Critic Reviews
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) Rank 2 Reviews
Expert Review Summary
based on (196) reviews
Click on the numbers to the right of the graph to see reviews of that rating
Reviews by Score:
Time Out New York (Tom Huddleston)
ComingSoon.net (Edward Douglas)
PopMatters
At this point in his career, Michael Bay has one of two options. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at PopMatters
Dark Horizons
Bigger in every way, except where it's needed, 'Fallen' represents Michael Bay at his most unrestrained and confident since "Bad Boys II", and certainly his most ridiculous to date. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Dark Horizons
Variety
With machines that are impressively more lifelike, and characters that are more and more like machines, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" takes the franchise to a vastly superior level of artificial intelligence. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Variety
efilmcritic.com (Dan Lybarger)
For all the mayhem and destruction that occur in Bay's movies, they are frequently joyless affairs because it's hard to care about the shallow characters that inhabit them. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at efilmcritic.com (Dan Lybarger)
ABC Tasmania
Hoping to make sense of an indecipherable plot, one could interpret Transformers as an attempt to translate the American experience of the War in Iraq into something with a happy ending and a triumphant US military. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at ABC Tasmania
Projection Booth (Rob Humanick)
It's little wonder that Bay routinely receives the blessing of the American military. His movies are eye-candy incursions on your brain - 150-minute shock-and-awe campaigns where professional pyrotechnics level insurgent idiotic scenarios. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Projection Booth (Rob Humanick)
Film Journal International
A sequel to the 2007 worldwide blockbuster, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen forms the second part of a planned trilogy based on the once-popular Hasbro action figures. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Film Journal International
Nolan's Pop Culture Review (Michael A. Smith)
...Fox is wasted, given nothing more to do then wear revealing outfits and pout. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Nolan's Pop Culture Review (Michael A. Smith)
Belief Net
I truly loved the first Transformers movie. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Belief Net
Las Vegas Weekly
You can say this for Michael Bay: He delivers what he promises. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Bay's sequel to his mind-numbing, loud, visually incoherent 2007 megahit Transformers, is everything the original was and more. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Las Vegas Weekly
Village Voice
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a bewildering, noisy, sloppy, cynical piece of work, a movie that sneers at the audience for 147 minutes and expects us to lap it up as entertainment-and be grateful. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Village Voice
Deseret News
All director Michael Bay and his screenwriter team need to do in "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" is get us to the point where the giant robots show up and start smashing things and blowing them up. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Deseret News
The Globe and Mail
The big question about Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is, which of your favourite household machines you should take as a date? Your electric toothbrush would surely enjoy the speed and the flying debris but might whine at the scary parts. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at The Globe and Mail
TwinCities.com
That stops when the transformer battles kick into high gear in the film's latter stages, especially since I still think watching two transformers wrestle each other is about as exciting as watching my digital camera recharge. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at TwinCities.com
About.com
More so than the first film, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is all about the robots. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at About.com
Scene Stealers
Is the constant barrage of crazy transformers fighting each other enough to make the two and half hour movie worth recommending? ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Scene Stealers
Salon.com
Of course, all Michael Bay movies are loud: He accessorizes his shoddily conceived and executed action sequences with heaps of gunfire, explosions and crashes, ostensibly to make them more thrilling. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Salon.com
Cinema Blend
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is an exhausting experience. It's an assault on the senses, a visual blur of incomprehensible, never-ending action. It's like standing in the middle of a dust storm and opening your eyes to let the grit pour in. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Cinema Blend
guides.news.com
The battle for Earth has ended but the battle for the universe has just begun. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at guides.news.com
Entertainment Spectrum
The sights and sounds bombard your senses into a numbing catatonic state. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Entertainment Spectrum
Montreal Film Journal
