to Sam (and the audience) in the beginning. The usage of sound clips isn't overblown, and he doesn't feel like Wreck-Gar gone bad. He's very charming, and Bumblebee's expressions and gestures are so well done that we feel very attached to him. The scene where Bumblebee struggles against Sector Seven is very sad and emotional. While friendly, he also proves to be a powerful warrior, beating Barricade single-handedly and blowing Devastator's head off with Mikaela in one of the oddest battle I've seen. I mean, pulling a legless, mute robot with a tow truck, fighting against a tank robot... it's hilarious and impressive at the same time. Bee is well done. He isn't a whiney kid Autobot team mascot, but rather a warrior in his own right. He's cute when needed, but manages to be impressive when it's needed. Regardless, the amount of gestures that 'Bee delivers in both robot and car modes do give him a well-developed character. That scene where the Autobots huddle around Sam's house is simply just precious, and Bumblebee pissing on Simmons is hilarious.

The Decepticons deserve a mention too, I suppose. The 'Con who gets the most character is the comic relief Frenzy. After the 'harbinger of doom' that we get with Blackout, Frenzy is more light-headed, with his comedy scenes as well as impressive voice acting (it's done in real time!) well executed. The head crawling off on its own and jumping around like a hyperactive kid on a high-sugar diet (albeit a kid with shuriken launchers) makes him charming and memorable. The other Decepticons get their own scenes as well. Blackout, as aforementioned above, introduces us all to the Transformers. For someone who doesn't even have a single piece of dialogue, he delivers an impact with the spectacular scene in the beginning where he blows up the Soccent Base. Scorponok is also memorable and a lot of fun, bursting out of the ground repeatedly like a demon and massacring the soldiers. Just look on the scared-as-hell expression on Epps' face. Just look at it.

Barricade is also loads of fun, playing as a 'bad cop'. He's threatening and adds a layer of menace and danger to the Decepticons. Being a police car is deliciously ironic, although he does get himself taken out by 'Bee rather quickly and disappears halfway through. Bonecrusher has an interesting design for a filler character, and the highway battle with Prime is so well done. I love his roller blades and claw tail thing. Devastator (or Brawl. I'm going with Devy here for reasons explained later) takes up much of the final battle, and it's nice how he shrugs of almost all the hits directed at him. However, other than shooting at stuff Devastator doesn't get to do much. Other than to be a subject of name debates, anyway.

Starscream, meanwhile, doesn't get center show. As someone who didn't have a clue who Starscream is when I watched the movie, Scorponok or Barricade was more impressive to me than him. Knowing how Starscreams have been potrayed in other fictions, though, I have to applaud the writers for not making Screamer a rehash of his overdone treacherous character. While there's evident friction between Megatron and Starscream, he does prove very competent in the battle, disabling Bumblebee and knocking Ironhide and Ratchet around. His best scene had to be when he takes out that squadron of F22s by blending in them, though. It's such a well choreographed scene. Meanwhile, Megatron himself doesn't get to do much other than be the lead bad guy. He appears on the third quarter, but then he proves to be a decent villain. That scene where he flicks a human aside or his little moment with Sam are well done. He also gets some morbid jokes in when he kills Jazz or when he offers Sam to be his 'pet'. But all in all he's a decent bad guy.

So, Transformers. It's a heavy budget action film, and on this it excels and more than delivers. It's funny, it's exhilirating and it's impressive visually. It has a lot of jokes, but it's not overdone. The masturbation thing might cause some people to cringe, but it's nothing too crude. It does better than some of the Marvel and DC films anyway. Old fans would be excited by this, while newbies to the world of Transformers, like, oh, say, me, would be on the ball. It does manage to net me in, and it's hard to get me obsessed with something. Michael Bay's Transformers might not be critic-friendly, but it certainly is impressive and enjoyable.

I, for one, love this flick. Deal with it.

(Ten out of Ten)

NOTES
Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ironhide, Ratchet, Jazz, Megatron, Starscream, Brawl and Bonecrusher are loosely based on their Generation One incarnations. While the characters are radically different from their G1 forms, Blackout, Scorponok, Barricade, Frenzy and Devastator have all been used for different characters in G1.

Sam Witwicky takes his name (but not his character) from Spike Witwicky of G1. Like Spike, his best buddy is Bumblebee.

The concept of the Allspark as a mystical ancient object that gives life to all transformers is based on the Creation Matrix of the olden Marvel comics, while the name Allspark is taken from the 'Well of Allsparks' first introduced in Beast Wars and Beast Machines, which is the mystical place where sparks come from and go to after they are extinguished. Most likely 'Allspark' is used to avoid confusion as well as legal problems with Keanu Reeves' Matrix series.

The concept of trans-scanning an alternate mode dates as far back as G1, but during that time they relied on external objects (the Sky Spy, CR chambers etc) to scan alternate modes. It's not until the time of Armada (I think) that individual transformers can scan alternate modes on the go.

'Protoforms', although not named in the movie itself, draws its name from the unborn Transformer template from Beast Wars.

Sparks as a Transformer's life first originated again in Beast Wars.

There are numerous callbacks to older material. I'm not going to list more generic stuff like 'OMG Optimus Prime's flame decals are soooo Hot Rod!' or 'Blackout haz BM Megatron's hands!!!!1' but here's some of the more noticeable Easter Eggs:
-When Bumblebee first appears, he shows up next to a beat-up Volkswagen Beetle, his original alternate mode in G1.
-Frenzy's head surviving after being lobbed off might be a reference to the Headmasters gimmick or to Beast Wars Waspinator. Considering Frenzy's characterization, the latter is more likely.
-Blackout 'ejecting' Scorponok, as well as Barricade 'ejecting' Frenzy, are both based on G1 Soundwave ejecting his cassettes. Considering that Barricade, Frenzy and Blackout were all originally going to be called Soundwave at one point or other, it's appropriate.
-'More than Meets the Eye', the infamous tagline for Transformers, is mentioned by Sam Witwicky when he speaks to Mikaela and later by Optimus Prime in his closing narration.
-Ironhide's complaint that Mojo 'leaked lubricant' on his foot is a reference to the phrase 'leakin' lubricant!' used several times in the G1 cartoon as well as his original character bio.
-Optimus Prime gets to say his classic motto, 'freedom is the right of all sentient beings'.
-He also gets to say 'Autobots, roll out!' after his speech in the observatory.
-Optimus Prime's hand retracting and revealing an orange sword is based on the heavily-referenced axe he uses in 'More than Meets the Eye part three' of the original cartoon.
-On the same vein, Megatron's hand being used as a flail is based on Megatron's morning star weapon in the same episode above.
-Megatron combining his two hands into a single weapon is very reminiscent of Beast Wars Cheetor's Transmetal body.
-Bonecrusher's eye popping out when Prime punches him seems to be based on Sludge's eye popping out when fighting Devastator in the original 1986 Movie.
-Jazz jerking Devastator's tank and forcing him to transform is based on a similar scene involving Kup and Blitzwing, again from the 1986 Movie.
-Optimus Prime's line "One shall stand, one shall fall" when facing Megatron is a reference to the same line spoken by Optimus in the 1986 Movie. Only in that movie, Optimus Prime's the one who dies.

The classic transformation sound could be heard several times, although it's usually remixed with new sound effects.

The scene where Optimus Prime scans the Peterbilt truck is very reminiscent of his Armada counterpart obtaining his alternate mode.

'Energon' appears on the license plate of a car during Megatron's attack on Mission City.

Bay said that he inserted several Easter Eggs on Mission City. Street signs advertising 'Takara Sushi' could be seen, but I couldn't be bothered to squint and find any more Easter Eggs.

Figueroa the Spanish soldier was supposed to die in the flight back and his death was even shown in trailers and the novelization, but it was cut.

Blackout's tail sign, 4500X, is the same one with Michael Bay's real life jet.

According to Michael Bay, the human that Megatron flicks away ('disgusting') is him. Or, rather, if it is in CGI, modeled after him.

Size-changing is not used in the movieverse to make it more realistic. Other then the Allspark, all the transformers have approximately the same mass as their alternate modes. Guys like Frenzy and Starscream would have rearranged body parts to get a more acceptable robot-mode scale.

Barricade was also supposed to die, with him dying in the novelizations, the comic adaptation and game cutscene storyboards. He was supposed to engage Optimus Prime after Bonecrusher, and be killed by slamming onto the highway pillar. It's perhaps why Optimus Prime is late coming to the final battle, but the scene is cut to allow Barricade to return in sequels. Since then, his death has been retconned by several sources. IDW's Reign of Starscream, in particular, has Ironhide sideswipe Barricade onto a pillar, knocking him out and therefore he's not able to join the final battle.

On the topic of Barricade, he was supposed to shoot missiles during the road chase between him and Bumblebee, thus giving a reason on why the time changes into night so quickly. The faux missiles were even already built into the prop vehicles, and is again seen in the comic and novelization.

Another changed scene from early drafts is Frenzy's revival. The comic and novel adaptation both had him telling the other 'Cons bring his body to him, but in the movie the Allspark revives his body. This lets the action flow more smoothly (where and when could they have handed the body to Frenzy?) and show us the power of the Allspark at the same time.

Michael Bay's favourite movie-verse transformer is Bonecrusher. He even named his new dog after him. Said dog cameos later in ROTF.

The designers try their best to avoid scale problems. Some people say that Starscream should tower over Prime, but I disgress. Starscream's robot mode has bent legs, and his body is rather broad. Seeing that he's the same height as Megatron, who's about a head taller than Optimus, the scale is more or less correct.

Some people have cited Frenzy's head transforming into a tiny cell phone as an error. However, if you look closely, while Frenzy's head occupies the same volume as a human head, his mandibles and eyes and forehead are all flat and potrude out, so not all the volume is present as mass. After all, he's a human-sized guy who has the same mass with a boom box, so his head couldn't contain that much mass. It's like how a contortionist could fit in a box much smaller than himself. With a little collapsing and rearrangement, Frenzy's head should be able to be the size of a mobile phone.

According to Michael Bay's commentary, the scene where Lennox has to use a credit card to call Pentagon is based on true events that happened to a friend of his who served in the military.

Originally Megatron would consume Jazz's spark instead of tearing him into two, somewhat akin to Megatron's Beast Machines character. This is, again, seen in the comic and novelization.

The final battle doesn't take place in Los Angeles, but in the imaginary city of Mission City. Of course, is filmed mostly in LA, so...

The tow truck that Mikaela commandeers in her assault against Devastator with Bumblebee has the words 'Mike's Towing' a reference to Michael Bay's name. To think about it, 'Mikaela Banes' is pretty close to 'Michael Bay'.

While it seems like Optimus Prime would be leaving four Autobots and a bunch of humans to fend for Earth if he goes with his suicide plan, actually it would've worked. Four (or five?) F22s do considerable damage to Megatron with their missiles, while Jazz's death is mostly because he sacrifices himself to buy the others some time. Prime, the Autobots and the human jets might also be holding back because it's a populated area. It's worth noting that if the Autobots and humans battled in a mostly uninhabited area, like in ROTF, the Decepticons would be massacred en masse.

