Jim reviews new TRAILER re = "TRANSFORMERS 2: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN"

PARAMOUNT – DREAMWORKS Pictures hosted a special event at Chicago’s Navy Pier IMAX theater on April 29th, in affiliation with various radio stations. They premiered a new TRAILER for their # 2 (sequel), “REVENGE OF THE FALLEN” scheduled to open June 24th (which was supposed to be introduced by co-star Tyrese Gibson, although he was an unexplained no-show for some reason)…

… After the first showing of the trailer, they showed the ORIGINAL Michael Bay feature film from 2007, to an enthusiastic reception from the audience which was very clearly “INTO” the Transformers world (as shown by the many knowledgeable answers from them re winning prizes such as Hasbro action figures before and after the film)…

… As I commented at the time the original was first released, I was very favorably impressed by the fine SPECIAL EFFECTS for the various robots & action sequences (although the battles were so fast-paced, I at times had problems telling who was “WINNING” between the “good” Autobots & the “bad” Decepticons!)… The believability of the combat sequences was helped by the work of JOSH DUHAMEL, TYRESE & JOHN TURTURRO in their roles…

… SHIA LABEOUF was unusually good in his being an initially shy would-be-smooth-“operator” teenager who was then “gung-ho” in helping Bumblebee and the other Autobots. MEGAN FOX was also very effective as his love interest and cohort. One thing that particularly stood-out in this (my 2nd or 3rd viewing of the film) was the numerous FUNNY little “asides” & “hidden” humor underlying a lot of Shia’s world (including the recently-departed BERNIE MAC as a shifty used-car salesman)…

… Regarding the new TRAILER (which makes the film look worth seeing, tho the trailer itself isn’t particularly “spectacular”): the original feature film ends with the evil Decepticons being sunk into a deep part of the ocean, supposedly because that was expected to permanently incapacitate them. Well, here’s a “shock”: from the trailer (& even the title of the film), it’s obvious that that DIDN’T SUCCEED!… Some clear “clues” concerning “R-O-T-F” were captured by the Trailer, such as statements from the Autobots that, “There’s MORE to us than meets the eye!”, & the declaration to Shia that “We’ve KEPT MUCH from you!…” You can see a Decepticon RISING from the ocean depths, & Shia announces with fear that “Megatron wants what’s in my MIND!…”

…. The studio is using all the major stars from the original feature mentioned, & (from an ad card handed out after the trailer), it’s clear they want people to “Become a FAN—” of the film at “www.Facebook.com/Transformers2” (& they urge people to “share your thoughts on the new action-packed trailer”)… It DOES look action-packed, &, from what I’ve seen, I expect it will be an effective, enjoyable, and monetarily very SUCCESSFUL addition to the franchise!…