We could always ignore the plot and just focus on the giant robot action, I guess, and there are indeed two or three intense sequences of clashing metal frenzy and mass destruction, but the ratio of dull crap to cool moments is even worse than in the firs ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Montreal Film Journal
BDK Reviews
Visually, the film is beautiful, but as a huge fan of the first film, I was thoroughly disappointed with the overall structure, pacing, script and experience. I don't think I have seen a film this unstructured in my entire life. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at BDK Reviews
The Movie Kit
To be brief, it seems the Transformers have had a long standing history with humans, going way back to ancient Egypt. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at The Movie Kit
News Blaze
Essentially battering rather than seducing viewers into submission as captive audiences for the interminable 2 1/2 hours duration, Transformers 2 takes the action movie as passive spectator sport with clenched teeth and shriveled eardrums, to new and aest ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at News Blaze
Mania.com
It goes without saying that these figures are laughable cut-outs, delivered with stunning clumsiness and evoking the kind of embarrassed audience reactions that accompany a six-year-old telling a dirty joke. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Mania.com
Daily Express
These days the philosophy seems to be: "Make it huge. Turn up the volume. And throw in lots of special-effects. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Daily Express
Urban Cinefile
With Michael Bay's stamp all over it, this sequel certainly looks amazing with an onslaught of explosive visual effects, a grandiose plot, exotic locations, a generous dose of humour, a cast of thousands and a budget of squillions. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Urban Cinefile
EmanuelLevy.com
Bigger, louder, and longer than the first film, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" shows that more is just more. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at EmanuelLevy.com
New York Press
Transforming is the capitalist dream of rebranding. It's not transcendence-thus, the need for the basic sci-fi story of good vs. evil, where Revenge of the Fallen alludes to the story of Lucifer. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at New York Press
Screen It! Entertainment Reviews for Parents
A college freshman, his auto mechanic girlfriend and others get wrapped up in yet another battle between good and villainous shape-shifting, extraterrestrial robots where the future of humankind rests in the balance. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Screen It! Entertainment Reviews for Parents
Cinema Signals (Jules Brenner)
SFX Magazine
Like the movie as a whole, the results are inconsistent. By turns Revenge Of The Fallen is spectacular, funny, cringeworthy, edge-of-the-seat exciting, tedious, incomprehensible, dumb and very occasionally smart - sometimes all at the same time. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at SFX Magazine
Empire Weekly
The good news is that the sequel is better than the first. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Empire Weekly
PopMatters.com
And so it comes as no surprise at the start of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen when Sam discovers a shard of the All Spark, supposedly destroyed in the first film. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at PopMatters.com
timeoutsydney.com
Comedic elements seem aimed at the pre-teen market and include a robot duo who would make Jar Jar Binks seem endearing - an interesting choice in a movie that heavily features Megan at her Foxiest. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at timeoutsydney.com
Giant Magazine
If it weren't for the fact that its guaranteed to become the summer's biggest hit, Revenge of the Fallen is the kind of bloated, juvenile career-killer that would send its director from the blockbuster big leagues to the made-for-TV minors. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Giant Magazine
This is London
All this is spectacular and totally meaningless, like a video game transposed to the big screen and worked by a maniacal enthusiast. But Bay is only partly responsible. The list of his assistant technicians is endless - what fun they must have had. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at This is London
ViewLondon
The effects are great and fans of the first film won't be disappointed, but is a spot of genuine emotion and intelligence really too much to ask for? ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at ViewLondon
Sci-Fi Movie Page
In short, it's more of the same and whether or not that's a good thing will depend on your tastes. But if you ever wanted to see a tiny robot hump Megan Fox's leg, then don't you dare miss Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen... ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Sci-Fi Movie Page
Los Angeles Times
Shia LaBeouf is back as Sam, the precocious teen who gave hope to nerds everywhere in 2007's "Transformers" that they too could get the beautiful girl, if only they had the right alien species parked in their garage. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Los Angeles Times
Digitalspy
John Turturro's government stooge-turned-delhi counter worker provides a flicker of a pulse. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Digitalspy
Fronthebalcony.com
