Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, also known as Transformers 2, is a 2009 British-American science fiction action film directed by Michael Bay and executive produced by Steven Spielberg. It is a sequel to the 2007 film Transformers, the second installment in the live-action Transformers film series taking place two years after its predecessor, and the fifth film in the Hasbro Cinematic Universe. The plot revolves around Sam Witwicky, who is caught in the war between two factions of alien robots, the Autobots, led by Optimus Prime and the Decepticons, led by Megatron. Sam is having strange visions of Cybertronian symbols, and being hunted by the Decepticons under the orders of an ancient Decepticon named The Fallen, who seeks to get revenge on Earth by finding and activating a machine that would provide the Decepticons with an energon source, destroying the sun and all life on Earth in the process. This is the first film to feature the largest cast and Transformers, including the Constructicons for the first time in the series. Returning Transformers include Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ironhide, Ratchet, Megatron, Starscream, Bonecrusher and Scorponok.

With deadlines jeopardized by possible strikes by the Directors Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild, Bay managed to finish the production on time with the help of previsualization and a scriptment by his writers Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and series newcomer Ehren Kruger. Shooting took place from May to November 2008, with locations in Egypt, Jordan, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and California, as well as air bases in New Mexico and Arizona.

Revenge of the Fallen was released on June 19, 2009 in the United Kingdom and on June 24, 2009 in the United States. The film grossed a total of $402.1 million in North America and $434.2 million in other territories, for a total of $836.3 million worldwide. It was the second highest-grossing film of 2009 in North America, 23rd domestically, the 84th highest-grossing film of all time and fourth highest of the year worldwide. With over 11 million home media sales in 2009, it was also the top-selling film of the year in the United States.

Metacritic said the film received "generally unfavorable reviews". The film won three Golden Raspberry Awards at the 30th Golden Raspberry Awards ceremony and became the highest-grossing film to win the Worst Picture award. This was the last film in the series to star Megan Fox, and was also the last film in the series to be distributed by DreamWorks Pictures, leaving Paramount Pictures to become the distributor of its future films.

It was followed by a crossover with G.I. Joe, Transformers & G.I. Joe: Renegation in 2011, a third film, More Than Meets The Eye in 2013, and and fourth film, The Last Knight in 2017.

Plot

In 17,000 B.C., the Seven Primes traveled the galaxy to create Energon with star-absorbing machines called Sun Harvesters. The Primes followed a rule in which to never destroy planets with life, but one of them, later known as The Fallen, defies the rule and sets up a Sun Harvester on Earth, a planet with abundant life. After defeating ancient humans, The Fallen is confronted by the other Primes, who defeat and imprison him before he can harvest the planet's Sun with the Matrix of Leadership. The Primes then sacrifice themselves to hide the Matrix shortly afterwards.

Two years after Megatron's demise, the Autobots join the U.S. and U.K. military to form the Non-Biological Extraterrestrial Species Treaty (NEST), a classified task force hunting down surviving Decepticons, led by William Lennox and Robert Epps. During a mission in Shanghai, Optimus Prime is warned by Demolisher of The Fallen's return. National Security Adviser Theodore Galloway scolds the task force for their tactics, reminding them that Megatron's corpse is still in the Laurentian Abyss and the last known AllSpark shard is locked up in the NEST's headquarters. Simultaneously, Soundwave hacks into a U.S. military satellite, overhears the information, and sends Ravage to retrieve the shard.

Meanwhile, Sam Witwicky prepares to attend college, leaving his girlfriend Mikaela Banes and guardian Bumblebee behind. While preparing, he discovers a smaller AllSpark shard in his jacket. He picks up the shard, which causes him to see Cybertronian symbols and unexpectedly brings kitchen appliances to life. After Bumblebee destroys the rampaging appliances, Sam gives the shard to Mikaela, who later captures Decepticon Wheelie when he tries to steal it. The Constructicons resurrect Megatron by using the shard retrieved by Ravage and brutally ripping apart one of their own allies to provide parts for him. Megatron then reunites with his master, The Fallen, who orders him to capture Sam alive and kill Optimus, as Optimus is the last of the Primes and the only Transformer who can defeat The Fallen.