The most headache-inducing one now. The tank Decepticon is called 'Devastator' in the movie when he reports to Starscream's call-of-arms in Cybertronian, which is subtitled 'Devastator reporting'. However, the toys and the tie-in video games all had his name as 'Brawl'. To promote their toys, Hasbro obviously preferred the latter name, and even said that they had finalized the name as Brawl and Devastator is the wrong one. However, guys like Michael Bay and even Simon Furman (in his work for Titan and the Movie guide) prefer the name Devastator. It's a more awesome name compared to Brawl, and while Hasbro insists otherwise, the producers have several chances of rectifying the subtitle if they wanted to when the movie his IMAX or before the DVDs come out, so Devastator it is. Many fans insist on using 'Brawl' as the correct name, because G1 Brawl is a tank and G1 Devastator is a combiner, and they expect (correctly) him to appear in sequels. IDW has retconned this somewhat in their post-movie work, rewriting the scene where Devastator reports, having him say 'Brawl reporting'. But as the movie itself is concerned he's still Devastator and so is the other guy in the second movie. Personaly I would've preferred him to be called Brawl, but then we can't always get our way. So, Devastator it is in this review (and Brawl in the IDW comics)... look, maybe it's a last name, okay?

Some people have cited this as an error, but it's not. When Starscream attacks, Epps says that real F22s never fly below the skyline. However, the real F22s do that lots of times in the battle itself. Of course, this is hardly a normal occasion with big death machines blowing the city up, so it's excusable. After all, police cars have to follow speed limits except when they are pursuing other vehicles, right?

The IMAX version has several additional brief human talky scenes. All of these are seen in the novelization except for the Area 50 bit, but otherwise nowhere else.
-Sam is shown picking up Miles, and Miles complains about Sam's choice of a yellow car.
-Sam is given an anti-drug bumper sticker and is shown the 'this is your brain on drugs' video by the crazy deputy.
-Simmons uses a device to monitor Sam's pupil dilation to detect whether he's lying.
-When they enter the room to view the AllSpark, Simmons remarks that Hoover Dam is 'Area 50', and lists the nicknames of all the US presidents that have visited the facility.
-Lennox gets shortwave radios from a gun-toting pawnshop owner.

The Decepticons went through a slew of working names. Blackout's working name was Soundwave, Grimlock, Vortex, Devastator and Incinerator at different points before they settled on Blackout. 'Vortex' would appear in one of the kiddie books. Frenzy's early working names included Soundwave, Boombot and Soundbyte. Barricade's early working name was 'Brawl'. Also, in early scripts, Barricade and Frenzy were supposed to be a single character named Soundwave, transforming from a tape deck into a Humvee, but when size-changing proved unrealistic, they are changed into two characters instead. 'Soundwave's' new hyperactive incarnation was deemed too far from his original character, so he was renamed Frenzy. Devastator's working names were Demolisher and Devastator, before Hasbro settled on Brawl, and Bay on Devastator. Confused yet? And you thought FIBRIR is bad...

Originally Arcee was going to be in the movie, but she was replaced by Jazz because there's no time to explain her gender. Prowl was going to be at the movie at one point, but is replaced by Barricade because a Decepticon police is more interesting. Wheeljack has also been proposed but was dropped. Several incarnations of Soundwave was proposed, but they would later evolve into Frenzy, Blackout and Barricade respectively. Ravage was also slated to be in the movie, but was replaced by Scorponok when the opening scene was changed from a forest to a desert. Laserbeak, Rumble, Skywarp and Shockwave were all considered in very early drafts. A space battle was also considered but dropped.

GOOFS
What is Mahfouz (the little kid) doing in Soccent military base? His village is pretty far away. We get the impression that the base is highly secure, what with them ready to shoot down the crew of a friendly helicopter that doesn't answer hails, but they let a random kid wander around?

Even if he's unsuccessful, Sam could've made a fortune with antique explorer's equipment if he sold them to, say, a museum or a collector instead of selling them on eBay.

Why didn't Barricade (or Bumblebee) make a bid for Sam's glasses on eBay? Surely it's not hard to fool Sam for a bit? The Decepticons at least could easily hack a credit card company or something...

Why did Bumblebee come up with the rather impractical plan of getting bought by Sam, then waiting for Prime and the others to arrive? It gave the 'Cons time to get what they needed. Then again, Bee is rather cocky and is probably not aware that there's already that many Decepticons on Earth.

Frenzy and Blackout needed to hack government stuff to get the connection between Archibald and the glasses and then the AllSpark, so how did Bumblebee know that Sam is somehow connected to the AllSpark? Well, he's he probably got his methods but he's mute. So we can't ask him.

Sam's parents doesn't really get mad at Sam even after his car got stolen and he went a little loony after that.

The recording Simmons plays Sam about his car standing up isn't the same as the original recording.

During the S7 chase, why did Optimus Prime carry Sam and Mikaela in his hands instead of, you know, transforming like the others? And using his legs to catch Sam... that'll break bones, for sure.

The Beagle Two Lander was launched by Europe, not by USA. But then, Sector Seven might have worked with the British guys...

Epps' photograph of Blackout is taken during the night, but when Banachek shows it to Keller to compare with the Beagle Two destroyer, the picture has a light source behind it.

When Optimus does that monkey bar thing like a gorilla (I'm not going to list is as a Primal reference) the pillar thing should've cracked a little to support the weight of the truck.

When Optimus Prime picks up Archibald's glasses after Bumblebee's capture, the glasses are a wee bit too large considering that Sam fits in his hand.

For a split second when Bumblebee's body is transported into the Hoover Dam (when Jazz speaks about being Bumblebee being an experiment) he's missing his car doors. They're back in the next scene.

Jazz and Ratchet don't even transform to help when Starscream blew Bumblebee's legs off and knocked Ironhide aside. Jazz even had to be pushed backwards by Sam so he can see how badly hurt Bee is.

Bumblebee doesn't use the Cube to regenerate his legs. Of course, in its compacted state it might be difficult to use.

The idea that Sector Seven is disbanded is a little daft. Sure, they kept Keller and the others in secret about the Transformers, but wouldn't an organization with sixty to seventy years of experience with alien technology, not to mention trained agents, would be at least useful?

Quote, Unquote
Optimus Prime: "Before time began... there was... the Cube."

Optimus Prime: "And just when all hope seemed lost, message of a new discovery drew us to an unknown planet called... Earth. But we were already too late."

Sam Witwicky: "OK, here's the dream. Your B minus? Poof! Dream gone. Kaput. Sir, just ask yourself. What would Jesus do?"

Ron: "I've got a little surprise for you, son." -drives towards a Porsche showroom- "Yep, a little surprise."
Sam: "No no no no! Dad! Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"
Ron: "Yeah, I am." -drives away- "You're not getting a Porsche."
Sam: "You think that's funny?"
Ron: "Yeah, I think it's funny."

Sam Witwicky: "The paint's faded!"
Bobby Bolivia: "Well, yeah, but it's custom."
Sam Witwicky: "It's custom faded?"

Sam Witwicky: "You said cars pick their drivers!"
Bobby Bolivia: "Well, sometimes they pick a driver with a cheapass father. Out of the car."

Judy Witwicky: (on Bumblebee) "Wow. You are so cheap."
Ron Witwicky: "It's his first car. It's supposed to be like that."

Lennox: "Epps, I need a credit card! Where's your wallet?"
Epps: "Pocket!"
Lennox: "Which pocket?"
Epps: "My back pocket!"
Lennox: "You got ten back pockets!"
Epps: "Left cheek! Left cheek! Left cheek!"

Epps: (telling gunners to bomb Scorponok) "BRING IT!"

Sam: (on Bumblebee) "It's got to be Japanese."

Mikaela: (on Bumblebee) "You know what I don't understand? Why if he's supposed to be this super advanced robot, does he transform back into this piece of crap Camaro?"

Ironhide: "You feelin' lucky, punk?"
Optimus Prime: "Easy, Ironhide."
Ironhide: "Jus' kiddin'. I jus' wanna show him my cannons."

Ratchet: "The boy's pheromone level suggests he wants to mate with the female."

Mikaela: "How did you know about his glasses?"
-beat-
Optimus Prime: "eBay."

Ratchet: "If the Decepticons find the Allspark, they'll use its power to transform Earth's machines, and build a new army."
Optimus Prime: "And the human race will be extinguished. Sam Witwicky, you hold the key to Earth's survival."
Mikaela: "Please tell me you have those glasses."

Ironhide: (on Mojo)"You seem to have a vermin infestation. Shall I terminate?"

Optimus Prime: "Oops. My bad."

Ironhide: "Why are we fighting to save the humans? They're a primitive and violent race."
Optimus Prime: "Were we so different? They are a young species. They have much to learn, but I've seen goodness in them. Freedom is the right of all sentient beings... You all know there is only one way to end this war. We must destroy the Cube. If all else fails I will unite it with the spark in my chest."

Optimus Prime: "A necessary sacrifice to bring peace to this planet. We cannot let the humans pay for our mistakes. It's been an honor serving with you all. Autobots, roll out!"
Jazz: "We're rolling!"

Simmons: "Ooh, a Nokia. Nokias are real nasty. You got to respect the Japanese... they know the way of the samurai."
Maggie: -whispering- "Nokia's from Finland."
Keller: -whispering- "Yes, but, you know, he's a little strange."

Simmons: (on the Nokiabot) "It's like an itty-bitty Energizer Bunny from hell, huh?"

Frenzy: "Megatron Megatron Megatron!"

Starscream: "I live to serve you, Lord Megatron."
Megatron: "Where is the Cube?"
Starscream: "The humans- have taken it!"
Megatron: "Hrrn. You fail me yet again, Starscream. Get them!"

Bonecrusher: "I HATE YOUUUUUU"

Lennox: -to Sam- "Listen to me! You're a soldier now, all right?"

Megatron: "Humans don't deserve to live."
Optimus Prime: "They deserve to choose for themselves!"
Megatron: "Then you will die with them! Join them- in extinction!"

Megatron: "Give me the Allspark, and you may live to be my pet."
Sam: "I'm never giving you this Allspark!"
Megatron: "Oh, so unwise."

Frenzy: -kills himself- "Oh shit."

Optimus Prime: "At the end of the day, one shall stand. One shall fall."
Megatron: "You fight for the weak! That is why you lose!"

Sam: "No sacrifice, no victory."

