Characters arrive and disappear with no explanation, characters spout exposition in monologue, and the plot presents possible resolutions that characters ignore because they’re simply too stupid to live.
It’s also made close to $450 million worldwide (as of 07/01/2009), and has a disturbing habit of almost breaking the records set by The Dark Knight over a year ago.
There’s actually a lot for budding screenwriters to learn from Transformers, despite the film’s attempt to distract you from any theme or moral it may have. What it boils down to is this: the film industry has an uncanny ability to make it’s creative forces insane. Transformers is everything a screenwriter is taught not to do, but is simultaneously one of the most successful films ever.
Indictment: The Rules of Screenwriting versus the Mob Rule
The screenplay for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a complicated one. It does follow a couple of the mechanical “rules” integral to a working film, such as a simple act structure and the proper introduction of its more important pieces.
However, it neglects so much of the basic details of filmmaking that it is difficult to believe it was written by experienced professional screenwriters. The duo of Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci have gone on record as saying the finished film departs considerably from their screenplay, but there is simply too much wrong here to let them off the hook completely. True, Revenge of the Fallen was written in mere weeks before the 2008 Writer’s Strike, but that doesn’t excuse some of its more major flaws.
Wheelie: The Cynicism of Plot
For example, Kurtzman and Orci introduce the character of Wheelie (voiced by Spongebob himself, Tom Kenny) early in the film, using him as a bumbling, inept foil for Megan Fox’s Mikaela Barnes. Slowly, she begins to reform the pint-sized Decepticon, until he pledges to aid the Autobots in resurrecting their fallen leader, Optimus Prime. Although the side plot is a time-wasting, straw man distraction from the film’s overall lack of vision, Wheelie is still set up as an important part of it’s resolution. He is among the small group of heroes that arrive at the Egyptian Pyramids, ready for his big hero moment.
Then he disappears, never to be heard from again. There’s no explanation for his vanishing act, and he even fails to cameo during the huge battle scenes that otherwise managed to work in all of the other robot characters.
If he’s ultimately cinematic slight of hand, then why was he in the film at all? Simple: because without him, the movie is an hour long. The plot is so anorexic that a detour was needed, which isn’t a problem in and of itself. Many great films have succeeded by drawing the viewer’s interest alone, further immersing them in the story world while the plot simmers. Wheelie provides the jumping off point for the chase subplot that eats up a sizable chunk from the film’s run time, but he can’t just relay the information and leave. So he sticks around long enough to justify his role as a lazy plot device (and to sell his action figure), then fades when he really has nothing to do.
Wheelie’s role is incredibly telling, as it shows how distracting and damaging a poorly constructed outline can be. The characters needed to get from Set Piece A to Set Piece B, and someone decided Wheelie would get them there. A better film would have taken that mechanical necessity to its logical conclusion by finishing off Wheelie’s character arc, but “Revenge of the Fallen” isn’t concerned with that sort of thing. It’d rather take the shortest line through it’s explosions and robot fighting, no matter how cynical that may be.
In Defense: When The Rules Don't Work
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen may completely fail as a competently written screenplay, it’s not a complete wash. It’s essentially saved by the visuals, which are as spectacular a viewer could hope for.
Truly, Michael Bay has filmed a watershed in action filmmaking. Every cent of the special effects budget is on the screen, which is a stunning accomplishment. It’s rare for a movie to feel like it cost $200 million, but Revenge of the Fallen manages to look like it cost more.
Furthermore, the action works like spackle on the film’s plot holes. Any downtime a viewer would use to mull over the inconsistencies of the story is filled with explosions and robot swords. It’s a beautiful movie, so ahead of its time that it may take a decade to surpass it.
The Revenge of the Action Film
While it may be one of the more poorly written screenplays in recent memory, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is still an important film. There may not be a better example of the divide between critics, fans, and filmmakers, three groups of people who want comically different things from a movie.
Clearly, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is no mere blockbuster – it is the anti-movie, assaulting the senses until the brain has been pummeled into mush, until a viewer is so tired that nothing is learned or gained. All that remains is an audience adrenaline-addled victims, and a nagging sensation that everyone is the target of a brilliant bit of misdirection.
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