Sam, Mikaela, and Sam's college roommate Leo are captured by the Decepticons. Megatron reveals that the symbols in Sam's mind will lead the Deceptions to a new Energon source before Optimus and Bumblebee arrive to rescue the humans. Optimus engages Megatron, Starscream, and Grindor; though Optimus injures Starscream and kills Grindor, he is killed by Megatron. The other Autobots then arrive and repel the Decepticons, forcing Megatron and Starscream to retreat. Afterwards, the Decepticons launch an assault on many areas around the world simultaneously. The Fallen hijacks Earth's telecommunications systems, demanding Sam to be turned over to him.

Sam, Mikaela, and Leo enlist the help of Seymour Simmons, who reveals that the Transformers visited Earth eons ago and the most ancient, known as Seekers, live in secret. With the help from Wheelie, they track down a Decepticon Seeker named Jetfire, who transports the group to Egypt and tells them to find the Matrix of Leadership, which will revive Optimus. He and Wheelie turn against the Decepticons. Simmons contacts the NEST, telling them to bring Optimus and the other Autobots to Egypt.

Sam's group finds the Matrix in Petra, but it disintegrates into dust in Sam's hands. Undeterred, Sam stuffs the Matrix's remains in his sock. Meanwhile, NEST forces and the Autobots land near the Giza pyramid complex but are attacked by a large force of Decepticons. During the battle, the Constructicons combine to form Devastator, who destroys one of the pyramids and revealing the Sun Harvester inside, before he is killed by a projectile strike called in by Simmons. Lennox and Epps call in an airstrike, which kills a large portion of the Decepticon ground forces. However, Megatron manages to shoot Sam, seemingly killing him. Nearing his death, the Primes contact Sam through a vision, telling him the Matrix is earned, and that he earned the right to bear it. They restore Sam's life and the Matrix, which is used to revive Optimus.

The Fallen teleports to their location and steals the Matrix from Optimus, then returns to the pyramid with Megatron and activates the Sun Harvester. A wounded Jetfire sacrifices himself in order for Optimus to gain his parts, which give him immense strength and the ability to fly. Optimus knocks The Fallen and Megatron off the pyramid, destroying the Sun Harvester in the process. In the battle, Optimus injures and disables Megatron. He then rips The Fallen's face off and crushes his spark out of his chest, killing him, while an injured Megatron watches in horror. Vowing vengeance, he retreats with Starscream. The victorious Autobots and their allies return to the United States.

Cast

Main article: List of Transformers film series characters

Humans

• Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky, a recent high school graduate who is unwittingly drawn again into the Autobot cause to unravel an ancient mystery implanted into his mind by the now-destroyed AllSpark.
• Megan Fox as Mikaela Banes, Sam's juvenile car thief girlfriend.
• Josh Duhamel as Maj. William Lennox, a former U.S. Army captain who establishes the NEST movement to help the Autobots with their battle against the remaining Decepticons.
• Tyrese Gibson as CMSgt. Rob Epps, a U.S. Air Force sergeant in Lennox's team who leads NEST's SWAT unit.
• John Turturro as Seymour Simmons, a former agent of the recently terminated Sector Seven division who now runs a meat shop in New York City with his mother.
• Ramón Rodríguez as Leo Spitz, a college roommate of Sam's who runs an online conspiracy blog and is obsessed with the Transformers.
• Kevin Dunn as Ron Witwicky, Sam's father.
• Julie White as Judith Witwicky, Sam's mother.
• John Benjamin Hickey as Theo Galloway, a national security adviser who often chastises NEST for their destructive tactics.
• Glenn Morshower as U.S. Marine Corps General Morshower, the supervisor of NEST.
• Matthew Marsden as Graham, a NEST officer.
• Rainn Wilson as Prof. R. A. Colan, Sam and Leo's astronomy teacher.
• Marc Evan Jackson as Commander, U.S. Central Command
• Katie Lowes as April the Residential Assistant

