Well, I finally saw Revenge of the Fallen last night at IMAX...AND IT ROCKED!

Yes, it was a little thin on plot. Yes, there are some parts that could (and probably should) have been left on the cutting room floor - the various humping bits and Simmons' thong, for example - and parts that should've been left in or clarified - the explanation of Alice's alternate mode, the fate of Scalpel/the Doctor and Wheelie - but in general, everything worked for me. Also, something for people to note - when Mikaela damages Wheelie's optic, it shifts from red to blue. Cute, yes?

The characters that everyone's complaining about with this film actually kinda endeared themselves to me. I like Skids and Mudflap, I like Leo, and I think Jetfire is outright hilarious. I do think the 'Bots could've gotten more screen time - it would've been nice for Ratchet and Ironhide to build on their characterization from the last film, and would've been excellent for Sideswipe and Arcee to get some more lines...and for that matter, it would've been nice for Jolt to get any dialogue. Clearly, Mr. Electric Shock needs some love in the non-movie media.

Speaking of non-movie media, I think I may have an explanation of why the Fallen, last seen chatting it up with Megatron via a 'sarcophagus' in the Nemesis, is somehow in the ship, as well as some of the other discrepancies between this and the prequel material. While there were thirteen original Cybertronians, only seven (the Fallen and six others) came to Earth, the last six either heading elsewhere to scout for other stars to harvest or up to some other activity. Fallen betrays the six on Earth, they kill themselves to conceal the Matrix, Fallen reunites with his remaining siblings, they fight, Fallen gets trapped in an extradimensional prison and the last ones die, leaving behind their legacy in the form of a young Optimus. He somehow gets out somewhere between Megatron getting turned into an ice cube on Earth and getting thawed out in the first film, but the strain forces him to draw from the Nemesis power reserves to heal. Makes sense to me, anyway.

So yeah, not a perfect movie. But a fun one. I'll get it on DVD, watch it on occasion. I'll continue to get the toys, assuming I can find them and that my parents don't ban me from getting them. I'll get any and all upcoming comics and hopefully enjoy them. I just hope the DVD copy contains the IMAX footage, because that definitely helps the narrative at points.