Optimus Prime: "And though we are worlds apart, like us, there's more to them than meets the eye. I am Optimus Prime, and I send this message to any surviving Autobots taking refuge among the stars: We are here. We are waiting."
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Post by Cliffjumper »

If Optimus Prime kills himself with the Allspark, doesn't that leave Megatron fighting the Autobot stooges and the humans? How's that any better than the alternative?
Well, when they actually get airborne, a mere handful (4, IIRC) of F-22s do Megatron not inconsiderable damage. The main reason Megatron kills Jazz so easily is because Jazz is surprised at close range (and also basically sacrifices himself to buy everyone valuable time to withdraw and entrench). The reason Megatron beats Prime is because the Autobot is too aware of the city around him (compare and contrast with the uninabited area in ROTF, where the fact is Megatron and Starscream only escape with their lives due to Prime's concern about Sam). Elsewhere a fistful of Rangers and S7 guards keep Devastator busy with ranged weapons. The reason the Decepticons bother knocking out Earth's communications (and Starscream's team take alternative modes) is that a concerted ranged attack would probably result in their absolute defeat. Even Blackout's attack on the SOCCENT base largely relies on him being mistaken for a regular, albeit rogue, helicopter - as a result there are only the low-calibre weapons that would be capable of blowing up a regular helicopter on hand.
When Starscream attacks, Epps says that real F22s never fly below the skyline. However, the real F22s do that lots of times in the battle itself. Of course, this is hardly a normal occasion with Starscream flying around, so...
You've answered your own query there. F-22s would not fly below buildings if they're liasing with an escort brief. If they're engaging hostiles, they'll fly wherever they bloody well like. There are laws in most, if not all, countries regarding minimum altitudes over residential areas, because it's an unnecessary risk. If there's an alien death machine hell-bent on taking over the planet on your tail, it's considered fair game to take the chance. Therefore it's notable that the lone example that isn't actually engaged goes into an attacking flight pattern. It's not so notable that the group vectored in to attack Megatron go into an attacking flight pattern. An analogy is that police cars follow the same speed limits as all other cars - until they're required to pursue someone who's breaking the speed limit, in which case they obviously break it.

The question to ask there is why exactly Lennox is stupid enough to give Epps a bollocking. It's blatant at that point that the F-22 isn't on their side - Ironhide (for whatever reason, presumably some sort of scanner - no Transformer goes unrecognised by another in the film, with the 'disguise' thing entirely used to fool humans) recognises and names him, the troops take defensive positions while Ironhide and Bumblebee do what they can to dig in. At which point Starscream makes a missile run and blows Bumblebee's legs off. That Lennox seems to somehow think all this is Epps' fault is the error there.
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Post by inflatable dalek »

It might be worth mentioning the likely reason for the McGuffin not being called the Matrix, as in any film about evil machines out to destroy humanity would be mad to use the term after the Keanu film (the casting of weaving probably making using All Spark a certainty). The second one going for it suggests a much more confident production.
REVIISITATION: THE HOLE TRUTH
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Post by Blackjack »

Cheers, thanks for the help. It's edited a little more, plus added some additional goofs from Cliffy's ever-helpful Counter-X.net. This better? More critics or comments are welcome, by the way...
You've answered your own query there.
Yup, I surprise myself sometimes. ;) Moved to the 'notes' section.
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Post by Blackjack »

Cyber Missions 4
Airdate: 27 March 2010 (Canada), 1 April 2010 (public)
Written By: Scott Beaty

SYNOPSIS
Optimus Prime and Sideswipe tracks Megatron's unique Spark energy signature into an abandoned factory, but the duo are unable to pinpoint Megatron's exact location. Sideswipe complains that the Decepticons are always one step ahead of them, only to have Megatron rise up behind him and knock him down.

Megatron explains that he had been cloaking his spark to remain undetected, and a fight ensues. Megatron transforms into tank mode and blasts the ceiling, using the debris to escape. The Autobots pursue.

Featured Transformers: Optimus Prime, Sideswipe, Megatron

REVIEW
(Three out of Ten)
This one is a little bit better than the others, because the character models seem much smoother than the others, which blatantly follow the toys. Of course, having models of Optimus Prime, Megatron and Sideswipe ready from the movies helped. However, the fight scene is dull and stunted, and could've been improved a lot. The plot's simplistic, but is okay for a five minute clip. Most of all, it doesn't feel like an advertisement.

NOTES
This episode, together with Cyber Missions 5 and 6, are first released exclusively in YTV's site, and are only playable in Canada.

Megatron retains his death-pincer arm for the entire episode.

Optimus Prime uses his dual swords seen in the movie. Sideswipe, too.

GOOFS
The Autobots are real idiots for not being able to see Megatron--the guy's crouched down, hiding among rubble. Couldn't they bring thermal scanners or somesuch?

What could Megatron want to do in a warehouse?
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Blackjack
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Post by Blackjack »

Cyber Missions 5
Airdate: 27 March 2010
Written By: Scott Beatty

SYNOPSIS
Lost in the jungle after his confrontation with Bludgeon previously, Ironhide enters a cave. Back at NEST HQ, Bumblbeee informs that they lost contact with Ironhide, and after Bumblebee conducts a scan of the area, it reveals that the cave is rich in energon deposits.

Optimus Prime arrives to find Ironhide hypnotised by the Decepticon fugitive Mindwipe, who is ordering Ironhide to gather the energon for him. Optimus blasts Mindwipe, but while Optimus tries to talk some sense to Ironhide Mindwipe begins his hypnotism sequence. Optimus fights it and finally uses his truck horn to break Mindwipe's concentration. Mindwipe transforms to escape, but is blasted by Optimus. Ironhide snaps out of hypnotism, puzzled at what happened.

Featured Transformers: Optimus Prime (flashback and present), Sideswipe (flashback), Megatron (flashback), Bludgeon (flashback), Ironhide (flashback and present), Bumblebee, Mindwipe

REVIEW
(Five out of Ten)
Despite the obvious "BUY MINDWIPE!" subplot and the daftness of Ironhide being lost in a jungle, I really like this episode. Mindwipe is a decent villain, with his powers really shown effectively, unlike Bludgeon or Soundwave. And giving him a vampire accent and letting him hang upside down like a bat is a nice touch. It's also a decent sequel to the Ironhide episode prior, and Optimus Prime is nicely portrayed.

NOTES
Ironhide's battle with Bludgeon took place in Cyber Missions 2.

Mindwipe hanging upside down like a bat, having hypnotism powers and speaking like a perverted vampire are all homages to his G1 character. This incarnation of Mindwipe has three eyes.

Starting with this episode, a credits section is shown at the end of the episode.

GOOFS
How could Ironhide go missing in a jungle around his own base? And why is energon found in an Earthen cave?

Why would Mindwipe have Ironhide mine for stuff when he could have Ironhide do more sinister stuff?

Apparently when you get hypnotized, your eyes turn red.
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Post by Blackjack »

Cyber Missions 6
Airdate: 27 March 2010
Written By: Scott Beatty

SYNOPSIS
Sideswipe is in pursuit of Barricade and Frenzy on Interstate 95. As Sideswipe drives away, Barricade stops at a secure facility and uses his hologram to fool a scanner to open the gates of the building. Once inside, Frenzy hacks into the computers inside.

Sideswipe sneaks up on Frenzy and crumples him into a ball. Barricade is still oblivious to the Autobot until Frenzy warns him. A fight ensues, in which Frenzy is treated as a projectile by both Barricade and Sideswipe. Barricade eventually gets the upper hand by using a flame attack and coolant liquid to freeze Sideswipe into place. The Decepticons hightail out of the place, and as Sideswipe frees himself, the computer informs that the Decepticons had downloaded NEST defense deactivation codes.

Featured Transformers: Optimus Prime (computer), Sideswipe, Barricade, Frenzy

REVIEW
(Four out of Ten)
Ignoring the fact that Frenzy should be dead, and that it's an advertisement for a new toy, this is a funny episode. Barricade's actions are a little clunky, but Frenzy's Waspinator-esque treatment is really hilarious. There's a hint of an overreaching plot as well, which is good.

NOTES
This episode is an obvious advertisement for the Barricade and Frenzy Human Alliance toy, which means Frenzy is revived. Oh, and Barricade is obviously in his Human Alliance body.

The hologram police officer seems to be based on moustache man from the movie.

GOOFS
Frenzy should be dead, killed in the first movie.

Optimus Prime narrates Sideswipe as a 'hot rod' chasing a police cruiser. Sideswipe's alternate mode is a sports car.

How could Barricade miss Sideswipe, who was standing right next to him?
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Post by Blackjack »

Added the synopsis. I'm thinking of doing a cast guide for the BW, BM and Movie series like the one we have for the G1 cartoon once I get the time.
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ROTF Review

Post by Blackjack »

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

SYNOPSIS

In 17000 B.C., a group of proto-human hunters encounter a group of Transformers building a gigantic machine on Earth. One of these Transformers approach the humans, and plucks one up to observe him.

Two years after the battle of Mission City, the Autobots have teamed up with human (mostly American) soldiers, including Lennox and Epps, to form a military strike team called NEST. During this time new Autobots have arrived on Earth as well. The governments keep the Transformers' existence a secret from the public with cover stories. NEST hunts down the remaining Decepticons on Earth, and their latest chase leads them to Shanghai, China. The gigantic Decepticon Demolishor transforms and wreaks havoc on the roadways, pursued by Ironhide. Meanwhile, the smaller Decepticon Sideways takes another route, pursued by Skids, Mudflap and Arcee. Sideways is bisected into two by Sideswipe, while Optimus Prime is air-dropped into Shanghai and takes out Demolishor after a fierce battle. Before Optimus Prime delivers the killing blow, Demolishor gives the cryptic warning: 'the Fallen shall rise again'.

In another part of the world, Sam Witwicky is preparing to move to college, and is packing up. While digging through his stuff, he finds a shard of the AllSpark. As he touches it he sees several images in his mind before the shard falls from his hand and burns its way into the kitchen, where it brings numerous kitchen appliances to life. These Appliancebots attack Sam and his family, but are destroyed by a rather overzealous Bumblebee. Sam hands over the AllSpark shard to Mikaela. Afterwards Sam tells Bumblebee that to rejoin the Autobots because both of them need to move on. After a goodbye, a toy truck in the lawn, in reality the Decepticon Wheelie, detects the AllSpark shard and contacts the Decepticon coordinator Soundwave, stationed in orbit around the Earth.

As NEST returns to their base in Diego Garcia, they are visited by Director Theodore Galloway (who isn't exactly very friendly with NEST), who has been dispatched to relay the President's concerns over casualties and the secrecy. The conversation takes place alongside a video conference with Admiral Morshower, enabling Soundwave, who latches on to a satellite, to obtain information as Galloway blurts out information about the location of Megatron's body, as well as the larger AllSpark shard left from its destruction. Galloway is convinced that the only reason the Decepticons remain on Earth is because of the Autobots. Optimus replies that they will leave if ordered to, but warns Galloway that he may be wrong.

Sam arrives at college and meets his new room-mate, Leo Spitz. Leo manages a government conspiracy website, and is convinced that alien robots are hiding on Earth. Sam feigns ignorance, and while walking around, he discovers that, to his horror, his mother has unwittingly purchased some marijuana-laced brownies, and is basically making a fool out of herself until Sam and his father drag her away.