Transformers

Autobots

• Peter Cullen voices Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots who transforms into a blue and red 1994 Peterbilt 379 semi-trailer truck.
• Mark Ryan voices
  • Bumblebee, a young Autobot scout and Sam Witwicky's guardian who transforms into a yellow and black 2006 Chevrolet Camaro.
  • Jetfire, an ancient Decepticon-turned-Autobot Seeker who transforms into a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird.
• Reno Wilson voices Mudflap, an Autobot infiltrator and Skids' twin who transforms into a red 2007 Chevrolet Trax.
• Jess Harnell voices Ironhide, the Autobot weapons specialist and Optimus' new second-in-command who transforms into a black 2006 GMC Topkick C4500.
• Robert Foxworth voices Ratchet, the Autobot medical officer who transforms into a yellow 2004 search and rescue Hummer H2 ambulance.
• André Sogliuzzo voices Sideswipe, the Autobot combat instructor who transforms into a silver 2009 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray.
• Tom Kenny voices
  • Skids, an Autobot messenger and Mudflap's twin who transforms into a green 2007 Chevrolet Beat.
  • Wheelie, a former Decepticon drone and later an Autobot who transforms into a blue radio-controlled toy monster truck.
• Grey DeLisle voices
  • Arcee, a female Autobot who transforms into a pink Ducati 848.
  • Chromia, one of Arcee's sisters who transforms into a blue 2008 Suzuki B-King.
  • Elita-One, one of Arcee's sisters who transforms into a purple MV Agusta F4 R312.
• Jolt, an Autobot technician who transforms into a Chevrolet Volt.

Decepticons

• Tony Todd voices The Fallen, a rogue Prime who is the ancient founder of the Decepticons and master of Megatron, who seeks to exact revenge.
• Frank Welker voices Megatron, the Fallen's apprentice and the field commander of the Decepticons who transforms into a Cybertronian hover tank.
• Charlie Adler voices Starscream, Megatron's second-in-command who transforms into a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor.
• Frank Welker also voices
  • Soundwave, the Decepticon communications officer
  • Ravage (uncredited), a Decepticon infiltration expert and a minion of Soundwave who is a large one-eyed Jaguar.
  • Reedman, a Decepticon formed of small bead-like Decepticons.
  • Grindor (uncredited), a Decepticon who transforms into a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter and shared the same body as Blackout's
• John Di Crosta voices Scalpel, a spider-like Decepticon who transforms into a microscope.
• Isabel Lucas as Alice, a female pretender sent to spy on Sam in college who transforms into an Alice in Wonderland android.
• Sideways, a Decepticon surveillance agent who transforms into a silver Audi R8.
• Scorponok, from the first movie, a scorpion-like robot.

Constructicons

• Frank Welker voices Devastator, a Constructicon who is made up of the combined forms of the other Constructicons.
• Calvin Wimmer voices Demolishor, a huge Constructicon who transforms into a red and white Terex O&K RH 400 excavator.
• Kevin Michael Richardson voices Rampage, a Constructicon who transforms into a red Caterpillar D9T bulldozer. His yellow form appeared in the toyline.
• Mixmaster, a Constructicon who transforms into a black and silver Mack concrete mixer truck.
• Long Haul, a Constructicon who transforms into a green Caterpillar 773B dump truck.
• Scrapper, a Constructicon who transforms into a yellow Caterpillar 992G scoop loader.
• Scavenger, a large Constructicon who shares the same model of Demolishor.
• Overload, a Constructicon who transformed into a red KW Dart D4661 Tractor Truck articulated dump truck.
• Hightower, a Constructicon who transformed into a yellow KOBELCO CKE2500 II crawler crane.
• Scrapmetal, a Constructicon who transforms into a yellow Volvo EC700C crawler excavator fitted with a Stanley UP 45SV attachment.

Seven Primes

• Michael York voices Prime #1
• Kevin Michael Richardson voices Prime #2
• Robin Atkin Downes voices Prime #3

Production

Development

Major hurdles for film's initial production stages included the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike as well as the threat of strikes by other guilds. Prior to a potential Directors Guild of America strike, Bay began creating animatics of action sequences featuring characters rejected for the 2007 film. This would allow animators to complete sequences if the Directors Guild of America went on strike in July 2008, which ultimately did not happen. Bay considered making a small project in between Transformers and its sequel, but decided against the idea, saying "you have your baby and you don't want someone else to take it".

Screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who had written the first film, originally passed on the opportunity to write a sequel due to schedule conflicts. The studio began courting other writers in May 2007, but were unimpressed with other pitches and eventually convinced Orci and Kurtzman to return. The studio also hired Ehren Kruger, who had impressed Bay and Hasbro president Brian Goldner with his knowledge of the Transformers mythology. The writing trio were paid $8 million. Screenwriting was interrupted by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, but to avoid production delays, the writers spent two weeks writing a treatment, which they handed in the night before the strike began. Bay then expanded the outline into a 60-page scriptment, which included more action, humor, and characters. The three writers spent four months finishing the screenplay while "locked" in two hotel rooms by Bay; Kruger wrote in his own room and the trio would check on each other's work twice a day.

Orci described the film's theme as "being away from home", with the Autobots contemplating living on Earth as they cannot restore Cybertron, while Sam goes to college. He wanted the focus between the robots and humans "much more evenly balanced", "the stakes [to] be higher", and more focused on the science fiction elements. Orci added he wanted to "modulate" the humor more, and felt he managed the more "outrageous" jokes by balancing them with a more serious plot approach to the Transformers' mythology. Bay concurred that he wanted to please fans by making the tone darker, and that "mums will think it[']s safe enough to bring the kids back out to the movies." Two elements were added late into the film: the Autobot Jolt—as General Motors wanted to advertise the Chevrolet Volt—and the railgun that kills Devastator, a new acquisition by the U.S. Military.

In September 2007, Paramount announced a late June 2009 release date for the sequel to Transformers. The film was given a $200 million budget, which was $50 million more than the first film, and some of the action scenes rejected for the original were written into the sequel. Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura later stated the studio proposed filming two sequels simultaneously, but he and Bay agreed that the idea was not the right direction for the series.

Prior to the first film's release, producer Tom DeSanto had "a very cool idea" to introduce the Dinobots, while Bay was interested in including an aircraft carrier, which was dropped from the 2007 film. Orci claimed they did not incorporate these characters into Revenge of the Fallen because they could not think of a way to justify the Dinobots' choice of form, and were unable to fit in the aircraft carrier. Orci also admitted he was dismissive of the Dinobots because he does not like dinosaurs, saying "I recognize I am weird in that department." However, he became fonder of them during filming because of their popularity with fans. He added "I couldn't see why a Transformer would feel the need to disguise himself in front of a bunch of lizards. Movie-wise, I mean. Once the general audience is fully on board with the whole thing, maybe Dinobots in the future." When asked on the subject, Michael Bay said he hated the Dinobots and they had never been in consideration for being featured in the movies.

During production, Bay attempted to create a misinformation campaign to increase debate over what Transformers would be appearing in the film, as well as to try to throw fans off from the story of the film; however, Orci confessed it was generally unsuccessful. The studio went as far as to censor MTV and Comic Book Resources interviews with Mowry and Furman, who confirmed Arcee and The Fallen would be in the picture. Bay told Empire that Megatron would not be resurrected, claiming his new tank form was a toy-only character, only for Orci to confirm Megatron would return in the film in February 2009. Bay also claimed he faked the leaking of daily call sheets from the first week of filming, that revealed Ramón Rodríguez's casting, and the appearance of Jetfire and the twins.

Filming

Inspired by its use in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, three action sequences in Revenge of the Fallen were shot using IMAX cameras. Although screenwriter Roberto Orci suggested that the IMAX footage would be 3D, Bay later said he found 3D too "gimmicky". Bay added that shooting in IMAX was easier than using stereoscopic cameras.

The majority of interior scenes for the film were shot in the former Hughes Aircraft soundstages at Playa Vista. From June 2–4, the production filmed an action sequence at the Bethlehem Steel site in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, which was used to represent a portion of Shanghai. Afterwards, they shot at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. The crew moved to Philadelphia on June 9, where they shot at a defunct PECO Richmond power station, the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, the Eastern State Penitentiary, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia City Hall, Rittenhouse Square, historic Chancellor Street (which represents a street near Place de la Concorde in Paris), and Wanamaker's. The production moved to Princeton University on June 22. Filming there angered some students at the University of Pennsylvania, believing Bay had chosen to reshoot scenes at Princeton and script Princeton's name in the film. However, neither the University of Pennsylvania nor Princeton gave Bay permission to be named in the film because of a scene that both institutions felt "did not represent the school" in which Sam's mother ingests marijuana-laced brownies.

File:PyramidsofGiza at night.jpg

Three days of filming were spent in Egypt.