Somewhere around the two-hour mark of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, a character requests that a plan be made concise and to-the-point. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Fronthebalcony.com
The Telegraph
Enslavement, not enjoyment, is our basic condition here. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at The Telegraph
Times Online
It's like being hit over the head repeatedly with a very expensive, very loud train set.After two and a half hours in this bludgeoning company, you're begging Bay to put away the boys' toys and make a rom-com. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Times Online
Detroit News
A great grinding garbage disposal of a movie, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" isn't so much a narrative film as a cacophonous series of explosions intermittently interrupted by needless dialogue. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Detroit News
The Onion A.V. Club
In some future film class, Michael Bay's second Transformers film will no doubt be presented as the Platonic ideal of sequels. Everything about it is taken directly from the first movie, but blown up bigger and louder. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at The Onion A.V. Club
Eye For Film
For all the Transformers' powers of recombinant metal exchange, this film is so much less than the sum of its parts. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Eye For Film
The Hollywood Reporter
Bottom Line: Crash, bang, wallop as the machines sweep in for another cataclysm. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at The Hollywood Reporter
Digital Spy (Simon Reynolds)
Transformers 2 feels a bit like watching someone else play a video game for two and a half hours. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Digital Spy (Simon Reynolds)
New York Times (Manohla Dargis)
Kansas City Star (Robert W. Butler)
Something is seriously amiss when a movie as noisy and frenetic as Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is so boring it puts you to sleep. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Kansas City Star (Robert W. Butler)
Boston Globe (Ty Burr)
Rotton Tomatoes
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen By Victoria Alexander FilmsInReview.com I hated every 149 minutes. This is so bad it's immoral. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Rotton Tomatoes
BET.com (Clay Cane)
The hip-hop talking robots were borderline offensive. Is this the movie's way of appealing to the African-American audience? I never knew that robots could shuck n' jive. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at BET.com (Clay Cane)
Cinema Crazed (Felix Vasquez Jr.)
I'd call it a typical summer blockbuster but then that'd be aninsult to summer blockbusters... ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Cinema Crazed (Felix Vasquez Jr.)
Daily Mirror [UK] (David Edwards)
Bigger, brasher and noisier than anything you've seen, it's certainly a visual spectacle with great special effects. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Daily Mirror [UK] (David Edwards)
Advocate
John Turturro's very human, comic energy lifts an otherwise flat and re-dundant sequel. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Advocate
The Scorecard Review (Jeff Bayer)
While the film looks fantastically overblown, and there is meticulous detail given to the look of the Transformers, it just doesn't make up for the fact that this film is boring, and you're never connecting to anything or anyone. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at The Scorecard Review (Jeff Bayer)
tonymacklin.net (Tony Macklin)
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is an impressive potboiler. But its overheated pot has a lot of holes. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at tonymacklin.net (Tony Macklin)
MovieMartyr.com
There's a lot going on in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. So much, in fact, that it's probable that critics and audiences are seeing different films entirely. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at MovieMartyr.com
Spectrum (St. George, Utah) (Bruce Bennett)
ABC.net
It's as if Bay decided that, after the first film, no more plot was needed. And maybe the target audience won't mind that, but for anyone else the lack of an intelligible plot and interesting characters quickly becomes boring. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at ABC.net
The Star Ledger
There is clearly an audience for this kind of film, although I suspect most of it is still in grammar school. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at The Star Ledger
Newsweek (Sean Smith)
Artist and filmmaker Peter Greenaway once famously noted, "Cinema is far too rich and capable a medium to be merely left to the storytellers. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Newsweek (Sean Smith)
San Fransisco Examiner
I believe that Michael Bay forgot a very simple fact when he made Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: the cool thing about giant, transforming robots fighting each other is GIANT, TRANSFORMING ROBOTS FIGHTING EACH OTHER! It is not comic relief, it is not ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at San Fransisco Examiner
Salt Lake Tribune
A decade ago, Entertainment Weekly looked at director Michael Bay's box-office success, his love of grandiose spectacle and his disinterest in what film critics thought of his films, and asked the question: "Is Michael Bay the devil?"