Soundwave dispatches his minion, Ravage, to Earth. Ravage lands on the NEST base on Diego Garcia, and unleash a swarm of Microcons into a ventilation outlet. These marble-like Decepticons swarm into the chamber where the AllSpark shard is being held and combine into a reed-thin Decepticon. After stealing the shard, he rejoins with Ravage and escapes.

Meanwhile, Sam is dragged to a frat party by Leo and his friends. Out of a sudden the same flashes of images appear and he begin to see Cybertronian symbols, and unconsciously draws them on the table. He is approached by the blonde bombshell Alice, who expresses interest in him. Bumblebee suddenly shows up, and Sam gets in. However, Alice follows suit, and after several seductive hints, Bumblebee sprays her with antifreeze. After Alice leaves, Bumblebee takes Sam to a graveyard to meet Optimus Prime, who tells him about the theft of the AllSpark shard, and asks Sam to speak with the government on their behalf. Sam refuses, saying that he has his own problems. Meanwhile, Mikaela waits for Sam to respond to their 'webcam date', to which Sam had seemingly forgotten about.

Ravage flies and lands on a cargo ship near the Laurentian Abyss, meeting up with the Constructicons Rampage, Scrapper, Mixmaster and Long Haul. They dive down to the bottom of the ocean. Ravage ejects a tiny spiderlike Decepticon named the Doctor, who uses the shard and parts forcibly donated from Scrapper to revive Megatron. Not exactly thrilled, Megatron rises from the depths, followed by his minions, destroying a military submarine in the process. Megatron flies into space, to one of Saturn's moons, where a crashed Decepticon warship is used as a makeshift base by the Decepticon. Starscream, having taken command of the Decepticon army and is overseeing the spawning of a new army of Decepticons, greets him. Megatron berates Starscream for leaving him to die.

Megatron then walks up to his master, the Fallen. Megatron apologizes to the ancient Decepticon for his failure, but Fallen reveals that when the AllSpark Cube was destroyed, the knowledge had been transferred to Sam, and within it is the means to locate a device able to create vast amounts of energon. Starscream informs Fallen and Megatron that he had been keeping tabs on Sam, and tells them that without Energon, their new hatchlings will die. The Decepticons head off to get Sam and destroy Optimus, the last of the Primes and the only one who can defeat the Fallen.

In an astronomy class, Sam reads through the entire textbook in seconds, and interrupts the lecture and begin to deliver some gibberish about higher physics, as if possessed. Again, he scrawls Cybertronian glyphs on the blackboard. After the professor throws him out, Sam realizes that it's the effect of the AllSpark shard, and calls Mikaela to warn her about it. While Mikaela is on the phone, Wheelie tries to steal the shard from the mechanical safe in Mikaela's workshop, but fails miserably and is dumped by Mikaela in a metal transport case. Mikaela heads off to talk to Sam, AllSpark shard and Wheelie in tow. Meanwhile, owing to multiple Decepticon contacts, the Autobots are mobilized, with NEST in tow.

Leo and Alice find Sam in the dorm room, seemingly possessed as he paints the walls with Cybertronian glyphs and spouting some nonsense. Alice pushes Leo away, and begins to aggresively push Sam onto the bed. Mikaela arrives, finding Sam and Alice in an intimate kiss. Alice then transforms, revealing herself to be a Decepticon. Sam, Mikaela and Leo escape as Alice hunts them. Mikaela manages to hotwire a car and run Alice down. However, they are accosted by the helicopter Decepticon Grindor, who harpoons the car and delivers them to Megatron and Starscream in an abandoned warehouse.

Megatron and Sam exchange some words, and Doctor inserts a worm-like Decepticon into Sam's nose, and they are able to glean images from Sam's brain. Doctor is about to remove Sam's brain out of his head to access more information when Optimus Prime bursts down of the warehouse roof. Bumblebee takes Leo and Mikaela to safety, while Optimus Prime takes Sam with him. The Decepticons pursue. Optimus and Sam find themselves outnumbered against three Decepticons in a forest, and Optimus Prime valiantly battles against Megatron, Starscream and Grindor like a berserker. Megatron and Optimus argue a bit about the price of a human life against the survival of their race. Optimus manages to dis-arm Starscream and rip Grindor's head into two, but while he searches for Sam, Megatron impales him from behind with his claw and shoots him. Optimus falls to the forest floor, telling Sam to run before he dies. The Autobot reinforcements arrive in time to save Sam, forcing Megatron and Starscream to retreat. Captain Lennox is informed about Optimus' death, while the Fallen reacts with joy as he rises from his throne.

Megatron and Starscream discuss their next move on top of a building, and decide that they could force the humans to turn Sam over by breaking disguise. Soundwave mobilizes the Decepticons, and at the same time tracks down Sam's parents in Paris. A large force of Decepticons then land on Earth in their Protoform forms, in Paris (where Sam's parents are kidnapped) as well as sinking a naval carrier in the Atlantic ocean. Megatron hijacks a TV antenna and broadcasts footage of the Fallen around the world. Fallen reveals his existance to the human hive, and demands Sam to be surrendered to the Decepticons. A worldwide manhunt for Sam is launched.

Sam, Mikaela, Leo, Bumblebee, Skids and Mudflap hide out in an abandoned area, where they plan their next move. They decide not to give up. Well, most of them, anyway—Leo freaks out. Meanwhile, the Autobots return to NEST base with Optimus' body but are surrounded by the military. Galloway tells them that NEST has been ordered to stand down while the military draws up a coordinated strategy, even considering negotiation with the Decepticons. Lennox, Epps and Ironhide tries to argue but Galloway pulls rank. Ratchet suggests leaving Earth, but Ironhide decides against it.

Skids, Mudflap and Bumblebee are unable to decipher the Cybertronian glyphs. Leo suggests they hunt down the owner of a competing website, 'Robo-warrior', for help. Without any other leads, they go with Leo's plan, and find out that Robo-warrior turns out to be Seymour Simmons, former Sector Seven agent. After a confrontation Simmons agrees to help and takes the trio to his basement, revealing that the Transformers were on Earth for quite some time, since Cybertronian glyphs similar to those Sam wrote have been found on several excavation sites and some vehicles. However, Simmons was denied the funds to pursue them during his career. However, they need a Decepticon to decipher the glyphs, and Mikaela interrogates Wheelie. Wheelie identifies the glyphs as the language of the Primes, and suggest they track down one of the ancient Seekers, old Transformers on Earth. Wheelie pinpoints that the nearest Seeker is in Washington D.C.

At the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum, they accidentally reactivate an ancient Decepticon named Jetfire, disguised as an SR71 Blackbird, with Sam's AllSpark shard. The confused Jetfire wanders around and finally explains that he had defected to the Autobots. Wheelie follows suit, hugging Mikaela's leg in joy. Sam writes down the glyphs, and Jetfire says that they were part of the Seekers' mission. Jetfire opens a space bridge and teleports the humans and Autobots to Egypt. He explains that thousands of years ago, the Transformers had arrived on Earth along their original leaders, the Seven Primes. They had came to build a Solar Harvested, a device that creates Energon by destroying suns. However, seeing that Earth has life in it, the Primes decided against destroying the Sun according to their rules. However, one of the Primes, forevermore known as the Fallen, despised the humans and tried to activate the machine anyway. Unable to defeat their strongest brother, the other Primes stole the Matrix of Leadership, the key needed to activate the Harvester, and gave their lives to seal it in an tomb in an unknown location. Jetfire explains that only a Prime can ever hope to defeat the Fallen, and gives them a riddle, the only clue about the location of the Tomb. With Optimus' death, Jetfire tells them that they are doomed. Sam and Jetfire theorize that if they are able to find the Matrix, they may be able to revive Optimus Prime. Jetfire urges the humans to go before the Decepticons find him.

After dodging Egyptian custom officials and police, Simmons contacts Lennox to tell him secretly about their quest and the coordinates where they can air-drop Optimus Prime's body. Lennox, Epps and the Autobots decide to trust them. Lennox tricks Galloway into parachuting out of the NEST airplane, and then contacts Admiral Morshower to supply them with military assets. Meanwhile, Sam manages to decipher Jetfire's riddle when they set up camp in the Pyramids, and they head off to Petra, Jordan. However Soundwave manages to pinpoint their location when Sam's face gets captured by a security camera.

Sam's team arrive in Petra, and after the Twins bicker, they discover the Tomb of the Primes within one of the ruins. Sam finds the Matrix, but it instantly crumbles into dust upon touch. Not willing to give up hope, Sam collects the Matrix dust in his sock. Simmons, meanwhile, spots the NEST team parachuting down near the Pyramids, along with Optimus' body. Sam's team then head towards Lennox's group, but the Decepticons start their attack. Starscream bombards Sam's team, and the Twins, Simmons and Leo split off to distract the Decepticon. The NEST team, meanwhile, is met by a Protoform army. Simmons' party arrives in a quarry, where a second team of Constructicons (not the same with the one that revived Megatron) combine to form the gigantic Decepticon Devastator. Devastator uses his suction ability, and swallows everything in sight, including Mudflap. Mudflap, however, is able to punch his way out of Devastator's face, and together with Skids, harass the Constructicon gestalt and try to slow him down. Their efforts were thwarted, however, when Mudflap shot Skids in the face. Simmons' group then stays under Devastator, where the gestalt can't suck them.

Starscream leads Scrapper, Long Haul and several other Decepticons to search for Sam. After an Insecticon pinpoints their location, Starscream tells Rampage and Ravage to use Sam's parents as hostages for a trap. Sam offers to hand over the Matrix to Rampage, but it's only to stall time until Bumblebee is able to attack the Decepticons. Bumblebee savagely tears both Rampage and Ravage apart with his bare hands. Sam orders Bumblebee to get his parents to safety while he and Mikaela run for Optimus' body.

Meanwhile, Admiral Morshower, who can't contact Lennox's team due to Starscream and Soundwave's interference, launches a Predator drone. Seeing the life-feed, Morshower sends everything they can muster to Egypt.

Devastator climbs on top of the Pyramid and began to tear it apart, revealing the Solar Harvester underneath. Jordanian helicopters arrive, but are shot down by Megatron. Simmons uses one of the Jordanians' radio to contact one of the navy ship off the coast, telling them to use the railgun that Sector Seven has developed. The railgun is fired, tearing through Devastator's head and killing the gestalt. Sam and Mikaela meet up with Ironhide, Lennox, Epps and Arcee, but are pinned down by massed Decepticon fire. Arcee is killed in the firefight, while the humans are trapped behind some ruins by Mixmaster. Jetfire arrives and kills Mixmaster, but Scorponok bursts out of the ground, mortally wounding Jetfire before being killed himself. An air strike arrives, killing Scrapper, Long Haul and the rest of the Protoform Decepticons, but Megatron emerges from the smokes, opening fire at Sam before being driven off by Autobot and NEST's massed fire. Sam falls to the ground, dying, as Lennox and the paramedics try to revive him.

