Now he's headed off to college leaving behind said beautiful girl, Mikaela (Megan Fox), who spends her days working on cars and bikes by artfully draping herself across them in Daisy Dukes that make Jessica Simpson seem modest" (Sharkey 2009). Despite the fact that Mikaela is a mechanic (no need for Sam to spend any time showing interest in any stereotypically female pursuits like romantic candlelight dinners or chick flicks) she dresses in micro-shorts and sashays rather than reaches for a screwdriver. The main character has another friend, a car/robot takes the form of a typical 'muscle car' Camero, who resists Sam's decision to go off to college, in which is supposed to be a mildly humorous sequence. Of course the car needn't worry -- the need to save the world quickly forces Sam to put away his books. Even Sam's college aspirations are mocked in this film. But in a film that is supposed to be entertaining, there are no humorous, funny lines in Revenge of the Fallen. Every word that comes out of each character's mouth sounds clumsy and staged in the Transformers sequel. Characters are basically just a replay of old stereotypes -- the geeky kid, the jock friend (in this case a car) -- and the film is unapologetically geared at a male audience so women seem even less human than the robots.

The women are all substantially better-looking than the men, and substantially less important as active characters. There is no pretence that this can function in any way as a date film. The target audience...

"Revenge is strictly a man's world, really, a boom, boom, bang, bang fever dream of special effects" (Sharkey 2009). The film demonstrates how, despite the encroachments of art films and independent films into many American's viewing habits, films designed to be great money-makers have a relatively narrow target audience of younger, male viewers.
The reviews of the film were abysmal. The critic for Rolling Stone wrote: "The Revenge of the Fallen is beyond bad, it carves out its own category of godawfulness. and, please, you don't have to remind me that the original was a colossal hit ($700 million worldwide) and the sequel will probably do just as well. I know it's popular. So is junk food, and they both poison your insides and rot your brain. But I do accept that Bay is unique. No one can top him for telling a story with such striking, shrieking incoherence" (Travers 2009).

Works Cited

Sharkey, Betsy. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Film review: LA Times. June 24, 2009.

October 22, 2009. http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-transformers24-2009jun24,0,2265260.story

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Directed by Michael Bay. 2009.

Travers, Peter. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Film review: Rolling Stone. October 22,

2009. http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/25458013/review/28840142/transformers_revenge_of_the_fallen