Bay scheduled a break for filming beginning on June 30, turning his attention to animation and second unit scenes because of the potential guild strike. Shooting for the Shanghai battle later continued in Long Beach, California. In September, the crew shot at Holloman Air Force Base and White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The two locations were used for Qatar in Transformers and stood in for Egypt in this film. A scale model in Los Angeles was also used for some close-ups of the pyramids. Shooting at Tucson International Airport and the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group's aircraft boneyard took place in October under the fake working title Prime Directive (a reference to Star Trek). Filming also took place at Camp Pendleton and Davis–Monthan Air Force Base.

The first unit then shot for three days in Egypt at the Giza pyramid complex and Luxor. The shoot was highly secretive, but according to producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura, a crew of 150 Americans and "several dozen local Egyptians" ensured a "remarkably smooth" shoot. Bay earned the Egyptian government's approval to film at the pyramids by contacting Zahi Hawass, whom Bay said "put his arm around me and said, 'Don't hurt my pyramids.Template:'" A Template:Convert camera crane was used at the location. Bay stated he found the climax of the first film to be weak, partly because it was shot across five different city blocks, making the action confusing and hard to follow. On this film, the final battle in Egypt was devised to make it easier to follow the action.

Four days were then spent in Jordan; the Royal Jordanian Air Force aided in filming at Petra, Wadi Rum and Salt because King Abdullah II is a big fan of science fiction movies. Filming continued at the Place de la Concorde in Paris with second unit shots of the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. The cast and crew finished principal photography on the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis on November 2, 2008.

Effects

File:Transformers Revenge of the Fallen Decepticon and Sam.jpg

Starscream confronts Sam. In his audio commentary for the 2007 film, Michael Bay said he wanted more close-ups of robots for the sequel.

Hasbro became more involved in the designs of the robots than the company was for Transformers. The company, along with Takara Tomy, suggested to the filmmakers that combining robots be the main draw for the sequel. They insisted on keeping the alternate modes of some of the returning characters similar so that consumers would not have to buy toys of the same characters. Bay used real F-16 Fighting Falcon and tank fire when filming the battles. Many of the new Autobot cars supplied by General Motors were brightly colored to look distinctive on screen. Revenge of the Fallen features 46 robots, while the original movie had 14.

Scott Farrar returned as visual effects supervisor and anticipated moodier use of lighting as well as deeper roles for the Decepticons.Template:Clarify He stated that with the bigger deadline, post-production would become a "circus". The producers expected that with a bigger budget and the special effects worked out, the Transformers would have a larger role. Peter Cullen recalled, "Don Murphy mentioned to me, 'Only because of the tremendous expense to animate Optimus Prime, he'll be in just a certain amount of [Transformers].' But he said, 'Next time, if the movie is a success, you're gonna be in it a ton.'" Michael Bay hoped to include more close-ups of the robots' faces. The heads had to be designed with more pieces in order to express emotions in a more convincing way. Farrar said the animators implemented more "splashes and the hits and the fighting on dirt or moving, banging into trees, [...] things splinter and break, [the robots] spit, they outgas, they sweat, they snort." Shooting in the higher resolution of IMAX required up to 72 hours to render a single frame of animation. While ILM used 15 terabytes for Transformers, they used 140 for the sequel. Particularly problematic effects were the lighting, with scenes such as Jetfire inside the Smithsonian requiring 41 light sources, and the destruction of the pyramid, which appears in about five shots and required seven months to simulate the behavior of the blocks. Orci hinted the majority of the Decepticons were entirely computer-generated in both robot and alternate modes, making it easier to write additional scenes for them in post-production. Rendering the Devastator took over 85% of ILM's render farm capacity, and the complexity of the scene and having to render it at IMAX resolution caused one computer to "explode".

Music

• See also: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – The Album & Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – The Score

The score to Revenge of the Fallen was composed by Steve Jablonsky, who reunited with director Michael Bay to record his score with a 71-piece ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Sony Scoring Stage. Jablonsky and his score producer Hans Zimmer composed various interpretations of a song by Linkin Park called "New Divide" for the score.