As the world blurs around him, the Matrix dust spills from his hand, and Sam finds himself in a vision with the long-dead Primes. The Primes tell him that he was destined to find the Matrix and save the life of Optimus Prime, and with that, Sam is returned to life. Having proven his leadership, the Matrix dust reforms back into the Matrix of Leadership, and Sam stabs it into Optimus Prime's chest, bringing him back to life.

Just as Optimus Prime recovers, the Fallen teleports down, knocking aside the Autobots and grabs the Matrix. Fallen teleports himself on top of the uncovered Solar Harvester, and alongside Megatron he activates the Harvester. The soldiers and tanks called into action by Morshower begin firing on the pyramid, but the Fallen easily dispatches them with his telekinetic powers. The dying Jetfire offers his parts to Optimus Prime, before ripping out his own spark. Under Ratchet's instructions, Jolt turns Jetfire's remains into a battle armour for Optimus Prime. Gifted with the ability of flight, Optimus Prime takes to the air.

Optimus Prime blows up the Harvester, and faces both Megatron and the Fallen in battle. Optimus defeats Megatron after a brutal showdown, damaging the Decepticon leader, before facing the Fallen himself. The Fallen and Optimus Prime engage in a bloody duel, but Optimus Prime gets the upper hand, tearing the Fallen's face off and crushing his spark.

Seeing their master fall, Starscream suggests to Megatron that they retreat in order to survive, a suggestion that Megatron follows.

With the battle won, the Autobots, NEST, Sam and his friends return aboard an aircraft carrier. Optimus Prime sends another message into space, rallying more Autobots, detailing recent events so the shared past of humanity and Autobots will not be forgotten as before. Upon his return, Sam attends college again.

Featured Transformers: The Fallen (killed), Dynasty of Primes (killed), Skids, Mudflap, Sideswipe, Arcee (killed), Ironhide, Demolishor (killed), Sideways (killed), Optimus Prime (killed and revived), Appliancebots (killed), Ejector (killed), Bumblebee, Wheelie, Soundwave, Ratchet, Megatron, Alice (killed), Ravage (killed), Microcons, Reedman, Scrapper (killed), Mixmaster (killed), Rampage (killed), Long Haul (killed), the Doctor, Decepticon Hatchlings, Starscream, Grindor (killed), Doctor's helpers, Generic Protoform Decepticons (killed), Jolt, Frenzy's Head, Jetfire (killed), Clonecrusher (killed), Devastator (killed), Insecticon (killed), Scorponok (killed)
Notable Others: General Morshower, NEST Troopers, Major William Lennox, Sergeant Robert Epps, Burke, Ron Witwicky, Sam Witwicky, Judy Witwicky, Mikaela Banes, Director Galloway, Leo Spitz, Sharsky, Fassbinder, Seymour Simmons

REVIEW
Right. Revenge of the Fallen. The bane of reviews. Or vice versa.

Nearly every single 'professional reviewer' had given a negative review, with hyperboles about ROTF being the WORST EVAR MOVIE. But all you need to do is to look at the box office and see how great it performed. After all, negative reviews are more memorable than positive ones, and what better to make your review stand out than to criticize a two-hour long Michael Bay movie with explosions and big f***ing robots?. Instant bias.

I, personally, loved the movie. Yes, I will be the first to tell you that it has its flaws (big ones), it has its plot holes (bigger ones), and some embarrassing scenes (disgusting ones, too) but not much more than other summer blockbusters. Really... Before you hammer me about not being able to appreciate stuff and whatnot, hear me out—when I went to the theater to watch some positively-reviewed four-out-of-five-stars film, they don't blow the audience away most of the time. Without naming any specific movies, I could name several critic-friendly movies that left half the audience snoring. When they watch Revenge of the Fallen (and most other movies with explosions and little drama) people exit with smiles on their faces, conversing about the movie. Most of the so-called professional reviewers are out of touch with 85% of the audience.

I may be a biased watcher, but the good bits in Revenge of the Fallen clearly outshine the bad parts. True, the amount of swearing and toilet jokes are in the precarious line between inappropriate for a children's film and being good old fun, and there are some bits that could do with some spit-shining. While the Writers' Strike might've been behind some of the hastily-written plot, it still stands that the script could do with a final reviewing.

Mostly, the movie consists of various well-written scenes and concepts that don't gel together in the final product. How the cast get from scene A to scene B is usually a little too fast, and some of the introdumps could do with a little more polishing. Also, one thing many people noted was that the movie utilizes too much comic relief characters, even moreso than the first movie. And unlike the likes of, say, Frenzy or Bumblebee, most of the comedy guys in the second movie more or less fall into the same category. Dumb idiots. Skids, Mudflap, Leo and Wheelie to some extent are similar to each other in personality, and I don't see the point of keeping the three all throughout the movie. At separate points? Sure. Throughout the entire ride? It gets trite real old. And there's the oft-complained problem of curses, although I can bet that most wee kids watching the movie don't know what 'pussy' even means. Other than a cat.

Another problem was the Fallen, the titular character. While it's not a bad idea to have someone that offers Megatron advice like a mentor, the idea isn't really executed well. It's not defined what exactly that the Fallen wants (Megatron clearly wants power and the future of his race) and who he's seeking revenge after. Of course, he does seem to be quite a coward, hiding in the ship, pulling strings and waiting for Megatron's resurrection and Optimus Prime's death, as well as waiting until the very last moment before coming into the battlefield. But the fact that this isn't stated in any way gives an impression of bad writing. Which is probably the case here.

Speaking of characterization, Optimus Prime and Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) are the two that get the most developed in the second movie, with Shia practically being the main focus after Optimus Prime's death. Sam's dealing with trying to be normal, university, sacrifice, loyalty and all those heroic stuff is portrayed nicely. Optimus Prime's nobility is well-defined, but he doesn't seem to be above insults during battle, and I've fallen in love with those blades. And while Optimus' death shouldn't strike any faithful fan as surprising, the death scene is a really emotional scene, with Steve Jablonsky's excellent score playing in the background. Optimus himself is also in action more this movie, and he's basically a killing machine, hacking his way through Decepticons with his dual swords (or hooks, in one occasion). He's rendered as a badass fighter when not being heroic, and the "I'll take you ALL ON!" scene, with Peter Cullen's voice, was simply perfect.

Poor Megatron doesn't get to do much after his resurrection, though. He gets more screentime and lots of nice action scenes, but there's nothing much in lieu of characterization. He seems to be the Fallen's little whipping boy, and other than sneaking up on Optimus Prime he doesn't get to kill anyone else. Then again, the Decepticons' defeat here is more likely to be attributed to the Fallen's idiocy of not showing up until later on.

Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox) gets some character moment early on with the jealousy stuff, and while she plays off Shia well, she's basically reduced to girlfriend/eye candy in the second half of the movie. The 'who says I love you first' side plot is a little too cliched for my liking. Simmons (John Torturro), however, benefits from more screentime. Both Simmons and Sam practically supported the movie between Optimus' death and the final battle. Simmons' batshit crazy character is nicely developed, especially with the messiah complex that he's developed. However, they just have to show us a close-up of his arse, don't they? It's stuff like this that I can't help but frown at. Rounding out the main humans is Leo Spitz (Ramon Rodriguez), a new character introduced as Sam's roommate. However, with Simmons and the Twins already acting as comic humour, he really seems to be overkill. While there's not much wrong with the character—you just have to feel sorry for the poor sod for following Simmons' crazy little plan with the museum—he just takes too much screentime that could've been devoted to better stuff.

Lennox (Josh Duhammel) and Epps (Tyrese Gibson) have a lesser role than the last movie, but as part of NEST they provide a constant military presence, and are pretty likable. Shame that they weren't in the movie for more time, though. NEST is a well-rounded concept, as some sort of loosely-affiliated governmental organization. General Morshower (Glenn Morshower, who previously played Colonel Sharp in the first movie) is also a decently portrayed character as the sort of boss that trusts his men with results. In contrast to the likable soldiers, we have Galloway (John Benjamin Hickey), your standard asshole of a government liaison who's really good at doing his job. Galloway is a decent enough quasi-villain who is a legitimate reason for NEST to be delayed in helping Sam and his party out, and it's pretty entertaining to watch Lennox and Galloway bicker around.

Sam's parents, Ron (Kevin Dunn) and Judy (Julie White) get more screentime as well due to the mostly positive reaction to them in the first movie. Ron's great fun, especially when he drops the whole stoic father facade. Judy is also great as the world's most embarrassing mother, right up to that reefer scene. It was horribly done, and most people don't know what a reefer is anyway. Otherwise, though, the two are mostly fine. I particularly like how Judy thinks that Soundwave is some kind of perverted bastard.

For the Transformers, though, some of them obtained characterization while some are reduced to brutal death scenes. Mixmaster, Long Haul, Jolt, Scrapper and Arcee are forgettable extras, and the most part could easily be replaced by Protoform troopers. Rampage, Demolishor, Grindor and Sideways all exist for short and brutal deaths. They are basically your standard Hollywood goons, only bigger and all metallic. Doesn't lend much to characterization.

Pre-established characters get some bits added to make them more developed. Scorponok's little return is only for a death scene. Ironhide is still trigger-happy as ever, and his initial transformation was splendidly done, as is his role in the battle against Demolishor. Ironhide is pretty fun, really... his 'I will tear you apart!' line to the human soldiers is just so well done. Together with Ratchet, Ironhide gets several nice lines throughout the movie. Poor Ratchet doesn't do much, though, despite the multiple opportunities for a medic to appear and do stuff. Shame, really. Starscream, in contrast, gets a lot more screentime as Megatron's field commander/resident whipping boy. However, unlike the first movie where he's basically the most dangerous Decepticon, reducing him to a more pathetic version of his G1 persona isn't really a good thing for the character, although to the general audience it does make Starscream more easy to recognize other than simply being yet another murdering metallic monster. Bumblebee is still his jovial self, able to switch between a good friend and a killing machine in an instant. There's not much to say about him, really... he's still the guy we know and love from the first movie.

As for the new Decepticons, Alice (Isabel Lucas) gets some decent amount of screentime as a slutty bitch that tries to seduce Sam and kidnap/kill him in the process. It's a nice concept and a good justification to place the setting in the university. It's more of what a group calling themselves Decepticons should do. Ravage and the Marbles are just there for the cool factor, and mostly are the animators' way of showing how far they could push the limit. That scene where the marblebots (Microcons, whatever) combine into Reedman is stunning. The Doctor (a.k.a. Scalpel in the toyline) is another instant favourite, with his ham German accent and frankly his craziness. It's a shame that he wasn't in it more, though.

Oh, and Soundwave is also a great, if underused, concept, as a coordinator of the Decepticons in contrast to Starscream's field commander position. It's a shame that we didn't get to see him in action more, and that his hacking scene is cut out, but here's hoping for the second movie just establishing his existence and for the third to pick up from there. The Fallen is an attempt to make the history of the war seem deeper and more extensive, but he is poorly executed at best.

