WARNING, SPOILERS.

Ok, so I saw this new Summer blockbuster this arvo right.

Was good. Awesome imagery, even better sound. ILM has come up with some amazing new Decepticons. Loved Optimus using the tree against Megatron, classic Transformers stuff. Bumblebee acted as a taxi again most of the time, but still, had a sweet moment between he, Sam and Mikaela in there, pulled at my heartstrings, lol. Sam's car radio is still broken, courtesy of the Bee Liked Bumblebee's grumpy teenager attitude at the beginning, made me laugh.

Optimus actually looks really cool and gung-ho with scratched paint. He's definitely become the new Darth Vader character in this little niche. But Optimus does some pretty awesome stuff in this movie, he and Megatron pull some sick moves, busting each other up like the loving brothers they are. It was awesome how Megatron punched Optimus and his faceplates went all loose as if Megatron had broken his jaw, I think Optimus spat out a tooth afterwards too. Optimus seems a little more... battle hardened, he's a little sterner and goes into overdrive on the battle field. Loved how the Hercules planes had to drop his truck form in, that was cool. Optimus took on a fair amount of Decepticons, which led to the incident happening which had Optimus out of the game for the larger part of the movie. But then boy did he make a comeback. It sure was upgrade time! Lets just say Optimus was flying sky-hi with some epic kick-ass jet engines that looked like they were on steroids!

I like Mikaela's new pet, the remote control car toy called Wheelie, he was a funny little thing, made me laugh. Got a laugh out of Jetfire, he's like the Autobot Yoda except on a very large scale.

And yeah about the steroids thing... There was a Decepticon combine one, like how on the PowerRangers, all their cars combine to make a big Transformer. Well this guy who had like a vortex for a mouth and was sucking up everything in its path had balls. Literally. One crane upwards shot from underneath this feller and sure enough, two wrecking balls hung from his groin. Balls of steel! And oh boy, I really thought Mudflap was a gonner!

Oh boy, the twins, Skids and Mudflap. HILARIOUS! Love them to death! "Awww dude you shot me in the face bro!"- Whines. Brilliant! I loved how Bumblebee tossed them away when they started squabbling.

And the leeching Starscream is back, with a new set of tatts. Megatron bullies him around as always.

Megatron turns out to not be the top dog here, instead its this shady character called "The Fallen." Didn't really like that, I think Megatron holds his villain status quite well by himself, this seemed a discredit to him. He was one of Optimus's ancestors. The Primes, the leaders of their Autobot race are buried in a tomb somewhere on earth and this Fallen dude was one of them, he's the reason their there. Imo, Fallen dude = The Emperor. However in this movie for a brief second there I did recognize Hugo Weaving in Megatron's voice which was interesting.

Was great to see Epps and Lennox back because they rock, lol.

Now, we all know Micheal Bay likes doing his 360 degrees + shots, but seriously? How many times can you circle two people kissing? It looks great on the Autobots, I could go for hours of 360ing the Autobots but no more smoochy smoochy 360's ok Bay? Its an action shot, lets use it that way.

LOVED Sam's mum eating the brownies! HILARIOUS!

And omg Shia LaBeouf has grown up, all that baby-fat on his cheeks is gone, I almost didn't recognize him.

And Isabel Lucas, shit. Who ever thought a Home And Away actress could be so dangerous! It was, unfortunately, a leaf straight out of Terminator's book however.

Now, Bumblebee. He's rocking in this movie! Voice is still out of action, but his radio speech is what makes him Bumblebee in a lot of ways. He does some awesome shit. Little scout recon spy sure can fight despite that. He took a pretty hard punch from someone at one point that looked like it would have hurt, but he came out with barely a scratch on that immaculate paint job of his. I liked how Judy called him a psychotic alien robot in the beginning. He has his perks. I heard a rumour about Bumblebee dying in this movie (which would have been the end of the world for me), and was on the edge of my seat each time he saw some action, but, he survives. Comes out better than most actually.

Sam however had to get the kiss of life at one stage courtesy of Megatron and his impeccable aim.

