Okay, the reviews for ROTF are starting to trickle in. Rottentomatoes.com is tracking the reviews on this page:

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes

After a mere 10 reviews, ROTF is certified fresh (barely) with a 60% freshness and 5.3 out of 10 grade average.

By comparison, the first Transformers live-action movie finished with a not fresh (barely) rating of 57% and a 5.8 out of 10 grade average, based on 205 total reviews.

Do we anticipate ROTF will exceed its predecessor's mark, or fall short of it? I would like to hope that the sequel will show enough improvements to maintain a fresh rating. But, sequels often take a beating from movie critics.

 

Most of the "geek" reviews have been saying its equal. I'm interested in seeing what the "nongeek" reviewers will say.

 

Lets hope for good reviews but it doesn't really matter. Still gonna be the best movie.

 

Taking a wild guess I'd say somewhere close to the first film. Some things that sound better some things that sound worse so for all the new things for the film critics to like there should be equal amounts for them to dislike.

 

I put more stock in what reviewers actually have to say about a movie than I do in the aggregate ratings. For instance, right now even most of the negative reviews sound at least somewhat promising to a fan of the original... "Revenge of the Fallen is just like Transformers 1", "fan boys will no doubt love it", "the machines do tend to upstage the humans", etc.

If you weren't a fan of the first one, of course, these tend to sound less promising.

 

Even if it ends up being about the same as last time is that really so bad? The last one did fairly well as far as I remember. More of the same isn't exactly a disaster.

 

Very often, I disagree with critics (I like the Doom movie), but when someone can't see how unserious are the Bayformers films is just because of ILM's scenes.
Take out their work and you're left with pure guano.

 

RoTF rating at Rotten Tomatoes so far

Right now, it's 55% (Rotten).

Will it rise up or fall?

Let's take a look ast he movie premires in almost a week.

 

I'm pretty sure it won't rate well, because these aren't exactly good movies. I can only imagine how painful the first one is to watch to someone who has no affection for the franchise. It'll still make a billion bucks and have some cool cgi robits in it though, so that's the best we can hope for I think.

 

Thats pretty good for that site..

 

Rotten Tomatoes sucks. They're full of those classy prick critics.

 

I think the problem is twofold...

1) Not everyone has seen and reviewed the film. It's probably going to have a bad rating simply by the numbers. If two reviews were out, one good and one bad, it's going to have 50%. Wait til it has a boost in review numbers.

2) The novelty of the first film isn't there. Everyone was saying "Holy shit! Transformers!" when they saw the CGI bots in action. Bay kept it a pretty well-guarded secret that time. Here, I don't think he's got quite the novelty of the first movie working for him. We know roughly what they'll look like (the desgin aesthetic moreso than specific robot designs) and they're all over the trailers.

I don't know if it'll rank as high as the first movie, but I doubt it'll remain at 50%.

 

QFT

1st one got a 57% i believe. The "newness" will have worn off, and since they probably didnt bring anything new to the series besides more robots and CGI, critics will be less forgiving on the acting and lack of a "great" storyline to give it as good a review as they did for the 1st one

 

id have to say the last reviewer who brought it from 60 to 55%, was a complete d*ck and prolly the lamest review Ive ever seen as far as content and insight

Transformers: Revenge/Fallen (12A) 150mBy Victor Olliver - Porky's meets the dorks in Michael Bay's $200m follow-up to his 2007 mega-hit Transformers.

With a script of pure geek gobbledygook - spoken at great speed in case you're tempted to comprehend - and a bunch of horny college lads (plus Megan Fox), Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen ups the raunch ante as nerds save Earth.

Is there anything in this for anyone other than a zit-faced video gamer?

The pic's dedicated to CG magic as cars, tractors - anything metal really - suddenly transform into alien junkyard robots - like in the car ad.

Quite why they have metal teeth is never made clear since at no point do they eat. But they bulk up by attaching yet more cars etc to their bodies.

Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky is once again our bland hero - boy gamers can't cope with signs of male non-conformism.

This movie is confusing so here's your guide. The nasty Decepticons in space re-invade Earth to get their mitts on the Allspark - a missing artefact that gives the Transformer 'bots their mojo.

Something lodged in Sam's brain can guide them to its location - so Sam is on the Decepticons' most wanted list.

Standing in their way are the human-friendly Transformer Autobots - and Sam's own 'bot pet, Optimus Prime.

You'll have to piece together yourself the history of the Transformers and how they ruined their planet Cybertron.

Maxing the sci-fi elements, Bay brings in 50-odd different robots including two that win my Jah Jah Binks Film Award for comic ethnic stereotyping.

Other 'bots say "frickin" - as fans of Austin Powers? At times, the smaller bots are like metallic Gremlins - sort of cute but mischievous or malevolent.

Bay himself is not above mischief, either. At one point our teen heroes pose against a poster for one of Bay's other big flick successes - Bad Boys 2.

One or two lines are unusually sharp - one mature man explains: "My mother lives with me, I don't live with her. There is a difference." Discuss.

Some scenes are plainly dodgy. The lascivious college lecturer leaves you feeling a mite uncomfortable.

Megan Fox as Sam's girlfriend Mikaela does what she's told - to act and look like a Page 3 girl who's escaped from the Nuts Magazine Lab for Sexy Minxes.

Later scenes of pyramid devastation won't enchant the Egyptian Tourist Board. All the witty charm of the first film is lost in conflict and noise.

Shellshock soon locks in as yet another monster twists out of carnage. Then you stifle the yawns.

 

I think that's overstating things. According to market research, it did very well on word-of-mouth and surprisingly well among older women.

I seriously doubt that most of the audiences who saw Transformers had any sort of affection for the franchise beyond "hey, those robots".

 

That's the biggest problem with RT. Anyone can write a review, which in turn affects the rating.

That review was terrible and his complaints were nonsensical.

 

From personal experience (the first movie came out during my final year in High School) it changed Transformers from 'that geeky yet cool thing from the 80s to 'wow thats like my facourite movie' (and me from 'hey look its that nerd' to 'so you collect transformers... respect')

 

What the hell is this reviewer going on about here?

What the hell? A random anti-war, anti-american diatribe? What 9/11 imagery?

"Embarrassingly all-American"? Okay, I get Judy Witwicky has some wacky hijinks in this film, but "embarrassingly all-American"? I feel this is another swipe at America by this reviewer.

Link (BEWARE SPOILERS)

Sort of what I meant. Most people did not have any real affection for it. Fans are in relatively small numbers, so ErechOveraker's assertion that the movie was "painful" to people who did not have any knowledge of TF was completely wrong.

 

Wow what the hel is up with that Eye for Film review? He's just complaining about religion and American the whole review instead of talking about the movie whose he probably saw just to swipe at Bay.

Critic world sucks man, it's either all pompous gasbags or all-positive-paid-by-studio reviewers, the only quality meter that matters nowadays is YOUR and your friends' opinions.

 

This tenfold, I don't care anything about what any self-appointed film critic thinks. All they do is try to outdo eachother by stating how much everything that is fun and cool sux because it makes them look smarter to everyone for saying it. The lower the score at Rotten Tomatoes (A site that by the very name is looking for the bad in everything) means a must watch for me.