[Adam Hart] With Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the film’s writers try their hand at tackling the conspiracy theory of aliens landing on Earth in man’s early days. In doing so, it is “revealed” that the pyramids served quite a different purpose than is popularly believed.

The irony in reaching into the past to push this film’s plot is not lost on fans of the original Transformers 1986 animated feature. Mainly because the first “live action” Transformers tried to distance itself from its previous animated incarnation, taking artistic license with some characters and storylines. A trend that continues in the latest version, which transforms once-mischievous teenager Wheelie into a foul-mouthed, Joe Pantoliano-sounding, leg-humping robot.

Movie goers will also find a new purpose for the matrix of leadership, which was the centerpiece of the original animated film.

Like Michael Bay’s first effort, the storyline is moved by the human actors, with Shia LeBeouf once again becoming the hero. The Autobots and Decepticons serve as a backdrop to any dialogue in the film, used primarily to stoke up the action and provide cliche one-liners.  Seeking a progressive, thought provoking script?  This is not the movie for you, kind sir.

The film is what one would expect: explosive, sexual, weak for those interested in anything more. Still, it is a better effort than Bay’s first, as it features more Megan Fox.

Now, the pros and cons of this film (*SPOILERS INCLUDED):

Pros

• Megan Fox
• Isabel Lucas. Although, she is docked points for hanging out with that guy from that Entourage show I’ve never seen.
• Mr. Witwicky is still funny, save for the final scene
• Really, Megan Fox

Cons

• A big storyline is LeBeouf refusing to tell Megan Fox that he loves her, which makes zero sense
• Racist creation of Autobots “The Twins”, in JarJar Binks mold
• Devastator is now a giant vacuum
• Megatron is reborn, given Galvatron’s voice, but still named Megatron
• Alien past seems very gimmicky
• 3 separate humping scenes, none with the hot chicks in this film. Instead, it’s dogs and robots humping for no reason other than to make 11-year-olds laugh
• Mrs. Witwicky swears a lot, for no reason
• Still confused as to why Sam Witwicky runs 2 miles across the desert, when Bumblebee could have driven him in 3 minutes tops.
• The film puts the Transformers on a human level, when the coolest thing about them is all the awesome stuff they could be doing instead.
• So much more could be done with the soundtrack, other than getting on its knees for Linkin Park — and playing heartfelt notes straight from Pearl Harbor

Despite its Mad Libs style script, recycled jokes, lack of interest in involving the Transformers in dialogue, played out alien invasion backstory, “how did we get here?” moments and uninspiring music selection — there are worse things one could see in the theaters this summer.

Parts of this movie remind me of: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Lord of the Rings Trilogy and American Pie 2 — so originality obviously was not a concern for the script writers.

Final Grade: On the fence about Megan Fox? See this movie to get your mind right.