Devastator is probably the epitome of what the movie does. The combination scene blows you away, the sand-sucking scene is awe-strikingly amazing, and he's established as one of the most powerful Decepticons ever. But all that is ruined by a scrotum gag, and the fact that he's killed abruptly by a human weapon and that his role in the battle is merely tearing the pyramid apart — something that the Fallen apparently could do with ease. Yes, Devastator is truly a wasted opportunity. Impressive, yes, but hardly crucial to the plot other than to slow down the Twins, Simmons and Leo for a bit.

As for the Autobots... Sideswipe was impressive in killing Sideways, but he didn't do much afterwards other than be a crowd-filler. The Twins, Wheelie and Jetfire all get scenes to themselves and net some characterization. It's just that... why must their faces look like that? Angular, jagged teeth, deformed eyes... eesh. Jetfire's well done once you get past the fact that he's nothing like the Jetfire from G1. He's pretty fun with his accent and his craziness, and plays off well from Simmons and Sam. Having him as the introdump giver isn't a bad idea as well, and his little sacrifice to power-up Optimus, even if it feels a little abrupt, is not a bad choice. Meanwhile, Wheelie is a sympathetic character, a tiny Decepticon who doesn't really want to be one. Like Devastator, Judy and Simmons, though, all the work done with Wheelie is sadly relegated into his leg humping scene. Shame.

The Twins... well, I don't buy Michael Bay intending them to be racial stereotypes. Bay certainly doesn't strike me as the type to do such things, since he's got the subtlety of a brick. The Twins strike me more as bickering brothers (something I could relate to) rather than any attempt at being portrayed as black. Again, like Leo, the duo are harmless fun on themselves and had a nice action scene with Devastator, but they're just in the movie for far too long. Mostly it's my little wish to have Ratchet or Jolt replace them, but they are serviceable, if not the best choice.

The plot itself is pretty decent, delving deep into the Transformers' history, with Shia's excellent acting helping to gel the movie together. However, I would be the first to tell you that the scripting and pacing needed some works to be done. Stuff like how symbols and the Seekers gel together is a little rough-edged, and could've flown more smoothly with a little editing. They just try to stuff so many things into the movie that some concepts feel unexplained or simply lazy. Particularly, I've always felt that the campus scenes were too long, as is the museum scene. They reek of padding. And there are just some that are too outrageous, like Simmons showing his ass to the screen. Also, too many characters -- Sideswipe et al -- are simply just introduced, says two or three lines and disappears for the rest of the movie. People like Wheelie and Doctor, who have entire scenes to themselves, simply disappear when they are no longer needed by the narrative, which is simply lazy.

And the final battle, while impressive, felt a little superfluous as well. I don't see why we need shots of military tanks blowing up random Protoforms when we could've had, say, a scene of Ironhide or Sideswipe throwing themselves headlong into Constructicon clones. Another thing that the movie fails to deliver is the final, supposedly-climatic battle between Prime and Megatron/Fallen. It falls flat and feels too rushed, as if they were in a hurry to end the movie. It's nothing like the spectacular battle royale between Prime and Megatron in the first movie. Shame, really.

Action scenes, however, certainly could not be fault. Kudos to the animators for immortalizing the action scenes into the fans' minds. Whether it's Optimus tearing Grindor's face apart, or Alice trying to strangle Sam with a prehensile tongue, or Bumblebee brutalizing Rampage... the Transformers feel real on the screen, not some tacked-on CG afterthought like some other movies I could name. The movement are smooth, spectacular and realistic. The way the light glints off the metal is nicely done, and 'natural' movements like Ironhide rolling forwards as he fires on Megatron are a nice touch.

All in all, it boils down to whether your expectations. If you were expecting an intelligent movie with provoking thoughts, romance and those kind of stuff, be prepared for disappointment. They aren't things you should expect from a movie about giant robots. However, if you want special effects, big robot clonking each other, explosions, fantastic action scenes with several bad jokes thrown in, you'll love it. I loved the first movie, and while some parts of the second one aren't really spectacular, it is certainly bigger than the first movie. I've watched it, what, ten times now? Clearly the great parts of the movie outshine the bad parts. Stuff like Wheelie humping Mikaela's leg or Devastator's balls get forgotten quickly in the onslaught of action scenes. It's by no means the best movie out there, but it's a nice one. I have found myself slowly falling in love and simply getting addicted to this movie.

I love this movie. Deal with it.

(Nine out of Ten)

NOTES
The Fallen, Sideswipe, Arcee, Devastator, Soundwave, Ravage, Scrapper, Long Haul, Mixmaster, Scavenger and the Insecticon are all loosely based on their G1 counterparts, fulfilling mostly similar roles. Skids, Mudflap, Jetfire, Jolt, Wheelie, Rampage, Grindor, Sideways, Demolishor, Hightower, Overload and Scrapmetal all have names originating from prior characters but have original characterizations. Alice, the Doctor and Reedman are new names and concepts introduced in ROTF.

Energon, the Transformers' fuel source, is mentioned numerous times, although they aren't seen as purple glowing boxes anymore.

The Matrix of Leadership (or the Creation Matrix) is the plot device in the original G1 comic, as well as the 1986 Movie. However, while in G1 comic the Matrix breathes life to Transformers (a function fulfilled by the AllSpark in the movieverse) and in the G1 cartoon in contains the wisdom of the ancient Autobots (as well as blowing demigods up) the Matrix in the Movieverse switches on planet-killing machines. Also, instead of being shaped like coconut with handles, it's now a dagger-like black object.

The Pretender gimmick, introduced in 1988 during the G1 franchise, gets its own take in the movieverse. Instead of transformers hiding inside human shells, however, the concept used for Alice is more reminiscent of the Beast Wars characters, who had organic alternate modes. (Granted, Alice is basically a teenaged Terminator robot...)

Soundwave and Ravage both use their original voice actor, Frank Welker. However, Frank Welker and Michael Bay both declined against using the synthetic voice processing that made Soundwave's voice distinctive in G1. So basically he's using Welker's Dr Claw voice. (Personally I think this is a neat choice because when watching G1 I couldn't figure out half the things that Soundwave says).

Jetfire as a Decepticon that defects to the Autobots is a concept used in the G1 cartoon and comic. Jetfire being trapped on Earth for a long time is also similar to his fate, being trapped under the ice in the original cartoon. However, instead of being the most advanced Autobot like the original portrayals, the movieverse Jetfire is a geriatric Autobot that's filling a role similar to G1 Kup or Animated Ratchet.

Combination is featured heavily in the movie, with Devastator, Reedman, Optimus Prime/Jetfire and supposedly Arcee all combining at various parts of the movie.

Devastator, like his G1 counterpart, is formed from construction vehicles. But he's not a combiner in the sense of past series, however. Multiple Constructicons of the same bodytype exist, so a robot-mode Long Haul is running around while another Long Haul is attaching himself to Devastator's leg. It seemed to have been planned from the beginning, so... Despite all evidence to the contrary, in the movie itself Devastator is formed from nine Construction vehicles — seven that appeared in the toys (Mixmaster, Long Haul, Scavenger, Rampage, Scrapper, Hightower and the sometimes-omitted Overload) plus two unnamed Constructicons—a yellow dump truck that add to Devastator's mass and a small payloader that gets scooped up by the Hightower arm to act as claws.

There are some other homages that would appeal to transformer fans. As with my last review, I won't be listing rough speculations or fanboy stuff like 'Devastator's wormhole is soooo like the Nemesis at the end of Beast Wars!!' or 'Megatron's death pincer is a homage to G1 Finback's weapon lol!'
-Optimus Prime dying, only to be brought back to life by a mystical artifact, had been done numerous times throughout Transformers lore.
-The whole seven Primes being the first Transformers and the Fallen being part of them is a reference to the Thirteen, a concept first alluded to in Dreamwave and explored by Fun Publications. Despite what Hasbro's executives might say, however, the Fallen in ROTF and the guy in Dreamwave are most likely not the same character.
-The Fallen betraying his brother Primes is similar to his G1 counterpart's backstory.
-The Twins' ice cream jingle is very loosely based on the original Transformers theme.
-The Arcee bikes' body designs are inspired by Beast Machines Thrust.
-The Appliancebot brought to life from a garbage disposal unit seems to be loosely based on a Sharkticon—gigantic fang-filled mouth, rotund body and spiked tail.
-Optimus Prime's line "Freedom is your right" is a play on his motto "freedom is the right of all sentient beings".
-The Twins each have an arm which is larger than the other, similar to RID X-Brawn.
-Soundwave ejecting Ravage is a reference to how their original counterparts are able to do the same thing. Soundwave isn't a tape deck here, though.
-The term 'Seeker', used in the movie as the name of a group of ancient energon-seeking Transformers, is a fan-term-made-official which traditionally refers to Starscream and his armada of repaints.
-The Decepticons' base, a spaceship crash-landed in a barren world, is similar to the fate of the Minicons' shuttle in Armada.
-The newborn Decepticons hatching from pods might be an oblique reference to stasis pods from Beast Wars, although they are more similar to the pods seen in the Matrix series or Michael Bay's The Island.
-Sam having his brain full of Cybertronian knowledge imprinted by a MacGuffin is very similar to Buster Witwicky having the Creation Matrix downloaded in his brain, seen in the original comic series.
-Upon inspection, Sam's little speech at the astronomy class seems to be trying to explain mass displacement or subspace. Nice
-Sam also name-drops Sentinel Prime during his crazed talk. In G1, Sentinel Prime is usually the luckless Prime that Optimus Prime replaces.
-Written Cybertronian language was first introduced in G1 Marvel issue of 'Decepticon Graffiti'. Proper font substitutions for the alphabet is introduced in Beast Wars. Ancient symbols/glyphs have been featured in numerous fiction as well.
-Transformers spitting has been around since the Marvel UK comics, where Soundwave (faceplate and all) spat onto the ground. Puttup!
-At one point Mudflap says 'yousa' in a way similar to Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars. Ironically, both of them are similarly hated.
-Optimus Prime spitting out a teeth after being clobbered by Megatron is very similar to a scene in the final episode of Beast Wars, where Optimus Primal spat out a teeth after the battle with his own Megatron.
-Starscream plugging his arm back into his socket seem to be a reference to the Junkions, or to the toys' ability for ball joints to be popped back into place.
-Frenzy's head from the first movie, restored back from its cleaved state, hangs as a trophy in Simmons' basement.
-When he searches for Sam's parents, Soundwave says 'Yeesss' in a manner vaguely reminiscent of Beast Wars Megatron's catchphrase.
-The government not trusting the Autobots to help them has been used numerous times throughout Transformers fiction.
-Simmons says 'Robots in disguise', the oft-quoted tagline for Transformers.
-During his crazed speech, Jetfire claims that his father transforms into a wheel. While it's really unlikely that Jetfire actually had a father, this might be a shout-out to Scrounge, the little transforming wheel from the Marvel comics of old.
-Transformers with mustaches first appeared with G1 Scourge and Unicron, and have been with us ever since.
-Spark cores, seen in more detail in this movie, resemble those seen in the cross-section stuff of the Ultimate Guide.
-When Skids and Mudflap hang on from a lead pipe, a newspaper with an image of G1 Shockwave flies past the pipe for a split second.
-Mudflap's line about "Kung Fu Grip" is a reference to the G.I. Joe gimmick.
-Insecticon (not named in the movie) is a reference to the insect-mode Decepticon subgroup in G1. Unlike his G1 counterparts, Insecticon couldn't transform into a full-sized Decepticon, and is torn apart by Sam quite easily.
-Optimus Prime combining with Jetfire is a reference to a similar ability in Armada. That Jetfire doesn't have to die to combine, though.
-Twins and basically having brothers is a concept that dates back to Sideswipe and Sunstreaker from the original cast of G1. Like Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, despite being twins Skids and Mudflap are not repaints of each other.

