You know, I understand rabid fandom for something we have nostalgic memories for from our childhood, so I do get where some of you are coming from. If you want to get my ire, all you need to say to me is "Joel Shumacher Batman movies" or "nipples on the Bat suit." Personally, I even had some serious issues with Batman Begins (although, I have no complaints about Dark Knight -- that was perfect!). And I know some guys who were very big Spider Man comics fans, who still grumble when you mention Sam Raimi around them.
When I went into the first Transformers movie, I admit that I had fairly low expactations and ended up enjoying it much more than I thought I would. And I've enjoyed it on many a repeat viewing as well. I actually think the writers did a good job of capturing the tone of the old cartoons while finding a way to appeal to a wider audience. And we can say what we want about Michael Bay but he knows how to make a stylish, glossy, good looking movie. In my opinion, the first one was a lot of fun. And I think this sequel is pretty good too. I don't think the pacing is quite as sharp as the first and I thought that the first did a better job of finding a way to balance time for all the characters. But for those of us who did enjoy the first one, I'd say this was a pretty enjoyable follow up. And for the Transformers purists, I think you'll at least be somewhat more pleased with the writing of the relationship between Megatron and Starscream in this one than the first.