And another thing... Body fluids. We saw Bumblebee piss in the first movie. Well now he cries. And Jetfire bleeds. Autobot breath comes out like car exhaust, especially in Optimus's case. May have something to do with his alt mode being a friggen sixteen wheeler. And Megatron pukes at one stage. It was pink, weird. So yeah, they cry, piss, bleed blue energon, puke, sweat, burp and grunt. One of them even farts. Bee does... something to a chick, while she's in the passenger seat. It was either piss or puke or his stomach contents. Looked a little thick for piss though. It wasn't nice of him because Sam got some in his eye and was horrified, so I'm guessing that he knew what it was.

We had our first glimpse of a cute little sparkling, freshly hatched, but unfortunately it died soon afterwards because there is no cube anymore.

Now, I've had my geek rant, time to get to business.

Imo, this movie is good. Great work done by ILM but the true un-sung heroes of this flick is the sound department. If you thought, like I did, that the sound on T1 was good, this one is head and shoulders above the first. Seeing it in the theatre is a good idea because of the sub-woofers.

Good Summer action movie plot, but keep you're ears open otherwise you'll soon be lost. I suggest the consumption of caffeine beforehand, it may help a little.

Bumblebee, Optimus, Megatron and Starscream are all still alive, as well as all the others from T1. Megatron leaves with a "This isn't over," so yes, this movie is wide open for a sequel. Of course. Boy and girl are still together at the end, so its a happily ever after in the romance department.

One thing which was a let down was the ending. Really quick. Battle battle battle and then suddenly its over. Seemed like a really lazy ending and/or they were running out of allocated screen time. Or Bay just wanted to get to the awesome song at the end (same as T1.) And yes, we did get the "I am Optimus Prime," speech again. But its Optimus and we love Optimus and that amazing voice of his.

The only complete 100% negative is the score. If it hadn't have had one, I probably wouldn't have noticed. But its pretty much the same as the first because Hans Zimmer's a lazy sham these days and doesn't even record his scores with a live orcestra, or gets someone else to do so. Seriously, if you just went into your Hans Zimmer mix on your ipod and shuffled it all and then whacked 15 or so tracks on this movie it would suffice, it all sounds the same these days. Nothing stands out, I probably won't even get a copy.

I'd go see this movie, its fun, its loud, its action and its popular. There's no harm in seeing it in these economic times. Its cheap thrills and spills just like Twilight, which is a popular type of movie these days. (I like this tons more that Twilight, I'm surprised I didn't fall asleep in that movie.)

Transformers could have been the next franchise to the ever growing theme of great action, drama, plot and character work that we've been seeing lately. (The Dark Knight, Watchmen etc etc.) But alas its another 2 and a half hours of eye-candy. This movie would have been far better if Chris Nolan had directed, but I'd rather him save himself for the next Batman and blow our minds all over again.

Great kids movie, but I only wish kids these days were being exposed to something a little more meaningful. Entertainment is a powerful and useful tool for educating the younger population, we should be using it as such. But as it is today, as it was yesterday and will again be tomorrow, its entertainment. And this film certainly does entertain!

3 stars, maybe 3 and a half depending on how it grows on me.

TRIVIA:

1. Bumblebee has upgraded again, however this isn't explained and can only be seen in slight body changed and the red outline around his Chevy bow. To be honest I don't see a lot of difference between the 09 Camero and the Super Sports Camero (SS.) (For all my Aussie friends on here, we have the Holden Crewman SS, among others, but we do have them on our streets.)

2. First movie (that I've seen) that Obama has gotten a mention in.

3. First movie I've seen thats had a Swine Flu mention. Made me laugh.

4. The aerial shot of the pentagon is the same one from T1, just a little tighter.

And lastly 5, The place where the end battle is with everyone looks like, or actually is, the same place that Epps and Lennox took on Scorponok. It could very well be the same location. My special recon recruits haven't gotten far on any leads yet, but they will, This is going to potentially confuse the kiddies, they're not going to be able to tell the two scenes apart.

**********

The weirdest thing happened. On the way we passed a spanking brand new Chevrolet truck. I saw the gold bow on the front and went "WHOA!" Looked similar to Ironhide. And then on the way home in the dark we passed a sixteen wheeler covered in lights, even had the same blue lights on the top, wasn't carrying a load and I swear I caught sight of a blue panel with red flames painted on the side. It definitely could have been an Optimus Peterbilt. Best looking semi I've ever seen and it was dark. And kiddies I live next to a truck stop so I've seen a few.

And boy, the official site ROCKS!

Next movie I'll probably review... Public Enemies. Bring on the Depp.