Barack Obama is specifically mentioned by a newscaster (and appears in a TV shot), a far cry from the first Transformers movie where the President of the Unites States is apparently a pair of red socks.

Arcee is female, like her G1 counterpart. Being a motorcycle is a concept first introduced in Energon. This version of Arcee has three bodies, which are supposed to be tripartine (one mind in three bodies) a la G1 Reflector and being able to combine. However the combination scene was cut out, and the only hints at her tripartine self is only confirmed afterwards in IDW comics and the novelization. This raised some confusion initially since Arcee's three components were marketed under different names to represent characters, but toy bios are inferior to fiction. Arcee was supposed to be included in the first movie but is dropped in favour to Ironhide because Bay didn't want to explain girls. ROTF included Arcee and Alice without any problems, though.

Mikaela's pet dog, Bones/Boney, belongs to Michael Bay. In real life, he's named Bonecrusher in homage of Michael Bay's favourite character in the first movie.

As a little in-joke for the Terminator movie that's running at about the same dates, one of the Decepticon protoforms shot to pieces by NEST soldiers has the mark 'T-1000' on his arm.

Grindor is basically Blackout's model reused as a generic Decepticon. Oh, if you like fanwank he could be Blackout but what's the point? He's still dead.

Bonecrusher's alternate and robot mode both show up briefly in the final battle, and seemingly blows up one of the Arcee bikes. However, it's more likely that he's a similarly-built Decepticon (like Grindor) rather than another resurrection. I'm calling him Clonecrusher. One of the Titan comics letter pages had Ironhide telling the kids that Clonecrusher is a 'Bonecrusher impostor'.

Sam being probed forcibly with the worm-like Decepticon inserted through the mouth is nearly identical to a similar worm-like probe that was inserted into Neo's belly-button in the Matrix. Only that the Decepticon worm had gooey green gel in its main body. The non-Transformer movie, not the plot device.

Sam Witwicky telling Leo that the government could monitor them through their cell phones might be a veiled homage to Eagle Eye, a movie that Shia acted in.

The Appliancebots brought to life by the AllSpark shard include Ejector (a toaster which previously appeared in a Mountain Dew tie-in commercial. He was made into a toy), Dickbot the Blender Guy (the leader of the Appliancebots in concept stages), a vacuum cleaner, a microwave, a cappuccino machine, a waffle iron, the Sharkticon garbage disposal, a hand mixer and a CISCO Aironet that turns into a cockroach-like robot. Initially there was supposed to be a mobile phone that gets melted down by the Microwave, but the scene was cut out for time. Also, the waffle iron robot was supposed to attack Judy, hanging on to her head while she runs into the overhead vase, but in the final version the waffle iron was blown up by Bumblebee instead.

If you have sharp eyes, you'll notice that the CISCO Aironet Appliancebot, after his initial transformation into his cockroach mode, disappears throughout the entire sequence with Sam. When Sam goes back to pick the shard from the kitchen, the CISCO Aironet is still there.

The scene where Sam has a dream-like vision during a near-death situation is similar to a scene cut out from early drafts of the first movie, where Sam was supposed to experience something similar with the Allspark during the battle between Megatron and Optimus Prime.

The Decepticons landing on Paris like meteors, especially the building being blasted halfway through and it piercing the ground, bear more than a little resemblance to the opening act of the Michael Bay film Armageddon. Only these meteors are larger.

Fan-site TFWiki considers the Scrapper that went down to revive Megatron and the Scrapper in Egypt to be two different characters, and called the Scrapper killed for parts 'Ze Little One'. While a little fanwankish, it had quite a following among some fans. Hasbro liked it and gave 'Ze Little One' the name Scrapmetal during a Q&A session.

Some characters are accidentally credited by their preliminary names in the credits. Demolishor is named 'Wheelbot' while Rampage is named 'Skipjack'.

Like last movie, the Transformers underwent numerous nicknames. The blender appliancebot had the working name of 'Dickbot', Reedman had the working name of 'Thin Man' (along with Reedman), Wheelie had the working name of 'Wheels' (a name that cropped up in fiction as well), Rampage was 'Skipjack' and 'Jumping Jack' and Sideswipe was 'Stinger'.

The first scene (Soundwave acknowledges) and the final scene (Decepticons mobilize) with Soundwave are identical.

The DVD includes several deleted scenes. Of the scenes filmed, there's an alternate dialogue of Judy embarrassing Sam, an alternate sequence of Leo and Sam meeting Alice and an extended sequence of Judy and Ron in Paris (complete with naughty footsies).

There are several scenes that didn't make it into the final cut of the movie but are mentioned in all adaptations of the movie. The most major one would be the elimination of the Sacrophagus in which the Fallen would be trapped in. Another one would be the silly explanation that Alice got her human form from a Disneyland Alice in the Wonderland robot, something that leaked into every single adaptation of the movie. Bumblebee was also supposed to blow up the Witwickies' entire house instead of just Sam's room. Arcee's aformentioned combination scene was also dropped. Another major change would be the Doctor's death prior to the forest battle, being sniped from afar by Optimus Prime. Presumably this is dropped due to the same reasons as Barricade from the first movie. Ravage was supposed to transform into an aquatic mode before turning into a jaguar. Another deleted scene found in the adaptations is the epilogue in which Megatron commands an army of Protoforms to rise from pods in the Nemesis. Also, in original pre-vises, the Doctor transforms into a modern microscope similar to the toy instead of the more antiquated piece he turns into in the movie.

Between concept and the final product, many alternate designs for new Transformers are dropped. It included a giant Decepticon warmachine what is supposed to destroy the aircraft carrier instead of Protoforms as well as designs that would be made in toy form as Depth Charge, Ransack, Breakaway and Springer. Concept art for the robot modes of Overload, Hightower and a 'Constructicon Nurse' that changed into a Volvo Excavator (maybe he's the source of the Scrapper error) have also been released. A dropped character is a several-feet tall Insecticon Swarm/Hive that is eventually replaced by Reedman.

GOOFS
The NEST soldiers use low-caliber weapons instead of the sabot rounds that are the Transformers' weakness.

The vehicle modes that the Twins scan already have personalized license plates on them, yet they still bicker over who gets to pick the green one. Of course, Mudflap could just be a dick and try to piss Skids off.

Sharksy mentions the alien sightings in Los Angeles two years ago, despite the final battle two years ago (the first movie) having taken place in Mission City. Might be a different incident, but still...

During the frat party, a glass near Sam changes from half empty to completely full between shots.

Bumblebee picks up Sam at a frat party in the evening. When they arrive at the graveyard, it's dawn. In real life the two places are nearly a hundred miles apart, but surely the trip wouldn't take all night? Of course, traffic notwithstanding...

Neither Bumblebee nor Sam mentions the existence of the second AllSpark fragment to Optimus Prime.

When Ravage lands on the ship, we see a yellow payloader that's Scrapper's alternate mode. However, in the next scenes it is replaced by a Volvo Excavator with a Decepticon insignia that moves by itself. Most likely, the Volvo is an error. For more information, see the Scrapmetal/Scrapper section above.

What the hell does Professor Colan be allowed to keep his job after hitting on students in front of the dean?

When Sam freaks out at the campus and drops his stuff, a blonde woman on the left side of the screen is coming down, nearly reaching Sam. A quick close-up later, the blonde is back on top of the stairs.

Mikaela flies down to college in a relatively short time, seemingly arriving just after Alice begins to hump Sam.

During the scene where we see the Autobots in vehicle mode (prior to Lennox being informed that they're in USA), the previously unseen Jolt has a close-up in front of the others. However, when the angle changes he disappears.

The box with Wheelie in it was left in the trunk of the stolen car after they escaped from Alice. However, they aren't seen carrying it away from the factory during the battle, yet it shows up later during the deli scene.

There was no reason for Simmons to know that Megatron was still alive. This bit is probably because in the original script Megatron, not the Fallen, was the one who was supposed to give the speech. Bad editing!

Why didn't Sector Seven follow up on Simmons' findings on the Seekers? These guys go interrogate Sam in the first movie just by something that seemed to be a prank phone call. Sector Seven has been around for sixty plus years... surely Simmons could've checked those things out? (See Not-Goofs also, though)

When Wheelie projects the light dots onto a map of United States, Simmons says that the 'closest one is in Washington', even though there is no dot in Washington. Also, one of the dots hovers pretty close to New York, where Simmons' deli is in.

Tasers normally don't cause someone to go into convulsions.

When the USS Theodore Roosevelt is sunk by Decepticon protoforms, it has the hull number 71. When it sinks, it has 74 on its hull instead. Carrier number 74 would appear later on in group shots.

The Reaper drone, like the first movie, is referred to as a Predator drone. However, the usage of reused CG from the first movie confuses stuff a little: the real-life Reaper has a propeller and is gray, while the CG drone is black and has a jet engine.

The infamous one: Jetfire is activated at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington. However, when he tears open the hangar-like door he exits into the Boneyard, some kind of aerospace dumping/maintenance area. It's in Tuscon, Arizona. Unless this alternate-universe Washington DC has a desert behind the Smithsonian... Michael Bay actually admits this as a deliberate choice in the DVD commentary, suggesting that 'most people in Taiwan' wouldn't notice the error. Um, well, if someone didn't point it out to me frankly I wouldn't too.

The movie gives the impression that the Pyramids in Giza, Egypt, and Petra in Jordan are very close to each other. In reality, the two locations are more than 400 kilometres apart, and that there's Israel between the two countries. Israel sadly seems to be ignored, since only Jordanian Troops arrive to help out. However, since it's an alternate universe with alien technology, they could've affected politics through cause and effect.

The tanks deployed from the hovercrafts arrive near Giza almost immediately. However, the closest sea shore, the tip of the Red Sea, is very very far away.

Ironhide's left cannon falls off prior to the airstrike, but in later shots it's back on his arm.

