The review

First off, let me begin by saying that the lead-up and eventual viewing of TF2 was a vastly different experience than TF1 was. With TF1, we had no idea what sort of movie we were in for - how the Transformers would be handled onscreen, etc. With TF2, the "movie universe" had been established, so the movie had the disadvantage of the audience being prepared for "real-world" Transformers. Additionally, the success of TF1 meant that fans were demanding in the pursuit of info about TF2; I know for myself personally, I checked websites almost every day trying to find anything and everything I could about TF2. Hell, I even started a blog about it.

The movie-going experience was pretty good. The crowd was excited, but not overly excited which can sometimes ruin a movie. There was a 9 year old boy sitting next to me, and we pretty much laughed at the exact same stuff (which probably isn't a good sign for either of us). The theater originally had 1 midnight showing, but I know they added at least 1 more (and I think a 3rd), and they all sold out. I've never seen the place so packed.

As I posted before, most reviews are trashing this movie. And honestly, most reviews trash most movies. And sure, there's stuff to nitpick at here. You can take any movie and find faults. But I keep reading how there was "barely a plot." If we're getting technical, then there was "barely a plot" to "The Dark Knight." I'm not going to really get into criticism/analyis/whatever of the plot. The story was completely 100% comprehensible to me, and at no point did anything about it bother me. People who are bashing the so-called lack or short-comings of a plot probably should just avoid going to movies altogether.

I'll get the non-Transformer stuff out of the way first. Quite honestly, I was a little disappointed at the lack of Lennox and Epps. I think that general had more screentime, or at least close to it. The whole "working together" aspect was really cool, and the characters not being jokey or comical really was a nice touch. Simmons was good, definitely more in-line with the overall tone of the movie than he was in the first. Le Butt was better, but other than that it seemed as though there was far less for the actual people to do this time around.

As for the Transformers themselves, lets do a quick check...

More Transformer dialogue? Check.

More Transformer fight scenes? Check.

Transformer backstory. Check.

Seriously, there is no way anyone can say that the lack of Transformers in the first movie wasn't addressed - I've even heard people complain that there were too many robots. The opening events were killer - literally. Ironhide's initial transformation scene was classic. Sideswipe did his thing, and even the girl Autobots were nicely done. Sure, we could have used a roster run-down for the new characters, and Ratchet and Jolt just show up mid-way through with no explanation of where they've been. But again, I'm just in awe of real-world Transformers on-screen. Wasn't that the whole fun of the toys - making up your own adventures? It's too bad so much info was released about Devastator - that would have been one of the biggest surprises ever. It was still unreal to see on a movie screen. Starscream and Megatron definitely had a more classic-inspired interaction, and people are virtually universal in agreement that Optimus Prime kicked ass like it's going out of style. I think Jetfire alone had more dialogue in this movie than all of the Transformers combined in Movie 1.

The Twins, for all the pre-worry and post-controversy, did not bother me. Yes, the designs are tragic and the personalities stereotyped. But I found myself laughing at them often, and the kid next to me loved them. It was a little weird to hear a Transformer call someone a "pussy", but I may have laughed loudest at that. As for the Pretender, I guess it was handled as best it could of been. It was out of place and not explained, but the chick was hot so at least I got something out of it. My only other real issue was the "beads" that truly did morph into a robot. Morphing is a no-no in this realm, movie-makers. Lets not do that again, OK?

All in all, this was definitely a much bigger film than the first. I'd say it was an improvement simply because there was so much more Transformers related stuff in it. After it was over, I was exhausted - there is a lot to take in. I'd say the camera shots were better - but there was still a lot of room for improvement, and some of the CGi was choppy. But I enjoyed the hell out of it, and will be seeing it again soon.