Marketing

An additional $150 million was spent to market the film globally. Hasbro's Revenge of the Fallen toy line included new molds of new and returning characters, as well as 2007 figures with new mold elements or new paint schemes. The first wave was released on May 30, although Bumblebee and Soundwave debuted beforehand. The second wave came in August 2009, which introduced toys such as 2¼-inch human action figures that fit inside the transforming robots, and non-transforming replicas of the cars that can be used on a race track. Product placement partners on the film include Burger King, 7-Eleven, LG phones, Kmart, Wal-Mart, YouTube, Nike, Inc. and M&M's, as well as Jollibee in the Philippines. General Motors' financial troubles limited its involvement in promotion of the sequel, although Paramount acknowledged with or without GM, their marketing campaign was still very large and had the foundation of the 2007 film's success. Kyle Busch drove a Revenge of the Fallen decorated car at Infineon Raceway on June 21, 2009, while Josh Duhamel drove a 2010 Camaro at the Indianapolis 500. At the movie's launch in China, a version of Bumblebee was constructed using a Volkswagen Jetta.

Printed media

Chris Mowry and artist Alex Milne, who had collaborated on The Reign of Starscream comic book, reunited for IDW Publishing's prequel to the film. Originally set to be a five-part series entitled Destiny, it was split into two simultaneously published series, titled Alliance and Defiance. Alliance is drawn by Milne and began in December 2008; it focuses on the human and Autobot perspectives. Defiance, which started the following month, is drawn by Dan Khanna and is set before either film, showing the beginnings of the war.

After the 2007 film, and serving as a bridge between the two films, Alan Dean Foster wrote Transformers: The Veiled Threat, originally titled Infiltration. During the writing, Foster collaborated with IDW to make sure their stories did not contradict each other.

The first printed media directly related to the second film was a 32-page coloring and activity book by publisher HarperCollins, which became available on May 5, 2009 and was the first official source to openly give out key plot points to the film. On June 1, 2009 DK Publishing published a 96-page book entitled Transformers: The Movie Universe, which intended to provide factual data on the characters of the film.

On June 10, 2009, the comic book adaptation of the film, written by Simon Furman was released. Additionally, Alan Dean Foster also wrote the novelization for the film. Meanwhile, Dan Jolley wrote Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: The Junior Novel, a 144-page book oriented at a younger audience than the one by Foster. Lastly, a book titled Transformers: The Art of the Movies was released, documenting behind-the scenes aspects of the making of the film.

Other minor tie-in publications include Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: The Last Prime, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: The Reusable Sticker Book, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: Made You Look!, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: Rise of the Decepticons, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: Spot the 'BotsTemplate:', Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: Mix and Match, Operation Autobot, When Robots Attack and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 2010 Wall Calendar.

Video game

Main article: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (video game)

Revenge of the Fallen video games are available on the following platforms:

• PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (Developed by Luxoflux and published by Activision)
• Games for Windows (Developed by Beenox), which is similar to the PS3 and Xbox 360 version
• Wii and PlayStation 2 (Developed by Krome Studios)
• PlayStation Portable (Developed by Savage Entertainment)
• Nintendo DS (Developed by Vicarious Visions), which is separated into two games, Autobots and Decepticons.

Release

Revenge of the Fallen premiered on June 8, 2009 in Tokyo, Japan. After its UK release on June 19, 2009, it was released in regular and IMAX theaters in North America on June 24 (though some theaters held limited-access advance screenings on June 22). The IMAX release featured additional scenes of extended robot fighting sequences, which were not seen in the regular theatre version.

Reception

Based on 243 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, Revenge of the Fallen received an overall rating average of 19% (the original earned a 57%). The site's critical consensus is that the film is "a noisy, underplotted, and overlong special effects extravaganza that lacks a human touch." Metacritic gave it an average score of 35 out of 100 from the 32 reviews it collected. In CinemaScore polls, however, users gave the film a "B+", compared to the "A" that the original film had scored. Actor Shia LaBeouf was unimpressed with the film, stating "We got lost. We tried to get bigger. It's what happens to sequels. It's like, how do you top the first one? You've got to go bigger. Michael Bay went so big that it became too big, and I think you lost the anchor of the movie...You lost a bit of the relationships. Unless you have those relationships, then the movie doesn't matter. Then it's just a bunch of robots fighting each other."