NOT GOOFS
Lennox's team seems to arrive from Diego Garcia, pick up Prime's body and land in a US airforce base within minutes. However, they set off some time in the afternoon, and when Prime's body is lowered to the ground it's evening in the next day (we already had a night scene with Sam's band). It leaves more than enough time for them to arrive from Diego Garcia, with super-fast planes and everything.

Why could the Constructicons and Ravage survive the intense pressures, while it had been said that it'll kill the Decepticons? Because they have been modified for it, of course.

The infamous radar numbers error could be explained very easily. Five contacts go down (Four Constructicons, plus Ravage). Scrapper is killed, while the Doctor came out of Ravage's mouth. Megatron is revived, giving six contacts. (Even if you say that Doctor is too small to be detected by sonar, there's nothing to say that Scrapper is still half-alive near the bottom of the sea, and that the others repaired him in time for the Egypt scene. Which explains why there are two Scrappers, thereby negating the need for all the Scrapmetal crap).

Something that the critics always go to—Sam's received the information about the energon source/Solar Harvester's location from an AllSpark shard. The Decepticons have stolen one for themselves, but had to go through all the trouble with Alice to get the information from Sam's brain. However, it's more likely that the Decepticons take Megatron's resurrection as a higher priority compared to obtaining information. After all, the Fallen only tells Megatron and Starscream that the AllSpark's information is in Sam's brain after Megatron comes back to life. Also, since Starscream seems unaware that the Decepticons on Earth have revived Megatron until after he has been revived, it seems like Soundwave, Doctor and the Constructicons are reviving Megatron out of their own accord. Hey, makes sense, right? Soundwave is loyal and everything...

Some people have cited the lack of worldwide panic after the Fallen's big broadcast. It's actually plausible. After all, during the big 9-11 thing in real life, some people thought it was a promotion for a new disaster movie. Plus a quick announcement that it was a hoax could be easily managed.

Simmons not being allowed to go after the Seekers when in the first movie he goes after suspicious car reports has often been criticized. But keep in mind that when Simmons went to the Witwickies, the Autobots have just arrived which would certainly raise lots of alarms, a major enough incident to lead Simmons to investigate happenings in the area.

Another often-cited plot hole would be that Sam didn't use the AllSpark shard he had to revive Optimus Prime. It's not an error once you think about it—Sam's a wanted fugitive. Galloway and the others are more likely to get him than to allow him to revive Optimus Prime. Besides, when looking for Jetfire, Wheelie only tells Sam to bring the shard close without telling him that it'll reactivate Jetfire. It is wholly possible for Wheelie (he haven't switched sides yet at this point, remember) to want the AllSpark resurrect Jetfire intentionally to drive off the humans.

Jetfire lets Sam and his party go on without him, only to show up later. While I'm tempted with another 'he's a nutter' explanation, it would be more plausible that the Decepticons could track one of their members down. (The novelisation actually had Jetfire collapsing due to his injuries, only to recover later on.)

Wheelie disappears after the whole border guard scene, and after rolling into the building where the humans bunk. It isn't so much as a disappearance — what good would little Wheelie be in a fight?

Why didn't Simmons just say 'shoot the big robot at the top of the pyramid?' Well, because he's a little nutter, that's why, and wants to get some heroics. So up the pyramid he goes.

Some people have cited the railgun-destroying-Devastator scene as a big error since the shot seems to arrive almost immediately from the warship at sea. Um, isn't that the whole point of a hyper-velocity railgun?

Also, some people have said that the railgun should be used to destroy the Solar Harvester. Such a powerful weapon would be needed to be recharged, after all.
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Blackjack
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Post by Blackjack »

A first draft. The review still needs some work, and there's bound to be some trivia/goofs/notgoofs that I missed out, so... critics and comments welcome! :)
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Post by inflatable dalek »

Are we marking things out of then now or has the sheer awesomeness of Megan Fox's arse the forest fight caused the score system to burst?
REVIISITATION: THE HOLE TRUTH
STARSCREAM GOES TO PIECES IN MY LOOK AT INFILTRATION #6!
PLUS: BUY THE BOOKS!
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Post by Blackjack »

inflatable dalek wrote:Are we marking things out of then now or has the sheer awesomeness of Megan Fox's arse the forest fight caused the score system to burst?
Other than a bias for the movies in general, I do think that the sheer awesomeness of the action scenes deserve that much at least. That and the fact that I'm a little pissed off at how much people out there that say ROTF is the WORST MOVIE EVARRRR IN HISTORYYY.

8 or 8.5 might be a better score, I'll admit, but the good stuff do outshine the bad stuff.
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Post by Halfshell »

Blackjack wrote:The infamous radar numbers error could be explained if we assume that the Constructicon that went down was Scrapper instead of Scrapmetal. Five robots go down- Mixmaster, Long Haul, Scrapper, Rampage and Ravage. (Doctor is too small to be detected by sonar) We assume that Scrapper is only torn apart a bit and is fixed later on (since he'll appear afterwards), so we have six contact radars when Megatron rises. (Alternatively, even if it was Scrapmetal, it wouldn't be implausible for another dead Decepticon's body to be detected by sonar.)
http://www.tfarchive.com/community/show ... hp?t=48192

Five contacts down:
Long Haul, Mixmaster, Rampage, Scrapper and Ravage.

The Doctor pops out of Ravage's mouth. He kills Scrapper and revives Megatron.

Six contacts up:
Megatron, Long Haul, Mixmaster, Rampage, Ravage and The Doctor.

Where's this alleged discrepancy and why are you jumping through maybes and ifs and possibilities and using assumptions of other unseen characters trying to plug it?

We see the Doctor exit Ravage's mouth when they reach bottom. We see that he doesn't go back in to rise back up. There is no numerical inconsistency.
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Post by Blackjack »

Some people have said that Doctor's too small to be picked up by sonar... Of course, the sonar could've been geared to search for metallic objects, which would make things simpler.

But TFWiki and the guys there created this 'Ze Little One' guy, who Hasbro then sort-of approves into a new character named Scrapmetal. That'll deserve a mention, I suppose...

I'll give the whole Scrapper/radar thing a rewrite when I'm not quite so sleep-deprived.
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Post by Halfshell »

Blackjack wrote:But TFWiki and the guys there created this 'Ze Little One' guy, who Hasbro then sort-of approves into a new character named Scrapmetal. That'll deserve a mention, I suppose...
I don't understand how it even starts to make sense. Not that I'm bothered. Five go down. Another pops out, kills one of them, resurrects Megatron, all six go up. I sleep fine at night. But that's because I'm awesome.
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Post by Cliffjumper »

Why would NEST employ so many foot soldiers to take point during the Shanghai mission? They didn't do anything much other than getting killed by Demolishor. Why don't they let Ironhide or one of the helicopters take point instead?
In fairness, NEST don't seem to know they're up against Demolishor... It could have been basically anyone (for example, Sideways). Ironhide is held in reserve until the threat is revealed (the less classified robots clanking around the better); helicopters would be (relatively) useless in the dark (a flying thing making a lot of noise and moving fairly slowly is dead meat to anyone concealed on the ground with AA capabilities
During the aerial shot of the factory that Megatron is waiting in, we don't see the forest near it. Instead the factory is surrounded by buildings.
We aren't really shown how long they're travelling - it's not long, but it could easily be a couple of miles bearing in mind Optimus is going Hell for leather trying to find a depopulated place to make a stand.
When the Autobots head out to help Sam, the previously unseen Jolt has a close-up in front of the others. However, when the angle changes he disappears, and would be absent when the Autobots attack Megatron and Starscream, only to reappear when the Autobots are confronted by Galloway.
No reason Jolt couldn't have peeled off at some point for any number of purposes - held in reserve, moving round to flank the Decepticons, he could have driven straight into a tree.
The movie gives the impression that the Pyramids in Giza, Egypt, and Petra in Jordan are very close to each other. In reality, the two locations are more than 400 kilometres apart, and that there's Israel between the two countries. Israel sadly seems to be ignored, since only Jordanian Troops arrive to help out.
It's worth remembering in this case, while it's a goof we're talking about a fictional universe which diverged from ours in at least the 1930s (assuming the ancient contact had little impact on the general worldwide population) and that could theoretically have any sort of impact on the world through cause and effect.

Plus the Israeli military were probably busy invading everyone at the time... I remember seeing an Israeli stand-up at a bar once, and he said he never bought a return ticket there, it being a waste of money because as a few days away the border could be a hundred miles closer and the journey back would be a lot cheaper [/irrelevant].
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Post by Blackjack »

Halfshell wrote:I don't understand how it even starts to make sense. Not that I'm bothered. Five go down. Another pops out, kills one of them, resurrects Megatron, all six go up. I sleep fine at night. But that's because I'm awesome.
It's simple like that, I know... but some of the critics said that Doctor cannot be possibly detected by sonar, etc etc.

Someone at TFWiki went all fanfic-happy and rechristened the Scrapper that's killed as 'ze little one', and Hasbro approved them as separate characters. Sort of... it's not something I'm particularly happy about, which is why I kept referring to the guy that's killed as Scrapper.

I've rewritten the section in Notes to reflect that it was fanwank-made-official, and rewritten the Not-Goofs section to include your explanation... is it better now?
Cliffjumper wrote:In fairness, NEST don't seem to know they're up against Demolishor... It could have been basically anyone (for example, Sideways). Ironhide is held in reserve until the threat is revealed (the less classified robots clanking around the better); helicopters would be (relatively) useless in the dark (a flying thing making a lot of noise and moving fairly slowly is dead meat to anyone concealed on the ground with AA capabilities.
Mmm, it makes sense. Still don't see why so many humans should be involved, but anywaaaay.... -chops out a 'goof'-
We aren't really shown how long they're travelling - it's not long, but it could easily be a couple of miles bearing in mind Optimus is going Hell for leather trying to find a depopulated place to make a stand.
I always forget that Prime and Megatron race each other for a bit... when writing the review I remembered that they exited the foundry/warehouse and BAM they're in a forest. Assuming they raced each other for a while, it'll make sense. -chops out another goof-
No reason Jolt couldn't have peeled off at some point for any number of purposes - held in reserve, moving round to flank the Decepticons, he could have driven straight into a tree.
Nah, I was talking about that scene showing the Autobots in their alternate modes, not Jolt's disappearance in the Forest Battle. At first, no Jolt. Then, Jolt's in front of the others. Then when the angle changes, Jolt disappears. Rewritten a bit to make it clearer.
It's worth remembering in this case, while it's a goof we're talking about a fictional universe which diverged from ours in at least the 1930s (assuming the ancient contact had little impact on the general worldwide population) and that could theoretically have any sort of impact on the world through cause and effect.
It's that 'alternate universe' card, isn't it? :)

To be fair, though, it's one of the more jarring errors, even moreso than the Smithsonian/Boneyard one. I'll rewrite it in a bit to include the alternate universe possible explanation.
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