Movie Review: Transformers 2

I went to go see Transformers 2. Now I hadn't gone to see the first one a few summers ago when it came out but the previews for this looked like I couldn't pass up this franchise any longer. It looked like a legit action movie with some funny parts to it. Overall I think the second movie did its job in the franchise, it was a transition movie to a mores serious plot point and while it seems that earth is truly endangered you always feel like they will find a way to win and that the threat isn't terribly great like in the first movie. In the first movie there a lot of unknowns about what will happen next. This time around the story line seemed to mesh with the first one and made sense. When Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf) goes off to college he attempts to have a long-distance relationship with Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox) this leads to mistrust on her part when he misses their first internet date. This is just the beginning of the trouble as we learn that the Decepticons have transformers all over the world. The clean-up of them ensues and Optimus Prime and the Autobots team up with US Special Forces in an attempt to corral up the evil Decepticons. The plot is somewhat shaky and hard to explain but you don't watch action movies for the plot or intellectual script, especially sequel action movies. For what it was, a sequel action movie, it got the job done. It has some great action sequences and allows the viewers to get a better feel of the first movie and understand some of what happened in it. You also learn along the way the history of the Transformers on Earth and why there are Decepticons and Autobots. We learn that Optimus Prime has a long legacy and he is the natural leader of the good guys. The evil guys of course come after the main characters and their friends, this sequence plays out over Egypt and the pyramids and that there is an ancient evil weapon in one of the pyramids. In the end, Sam give Optimus Prime a second life and saves mankind in the process, and of course he gets the girl in the end. This movie is worth watching if you are a fan of the first or just want to know more about what happened and why in the first movie. I definitely don't recommend it if you haven't seen the first or really disliked the first. It is an action movie with lots of action and a decent enough script to get by. It gets dull sometimes but overall I'd give it 3 and a half stars.