Bay has admitted his disappointment with the film and has apologized, saying the film was "crap" and blaming the 2007–2008 Writers' Strike, saying "It was very hard to put (the sequel) together that quickly after the writers' strike (of 2007–08)". According to The Washington Post, Revenge of the Fallen is Bay's worst-reviewed film, faring even worse than Pearl Harbor (2001). Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times described the film as "in-your-face, ear-splitting and unrelenting. It's easy to walk away feeling like you've spent 2 hours in the mad, wild, hydraulic embrace of a car compactor".

Roger Ebert, who had given the 2007 film three stars, gave the sequel only one, calling it "...a horrible experience of unbearable length", a phrase which later became the title of his third bad-movie-reviews collection. Later in his review, Ebert discouraged movie-goers from seeing the film by saying "If you want to save yourself the ticket price, go into the kitchen, cue up a male choir singing the music of hell, and get a kid to start banging pots and pans together. Then close your eyes and use your imagination." He later wrote on his blog about the film, "The day will come when Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will be studied in film classes and shown at cult film festivals. It will be seen, in retrospect, as marking the end of an era. Of course there will be many more CGI-based action epics, but never again one this bloated, excessive, incomprehensible, long (149 minutes) or expensive ($200 million)." Ebert would continue to lambast the film (and, sometimes, the Transformers franchise in general) in other movie reviews and responses to letters and emails sent to him. Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers did not give the film any stars, considering that "Revenge of the Fallen has a shot at the title 'Worst Movie of the Decade'." Which he later did name it the "worst film of the decade". Other reviewers, while still critical, were less damning of the film, The A.V. Club gave the film a "C-", complaining about the writing and length, but mentioning the effects and action scenes were impressive. Among positive reviews, Robbie Collin of News of the World remarked "It's bigger. Badder. Boobier. And many other words beginning with B, including boneheadedly brilliant.", Amy Biancolli of The Houston Chronicle called it "a well-oiled, loudly revving summer action vehicle that does all that's required, and then some", Jordan Mintzer from Variety said it "takes the franchise to a vastly superior level of artificial intelligence", and Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly wrote that "Revenge of the Fallen may be a massive overdose of popcorn greased with motor oil. But it knows how to feed your inner 10-year-old's appetite for destruction."

On a year-end poll administered by Moviefone, the film was voted the "worst film of 2009", and Fox's performance the worst by an actress that year. Comcast ranked the film as the 4th worst sequel of all time. Empire named the film the 25th worst movie ever made. In June 2009, David Germain from the Associated Press called the film the "worst-reviewed $400 million hit ever".

"On every level this movie is as bankrupt as GM. [...] Transformers: The Revenge of The Fallen is beyond bad, it carves out its own category of godawfulness."

— Peter Travers, American film critic

There was considerable negative reaction to the characters Mudflap and Skids, who some perceived as embodying racist stereotypes. Manohla Dargis of The New York Times said that "the characters [...] indicate that minstrelsy remains as much in fashion in Hollywood as when, well, Jar Jar Binks was set loose by George Lucas". Critic Scott Mendelson said "To say that these two are the most astonishingly racist caricatures that I've ever seen in a mainstream motion picture would be an understatement." Harry Knowles, founder of Ain't It Cool News, went further, asking his readers "not to support this film" because "you'll be taking [your children] to see a film with the lowest forms of humor, stereotypes, and racism around." Bay (the director) has attempted to defend the film as "good clean fun" and insisted that "We're just putting more personality in." Writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman responded to the controversy with "It's really hard for us to sit here and try to justify it. I think that would be very foolish, and if someone wants to be offended by it, it's their right. We were very surprised when we saw it, too, and it's a choice that was made. If anything, it just shows you that we don't control every aspect of the movie."

Another major complaint about the film was Bay's usage of the IMAX format. Instead of using IMAX for complete unbroken sequences similar to director Christopher Nolan's approach for The Dark Knight, Bay chose to use the format primarily on a shot-by-shot basis, combining conventional 35mm footage and IMAX shots in the same sequence. That approach, combined with rapid cutting, created a jarring, highly unpleasant experience for most moviegoers.

