This summer’s sure fire blockbuster hit Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has been well covered here at MovieGuys. Personally, I’ve been singing it’s praises for quite some time now. I really enjoyed the first film for exactly what it was; a fun popcorn movie full of giant fighting robots. I expect more of the same from the upcoming sequel. We can pretty much be guaranteed lots of action, multiple car chases, and plenty of explosions. That is what Michael Bay does, and you’d be lying if you didn’t admit that he does it well. For a while, all we “knew” about the film was that. We know what Michael Bay movies are like, so we knew that Transformers 2 would follow the same pattern. Outside of that, there are a lot of things that Bay and the studio were desperately trying to keep under wraps. Bay resorted to his infamous “mis-information campaign” to try to throw us off the trail, and then to moisten our transformer-starved mouths just a little bit, he’d drop a picture or two of Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox. We’ve seen some trailers now, and as the film is nearing it’s release date, we’ve been getting more and more info. Most recently, Paramount (with the help of Yahoo! and the USA Today) decided to release the roster of characters featured in the upcoming film, along with their alternate form. So I won’t waste any time. Here is the list:
AUTOBOTS
OPTIMUS PRIME: The Autobots’ leader – alternate form: Peterbilt truck.
IRONHIDE: Weapons specialist – GMC Topkick.
RATCHET: Medic – Hummer H2.
BUMBLEBEE: Friend and mode of transportation for Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) – 2010 Chevorlet Camaro.
ARCEE: A female Autobot – motorcycle.
SIDESWIPE: A Lamborghini in the toy line, here he transforms into a silver Corvette Stingray concept car.
JETFIRE: An older Decepticon who switches sides – SR71 Blackbird jet.
JOLT: The original toy was a Decepticon, but in the movie he’s a good guy – Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid.
SKID & MUDFLAP: a.k.a. “The Twins” – Chevrolet Beat and Trax concept cars.
DECEPTICONS
STARSCREAM: Formerly Megatron’s second in command, he escaped at the end of the first movie; F-22 Raptor jet.
SCORPONOK: The mechanical scorpion that attacked the American troops in the desert.
THE FALLEN: One of the original Transformers, he’s called “the most elemental bad guy” by the screenwriters.
SIDEWAYS: The Audi R8 seen crashing through a building in the trailer.
SOUNDWAVE: A cassette player in the original toys; his alternate mode will be a communications satellite.
RAVAGE: A four-legged, cat-like robot.
THE DOCTOR: A spider-like crawling robot.
WHEELIE: A small, radio-controlled truck.
DEMOLISHER: One of the Constructicons that transform into construction vehicles.
DEVASTATOR: A giant robot formed by the Constructicons joining together; individually, they are: Scavenger, Scrapper, Hightower, Longhaul, Rampage, Overload and Mixmaster.
I’m sure that you all noticed that Megatron was not present on that list. Paramount, and all others involved with the film not named Hugo Weaving, refuses to publicly state that Megatron would appear in the film in any way, shape, or form. The actor who voiced Megatron in the original film, the aforementioned Weaving, came out and admitted that he completed new voicework for the upcoming film. Who to believe?!? It’s possible that Bay just got Weaving involved with his giant “mis-information campaign.” Originally, I thought the quote from Hugo Weaving to an Austrailian newspaper while promoting his new aussie flick, indicated that Megatron really would be included in the film. Weaving said he was never told to keep it hush-hush, but that it was supposed to be a secret:
“I’ve already done it. He’s over in LA and we were working on the video split sort of thing and I had this strange conversation where he seemed to imply it was all a big secret. So there you go I’ve given you the secret scoop.” Weaving went on to offer his explaination for how Megatron would return from the dead to appear in Revenge of the Fallen: “I think in the last one, doesn’t Optimus Prime pick up a little bit of, a little shard of the cube, or the thing that’s left, and he takes it with him. Maybe there’s something there… but I don’t know”
I thought we had finally caught Michael Bay in a lie. But the longer we go without Hugo Weaving being assassinated for betraying the Bay, the more I think it may all just be a part of the misinformation campaign. Looking at the rest of the list, both Autobots and Decepticons, I really believe we’ll have more than enough transformers to stare at this summer, don’t you?!? The list of Decepticons is particularly interesting, in that I see a couple of bots on that list that could definitely destroy more than just Autobots – they could destroy the enjoyment of the film as well.
I’m sorry, but I really don’t want to see a remote-controlled truck transform and try to wreak havoc everywhere. I’ve had my fill of annoying little transformers from the first film. Soundwave is confirmed to be in the movie now, something I thought I would be excited about. But they turned him into a communications satellite?!? How lame is that? Okay, maybe not as lame as a cassette player, but still, just saying. As lame as a communications satellite and a cassette player would be for an alternate form, at least they didn’t turn Soundwave into an iPOD. Thank God for that! Finally, in addition to bringing back Scorponok (a transformer that doesn’t transform) they’ve added Ravage (another transformer that doesn’t transform). I’m glad they are going with some animal forms in this movie, but I wish they’d transform at least once in the movie. Otherwise, why call them transformers? Why not just have them be evil robot creations made by the Decepticons?
To be fair, there are some exciting new transformers I am definitely looking forward to seeing this summer, including the Fallen, the Doctor, Devastator, and Jetfire. I really like how they are branching out in this film to offer us some more compelling characters. This film will actually have transformers that are interesting on more than just a base level. They’ll be complex (or at least I think they will be!), and they’ll definitely be different. Take Jetfire, for example: I’ve never really considered the thought of old transformers. I mean, I know they age, and I’ve seen varying ages of transformers before, but I’ve never even considered the thought of a decrepid, old, crotchety and grouchy old transformer. I do think it’s ironic that they chose an SR-71, once known as one of the fastest airplanes on the planet (as well as one of the most advanced) to play one of the older, out of date and “slow to get up” type of transformers. There is definitely something there. Perhaps there’s “more than meets the eye”???
I think that it’ll be hard to argue that this film won’t at least be intriguing. I know that a lot of people bashed the first film, and I haven’t exactly seen a lot of people getting excited about the sequel. Seems like most people are just not interested. Maybe it’s because of the first film, and all those failed expectations. Maybe it’s the fact that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen won’t be the only movie this summer with giant fighting robots, right McG?!? Maybe it’s a little of both, who knows. All I know is, I’ll be in my seat (with my usual contraband of movie theater goodies) on opening day, waiting to see some wicked explosions.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen opens on June 24th, 2009