"So what makes this film remotely unique is that a decent portion of it is filmed right here in Jordan. At one point the plot has the heroes going back and forth between Jordan and Egypt to the point where foreign audiences can’t tell where they are any more and local movie-goers are confused: ok, so where are they now? Ah, yes. That looks like Al-Salt. No. Wait a minute. We’re in Cairo. No one will tell the difference except for Egyptians and Jordanians. The audience in Amman applauded when the heroes were suddenly transported through time and space to find themselves in Wadi Rum, which the story passes off as Egypt. They then head to the pyramids, only to find themselves back to Petra, which they thankfully credit as being Jordanian. It’s a new world wonder you know." (Naseem Tarawnah, www.black-iris.com, 24 June 2009)
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (two stars total)
Brüno will easily become the new raunchiest movie in a couple of weeks, but for now, Autobots taking leaks, Decepticon pets humping, Shia LaBeouf's parents spanking each other and Megan Fox running in slo-mo in a tank top takes the cake for me. The theather I sat in was FULL of kids, young kids (one dad had to take his crying two year old out - WTF - which stands for "what turkey feathers;" that goes out to you, Mom). Either summer vacation is officially underway or
Transformers really is THAT big, with or without the nostalgia factor. Anyway, I was ashamed for the parents who thought they were doing their kids a favor, letting them out of the house to stay up late for a movie premiere, only to be exposed to the innuendo and profanity of say...
American Pie. But I'll step off my soapbox now. As for the filmmaking itself, it looked good and sounded great, but like Peter Jackson, it got diarreah of the eye and ears and I started to fall asleep about halfway through. I asked my friend which movie he liked better, the first half or the second - because at two and a half hours, that's what you're getting, the equivalent of two animated, direct-to-DVD, kiddie features for the price of one. I personally preferred the human sex farce of the first half to the robot sex farce of the second half, minus the tentacled girl
Terminator ripoff. I have nothing against the beautiful scenery, especially Petra (from
Indian Jones and the Last Crusade, pictured above) but there a was a different setting for almost each line of dialogue. You've heard of "globe-trotting," try "globe-galloping." My favorite part of the movie was, brace yourself, the acting - not everybody's but especially Ramon Rodriguez's. Some of the dialogue in the first half came so fast and so furious that you'd think you were watching '30s-era screwball. My favorite scene is when Shia LaBeouf loses it in class. Classic AND robotic, but speaking of which, WHY does each robot have a different ethnic accent, and yet they all speak English as their first Earth language? I'm sorry, but that's like all the alien races in
Star Trek speaking a universal language (my biggest beef with sci-fi). I never thought I'd write these next few words, but if you have to see this movie, do so for the sound effects. Or, I almost forgot, the techno version of the Talking Heads' "Burning Down the House" by The Used, but you could just get that from the soundtrack.
"So what makes this film remotely unique is that a decent portion of it is filmed right here in Jordan. At one point the plot has the heroes going back and forth between Jordan and Egypt to the point where foreign audiences can’t tell where they are any more and local movie-goers are confused: ok, so where are they now? Ah, yes. That looks like Al-Salt. No. Wait a minute. We’re in Cairo. No one will tell the difference except for Egyptians and Jordanians. The audience in Amman applauded when the heroes were suddenly transported through time and space to find themselves in Wadi Rum, which the story passes off as Egypt. They then head to the pyramids, only to find themselves back to Petra, which they thankfully credit as being Jordanian. It’s a new world wonder you know." (Naseem Tarawnah, www.black-iris.com, 24 June 2009)
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (two stars total) Brüno will easily become the new raunchiest movie in a couple of weeks, but for now, Autobots taking leaks, Decepticon pets humping, Shia LaBeouf's parents spanking each other and Megan Fox running in slo-mo in a tank top takes the cake for me. The theather I sat in was FULL of kids, young kids (one dad had to take his crying two year old out - WTF - which stands for "what turkey feathers;" that goes out to you, Mom). Either summer vacation is officially underway or Transformers really is THAT big, with or without the nostalgia factor. Anyway, I was ashamed for the parents who thought they were doing their kids a favor, letting them out of the house to stay up late for a movie premiere, only to be exposed to the innuendo and profanity of say... American Pie. But I'll step off my soapbox now. As for the filmmaking itself, it looked good and sounded great, but like Peter Jackson, it got diarreah of the eye and ears and I started to fall asleep about halfway through. I asked my friend which movie he liked better, the first half or the second - because at two and a half hours, that's what you're getting, the equivalent of two animated, direct-to-DVD, kiddie features for the price of one. I personally preferred the human sex farce of the first half to the robot sex farce of the second half, minus the tentacled girl Terminator ripoff. I have nothing against the beautiful scenery, especially Petra (from Indian Jones and the Last Crusade, pictured above) but there a was a different setting for almost each line of dialogue. You've heard of "globe-trotting," try "globe-galloping." My favorite part of the movie was, brace yourself, the acting - not everybody's but especially Ramon Rodriguez's. Some of the dialogue in the first half came so fast and so furious that you'd think you were watching '30s-era screwball. My favorite scene is when Shia LaBeouf loses it in class. Classic AND robotic, but speaking of which, WHY does each robot have a different ethnic accent, and yet they all speak English as their first Earth language? I'm sorry, but that's like all the alien races in Star Trek speaking a universal language (my biggest beef with sci-fi). I never thought I'd write these next few words, but if you have to see this movie, do so for the sound effects. Or, I almost forgot, the techno version of the Talking Heads' "Burning Down the House" by The Used, but you could just get that from the soundtrack.
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