Category: Arts

From the moment Transformers cleaned up at the box office in 2007, it was obvious that a sequel would be coming down the pipeline at full steam ahead. And while Revenge of the Fallen succeeds by the yardstick of “bigger, louder, and busier than its predecessor,” it never transcends this fundamental predictability.

Curmudgeonly widower Carl Frederickson lives alone in his house, surrounded by rising skyscrapers whose developers want him to move. His only company is a picture of his late wife, Ellie, and their adventure scrapbook, the last reminder of Carl’s promise to Ellie that they would move to Paradise Falls in South America in honour of their shared childhood hero, explorer Charles Muntz.

Superficially, Terminator Salvation seems like an archetypal summer action flick success story. It’s a big-budget, star-studded, effects-laden sequel steeped in movie history and its own franchise mythology.

If you’ve ever been intrigued by the Star Trek universe but written it off as too campy, too old or too far below par in the special effects department, then welcome to the fan club.