Box office

Despite poor reviews from critics, the film was a box office success. Revenge of the Fallen grossed $16 million from midnight showings, at the time the most ever for a Wednesday midnight debut. The film proceeded to beat Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixTemplate:'s record ($44.2 million) for the biggest Wednesday opening in history, bringing in $62 million in total receipts on its first day (until The Twilight Saga: Eclipse topped this record with $68.5 million in 2010), additionally ranking it as the second biggest opening day ever at the time, behind The Dark Knight. The film grossed $108.9 million on its first weekend, the seventh-largest in history at the time, and brought in $200 million in its first five days, putting it in second place behind The Dark Knight's $203.7 million for the all-time biggest five-day opening. Its gross from Friday to Sunday was also the biggest June opening weekend for one year, breaking Harry Potter and the Prisoner of AzkabanTemplate:'s record ($93.7 million), until Toy Story 3 claimed that record the following year ($110.3 million).

Revenge of the Fallen remained #1 at the box office for two weeks straight by a close margin. Initial studio estimates showed a tie between it and that weekend's new release Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, but the actual totals showed Revenge of the Fallen taking the #1 spot yet again with $42,320,877. Also, it was the first film of 2009 to reach the $300 million mark in North America. On July 27, a month after its release, the movie reached $379.2 million in the US, which brought it into the top 10 highest-grossing movies ever in that country as of August 2009. Revenge of the Fallen closed its box office run with $402,111,870 in North America and $836,303,693 worldwide, being the twenty-third highest-grossing film of all time domestically, and the 84th highest-grossing film of all time. Among 2009 films, it was the second highest grossing in the United States and Canada, behind Avatar, and fourth globally behind Avatar, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. As of 2013, the film marks as the fifth highest-grossing Hasbro film of all time, behind Transformers & G.I. Joe: Renegation, and its sequel Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye. Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 53 million tickets in the US.

Home media

The film was released on October 20, 2009 in two-disc Blu-ray and DVD editions, and a single-disc DVD version. Michael Bay has revealed that the Blu-ray release of the film, produced by Charles de Lauzirika, will feature variable aspect ratio for the scenes shot in IMAX format. A special IMAX edition is available exclusively at Wal-Mart. Home versions include over three hours of bonus content and several interactive features, including "The AllSpark Experiment", which reveals Michael Bay's plans for a third movie in the series. At Target, the DVD and Blu-ray versions includes a transformable Bumblebee case. Both two-disc editions are the first to include Paramount's Augmented Reality feature, which allows the user to handle a 3D model of Optimus Prime on a computer by moving the package in front of a webcam. First week sales of the DVD reached 7.5 million copies, making it the best-selling DVD of 2009. The Blu-ray version had the best first-week sales of 2009, with 1.2 million units.

The film's distribution rights were transferred to Universal Studios in 2016.

Awards and nominations

Revenge of the Fallen was among the films shortlisted for the Best Visual Effects at the 82nd Academy Awards, but was only nominated for Best Sound Mixing (Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson), eventually losing to The Hurt Locker. The film won five Scream Awards, for Best Actress (Megan Fox), Breakout Performance-Female (Isabel Lucas), Best Sequel, Best F/X, and Scream Song of the Year ("New Divide"); and two Teen Choice Awards, for Choice Summer Movie Star: Female (Megan Fox) and Choice Summer Movie Star: Male (Shia LaBeouf). Revenge of the Fallen was also nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film but lost to Avatar, Satellite Awards for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound, a VES Award for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Feature Motion Picture, a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble, and an MTV Movie Award for Best WTF Moment (Isabel Lucas turning into a Decepticon). Shia LaBeouf, the film and Megan Fox was nominated for a Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards for Favorite Movie Actor, Favorite Movie and Favorite Movie Actress, but all lost to Taylor Lautner, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel and Miley Cyrus, respectively.

On the other hand, it was nominated for seven Razzie Awards including Worst Actress for Megan Fox (also for Jennifer's Body), Worst Supporting Actress for Julie White, Worst Screen Couple (for Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox) and Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel, winning three in the Worst Picture, Worst Director, and Worst Screenplay categories at the 30th Golden Raspberry Awards.

Sequels

Main articles: Transformers & G.I. Joe: Renegation, Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye (film), and Transformers: The Last Knight

A crossover with G.I. Joe, Renegation was released June 29, 2011. The third film, More Than Meets The Eye was released January 23, 2013. The fourth film, The Last Knight was released on June 21, 2017.