We interrupt our usual scathing criticism of all things Washingtonian to give you a break, since we are also taking a break.

Yesterday, on a whim, we decided to go see the Transformers movie sequel.   We didn't see the first flick in the theaters, but we did see it on DVD, and while it was a bit juvenile (it's target market), we still enjoyed it enough to be interested in the sequel.   So, we caught an  afternoon matinée, and viewed the digital projection version of the flick in a theater with about 11 other people - nothing like an empty theater on a weekday afternoon!

While the flick was more ambitious than the first both in plot-line and special effects, it isn't as good.  Perhaps that is because the first flick was relatively fresh (we are not Transformers fans from the cartoon days).  Anyway, even though the first flick had some plot problems, the sequel has some really big plot problems that are harder to shrug off.

Problem #1)  Early in the flick lead character Sam Whitwicky's home becomes infested with small transformers, for reasons we won't spoil.  Transformer Bumblebee must come and rescue Sam, destroying all the little transformers in the process.  Yet, Bumblebee, supposedly highly intelligent alien life, doesn't seem to be remotely curious about why Sam just got attacked by all these small transformers that popped up out of nowhere.  Not the least curious.  Very silly. 

Problem #2) Sam comes across something that would have obvious importance to a Transformer, but he doesn't tell Bumblebee or any other Transformer about it.

Problem #3)  Sam's love interest, Mikaela, has her own encounter with a small Transformer, which she captures as it is trying to crack a small safe.  Ultimately, Mikaela puts it into a metal box in order to bring it to Sam.  The little transformer can crack a safe but can't cut it's way out of a sheet metal box?  Come on!

Problem #4) An evil transformer is introduced that can take human form.  Ok - this creates all sorts of problems for the entire story-line.  Can't go into anymore details without giving too much away, but the Terminator-meets-Transformers line was a dumb idea that did very little to add to the overall plot of the flick.  It was in fact, a groaner.

Problem #5)  Ok so this is maybe a minor thing, but the actor that plays a key General in the film is the same actor that plays the Colonel at the desert base that is destroyed in the first flick.  The problem is that in the first flick, only a small squad escaped from the base, there were no other survivors.  So while we could accept the guy getting promoted from full bird Colonel to General (3 star though??),  we had a real hard time with the guy being resurrected from the dead.

Problem #6)  Sam must locate something that the Transformers have been seeking for thousands of years.  So how does a kid solve a mystery in a relative few days that all these highly advanced sentient mechanical beings could not over the span of several Millennium?

Problem #7)  Sam's parents are in the way, and add nothing to the plot.  We're glad these two actors got paid and all, but we would not have missed them at all if they were not in the movie after the first 10 minutes or so.

Problem #8)  A fair amount of time was spent watching a huge evil Transformer assemble itself.  Didn't add to the plot and was just the CGI guys showing off.

Problem #9) The climatic scene was too long, and too obviously a formula repetition from the 1st flick where Sam has to negotiate a series of way too contrived obstacles to get to the goal.

Problem #10) Something happens to Sam near the end of the movie that just left us baffled as to why it happened, and how it was resolved - can't go into more details.  We think this was just plot over-loading.

Problem #11)  The military types seem blissfully unaware that the evil Transformers are monitoring all their communications and know everything they know in real-time.  How could that be since they knew how successful the evil transformers were at cracking military networks in the first flick?

Problem #12) The evil transformer assault on the 'secret' good transformer base, stealing a special object that was supposed to be super secure as easily as taking candy from a baby.  It was a groaner sequence

Problem #13)  CGI overload.  Unfortunately there are several CGI scenes which are totally unnecessary and are clearly in the flick just because.  Director Michael Bey lost his head on the CGI stuff, and unfortunately it actually takes away from the movie.  He should have learned from the George Lucas Star Wars prequel disasters.......we guess not.

Those are some of the bigger problems, though there are others we can't really talk about without giving too much away.

Megan Fox, the actress who plays character Mikaela, recently was quoted as criticizing the movie somewhat for being too heavy on CGI and too light on acting.  Her comments were rebuffed by the director of the flick, Michael Bey in an ego-filled diatribe of self-congratulations.

Well, Michael Bey has made gazillions, so maybe he's entitled to the big ego, but in this case, he should listen to the upstart actress whose career he takes credit for making.  She's right.  Transformers, Revenge of the Fallen is over-loaded with gee-whiz CGI and weak on story, and this hurts the movie.  While we still found the flick entertaining, Mr. Bey fails to realize that it could have been much much better had he exercised some restraint in the CGI department, and done a little more with the human characters in the story.

In the end, it's worth the money to see it, so long as you can shrug off the plot problems as they occur.