--- title: "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/transformers-revenge-of-the-fallen/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/transformers-revenge-of-the-fallen" critics_score: 35 critics_reviews: 16 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009): what the critics said Critics' score 35 from 16 reviews: 0 positive, 4 mixed, 12 negative. Most critics respond negatively to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, with even the more forgiving reviews stopping short of a firm recommendation. Praise clusters around the visual effects: the machines convince, and several reviews find invention and occasional fun in Michael Bay’s action sequences. There is scattered appreciation for the comedy, but little support for the story or characterisation, which most critics find too thin to sustain the prolonged fighting. The main disagreement is over how much the spectacle compensates for those weaknesses: Time Out finds enough inventive action to make surrender possible, while Den of Geek finds the action flat despite the impressive effects. The spread runs from qualified enjoyment to outright hostility, with excessive length, confused plotting and numbing noise recurring across the reviews. Several critics also object to racial caricatures, sexism or militaristic posturing, treating these as substantial failings rather than incidental lapses of taste. ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 15 June 2009. Bay delivers a sprawling, frenetic, blasting, bloated tentpole surgically assembled for core demographics with a certain sense of fun, though the 149-minute runtime drags and the plot is both perfunctory and convoluted. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/transformers-revenge-of-the-fallen/5002498.article) ## Time Out — Tom Huddleston Rating 3/5. 16 June 2009. It boils the blockbuster down to PG violence, safe sex and special effects with largely absent narrative logic, yet offers inventive action sequences and becomes irresistibly lunatic in its climactic desert battle, leaving viewers to surrender or suffer. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/transformers-revenge-of-the-fallen-1) ## Variety — Jordan Mintzer Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 15 June 2009. Festival review. The film is longer and louder than the original, with impressively lifelike machines and superior effects that serve as the centerpieces, though the narrative makes little effort to set up the fights. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2009/film/reviews/transformers-revenge-of-the-fallen-1200475112/) ## Empire — Nick de Semlyen Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). The sequel is a bigger, more excessive version of the first film with wild bad-taste jokes and impressive effects sequences, but it accentuates the original's flaws with baffling plotting, forgettable robots and a numbing experience overall. The spectacle saves it just about, though more brains would have helped. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/transformers-revenge-fallen-review/) ## Little White Lies — Matt Bochenski Rating 2/2/2. 17 June 2009. The critic views the film as a frenetic, over-the-top spectacle pushing Michael Bay’s style to its extreme, with some arresting action scenes and sensational effects, but faults its lack of logic, poor storytelling, and conservative politics. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/transformers-revenge-fallen) ## The AV Club — Tasha Robinson Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 23 June 2009. The review portrays the film as the Platonic ideal of a bigger, louder sequel that recycles the first film's beats but ultimately delivers a massive, eye-popping combat sequence in the final half-hour. Excessive chase scenes, vulgar comedy, slapstick, and ethnic caricatures are criticized, though the action payoff is acknowledged as what audiences likely wanted. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/transformers-revenge-of-the-fallen-1798206452) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Ray Bennett Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 15 June 2009. The critic describes the sequel as a nonstop whirl of battling machinery that will please devoted fans but finds it loud, tedious, and far too long for others. The massive battles and box-office potential are noted positively, while the simplistic plot, lack of characters or comedy, and overwhelming noise are singled out for complaint. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/transformers-revenge-fallen-film-review-93267/) ## The New York Times — Manohla Dargis Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 24 June 2009. The critic finds the film cretinous and tedious, with inane visual ideas and noxious stereotypes, though it wears viewers down with its outlandish spectacles and dumb fun. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/movies/24transform.html) ## Slant Magazine — Nick Schager Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 23 June 2009. The critic calls the film banal, belligerent, and brain-dead, succeeding only at falling far short of bare-minimum cinematic standards through incoherent, fetishistic action and racial stereotyping. The plot's lack of inspiration, unintelligible mayhem, and extended runtime are highlighted as major flaws. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/transformers-revenge-of-the-fallen/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 19 June 2009. The critic finds the film loud and boring, comparing it to watching paint dry while being hit over the head with a frying pan. He singles out the excessive length, uninteresting and directionless plot, and Megan Fox's wooden performance for particular complaint. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/jun/19/transformers-revenge-of-the-fallen-megan-fox-michael-bay) ## The Independent Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 21 June 2009. The critic calls the film a pretentious, nonsensical, sexist, jingoistic and militaristic muddle that exemplifies everything repulsive about Hollywood blockbusters. The long runtime is filled with incoherent plotting, identical CGI robots, leering camerawork and offensive stereotypes rather than characterisation or thrills. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/transformers-revenge-of-the-fallen-michael-bay-147-mins-12a-gigantic-matt-aselton-97-mins-15-1711232.html) ## Digital Spy — Simon Reynolds Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 16 June 2009. The critic notes it fulfills expectations as a stupid, silly blockbuster with impressive spectacle but criticizes the lack of emotional core, character, and story, making it soul-destroying and tedious at times. Praises some comedic moments like John Turturro's performance. [Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a160106/transformers-revenge-of-the-fallen/) ## The Playlist — Rodrigo Perez Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 23 June 2009. The film is not a complete disaster but is too long, overwrought, and cartoonish, with racist elements and self-important grandeur that doesn't land. It resembles Bay's Pearl Harbor in its histrionics and is far from fantastic even by his standards. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/revenge-of-fallen-not-quite-disaster-20090623/) ## Collider — Matt Goldberg Rating C minus. 23 June 2009. The critic is disappointed by the sequel to the first film, criticizing its weak humor including racist caricatures, meaningless spectacle, and lack of story or characters that make the action unengaging. [Read the review](https://collider.com/transformers-revenge-of-the-fallen-review/) ## Den of Geek — Luke Savage Rating 2 out of 5. 15 June 2009. The critic finds it a terribly disappointing sequel by the numbers with a weak, confusing story and flat action scenes despite impressive effects. They single out the comedy moments and some technical wizardry for praise. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/transformers-revenge-of-the-fallen-review/) ## /Film — Russ Fischer Rating 3/10. 24 June 2009. The film is dull, ponderous, and overlong, with incoherent storytelling, tedious military elements, and a sense of being made by a teenager for teenagers. A few IMAX sequences provide the only real entertainment value amid the chaos. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/504292/movie-review-transformers-revenge-of-the-fallen/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/transformers-revenge-of-the-fallen.md