Bay answers that ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Salt Lake Tribune
The Arizona Republic
What else were you expecting from "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen?" If your answer includes a coherent story, decent acting and direction conducted with anything more subtle than a sledgehammer - this is a Michael Bay film, after all - then keep look ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at The Arizona Republic
Teletext
Shellshock soon locks in as yet another monster twists out of carnage. Then you stifle the yawns. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Teletext
AMCtv.com
Like The Core dubbing the ultra-rare element that can slice through diamonds "unobtainium," naming villainous robots "Decepticons" is a lovely bit of Saturday-morning-cartoon kitsch -- virtually perfect for a story about an alien race of "autobots" that ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at AMCtv.com
Little White Lies
Transformers is entertainment by volume. Both in terms of a decibel level that pummels you into submission, and a whopping run-time of around two-and-a-half hours. It feels like a tipping point-a kind of nirvana for the Ritalin generation. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Little White Lies
Channel 4 Film
Revenge Of The Fallen isn't only louder than Transformers, however. It's longer, it's more explosive, it's more directionless, it's all the proof you'll ever need that more really isn't always more. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Channel 4 Film
Associated Press (David Germain)
A joyless cacophony, an insistent and seemingly endless onslaught, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," director Michael Bay's follow-up to the 2007 smash "Transformers" plays more like a parody of a Bay movie. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Associated Press (David Germain)
Chicago Tribune
At 149 minutes, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" is six minutes longer than the 2007 noise machine from which this sequel sprang, but those six minutes are like dog minutes. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Chicago Tribune
Christianity Today Article
If you liked the first, you'll probably like this. I can't say I like either Transformers film, but there's a difference between them. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Christianity Today Article
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
The Autobots, who helped in the war against the Decepticons, have lost their home planet, so now they are working with the military on a top secret project alongside field commanders Major Lennox (Josh Duhamel) and USAF Master Sergeant Epps (Tyrese Gibson ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Rotten Tomatoes reviews
What Would Toto Watch?
That draws the interest of the remaining Decepticons, who are regrouping as the story opens in an attempt to revive The Fallen, a long-buried robot who hopes to snuff out the sun. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at What Would Toto Watch?
Slate.com
Thanks to the evil shard, Sam's brain is imprinted with a series of runic symbols that he obsessively paints on his dorm room walls. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Slate.com
Critic's Notebook
The only life here comes, what a surprise, from John Turturro, reprising his role as Agent Simmons. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Critic's Notebook
Rottentomatoes.com
This overlong and overblown sequel is littered with excess to the point that you simply surrender to the nonsense on screen and go with the flow. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Rottentomatoes.com
Reelviews
Call me old fashioned, but I like a little side story and character to go along with my order of big, loud special effects. Apparently, I'm in the minority, though, because the original Transformers made more money than I'd see in 300 lifetimes. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Reelviews
New York Post
SQUARELY aimed at 8-year-old boys and men who never quite matured past that stage, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" is packed with so much eye candy you're risking a sugar rush. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at New York Post
JoBlo
I almost don't know where to start with this one. I guess the "good news/bad news" thing is the best way to go. So, first the good news. The Transformers themselves look great. There were a few unfinished shots here and there, but overall, very cool. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at JoBlo
Mansized
Revenge of the Fallen is just like Transformers 1, only longer, and that makes it even more boring. ...read the complete Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie review at Mansized
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User Reviews
User Review Summary
based on (3) reviews
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by gd2525 on July 17, 2009 Blackwood, New Jersey
Wow, not only is there no real story here but after a while the robot smashing action begins to get boring and overdone. If it wasn't for the loud explosions I may have fallen asleep in the theater. Nothing here at all. ...
by Tetramobile on July 17, 2009 New York, New York
I don't know why this movie is getting such a hard time, it's so fun to watch. Everything about this movie just makes me smile. It's so enjoyable. Also, I cried... I'll admit it. I just can't help it. It was so emotional and if ...
by rekidd on July 14, 2009 Minneapolis, Minnesota
I thought the movie was written pretty well although the ending is abrupt and expected. There was loads of actions sequences involved and I would recommend seeing in the movie theatre rather than waiting for it to come out on DVD or Blu-Ray. For it being ...
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