Maybe the producers or the studio should have called this Megan Fox’s Body. Not only would that have fit the cheeky style and tone of the film, maybe audiences would have grasped what Jennifer’s Body was trying to do.

There is no question this movie would have been wasteful without Megan Fox. The entire point is that she plays a character who succeeds based on looks alone, undoubtedly the reason she is currently a star in Hollywood. Playing Jennifer, she sells (completely) the “popular girl” mantra, prancing around school hallways as if she owns the place.

Jennifer’s Body uses the clichés of the typical high school movie, but with Diablo Cody writing, they excel at being more than jocks and emo kids. Darkly humorous, the Goths morn their fallen friend, turned into a pile of “lasagna and teeth” according to the mother.

The film is loaded with priceless, even hysterically funny one-liners, but hardly throw-aways. They do still serve a point, particularly during one of the final confrontations inside an algae-infested pool. Jennifer, possessed by a curse, has attempted to eat her best friend Needy’s (Amanda Seyfriend) boyfriend. They rant and rave only like two teenage girls could, but with a sly satire undermining the dialogue.

Jennifer’s Body makes for far better comedy viewing than horror. Trying to contemplate character actions becomes a chore. If your friend vomited black gunk out of her mouth which then began turning into prickly spikes, chances are you would call someone for help. Lavish, over-the-top gore doesn’t add much either, with the sole exception of a deer munching on someone’s innards.

This is a movie that knows its audience better than the marketing team (who incorrectly sold the horror), putting Megan Fox inside an Evil Dead shirt while the poster also hangs in the background during a particularly “hot” scene. That’s what Jennifer’s Body is aiming for, and it nails it.

Movie ★★★★☆ 

Fox delivers a stand out AVC encode, possibly one of the best of 2009. Remarkably clear and sharp, high fidelity detail is outstanding. Facial textures are spectacular, and clothing is cleanly defined with individual stitches visible, varsity jackets in particular brimming with texture. The transfer does this at close and mid-ranges without question. Look at the cork board in the classroom, its distinctive look perfectly visible.

Multiple scenes inside a forest are just jaw dropping in how well they are maintained. Leaves on trees deep within the woods are easy to pick out. Compression is not a problem. A moment of aliasing is evident on a casket around the 1:10:50 mark, but passes quickly.

Black levels are outstanding, with wonderful shadow delineation evident. Watch as Needy comes back home to find her mother missing from the couch. She lays down in limited light, pores and individual hairs still evident without fault. Even inside the band’s van where nearly no light seeps in, Fox and the guys are perfectly defined in terms of detail. A bright, even cheery color palette is evident, further adding to the eye candy, and that has nothing to do with Fox herself.

Video ★★★★★ 

A DTS-HD mix is not quite as impressive as the video, but still robust and full. A bar is lively early in the film, and as it catches fire, the flames rip through the soundfield. Explosions rock the subwoofer as the blaze continues to sprout up during a conversation outside.

Music is forceful and crisp, including two band performances that shine. The soundtrack, action, and dialogue remain perfectly in sync with each other. Some expected ambiance inside the woods is relatively non-existent, and school hallways should be livelier, but these are minor faults in an otherwise enjoyable effort.

Audio ★★★★☆ 

Two commentaries are included, the first exclusive to the theatrical cut featuring director Karyn Kusama and writer Diablo Cody. The second, over the director’s cut, features only Kusama. The director’s cut does adds around five minutes, but also alters dialogue, including the first lines of the film. Both are worth watching, although this is a case where the theatrical cut is a little tighter and snappier.

Six delete scenes run for 14-minutes, followed by a brief five minute gag reel. The Dead Pool is a general making-of filled with praise for all involved. Four video diaries are more entertaining, including plenty of raw footage from the set.

Two campy features focus on Megan Fox, including a one-minute montage of her “best” scenes and a hilarious peer pressure PSA. Life After Film School is an episode from the Fox TV series focusing on Diablo Cody. Trailers are left.

Extras ★★★☆☆ 

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

Jennifer’s Body Review

Megatron has teeth. He is the villain of the Transformers movies (a bit character in this sequel), and the only one of these robots from space with rows of razor sharp teeth. Is he the only one that eats? Do they not need food? If not, why does he have teeth? Maybe he had them in the first movie too, or maybe it was the advancement of special effects that now let us put teeth on digital giant robots. Regardless…

It’s notable to bring this up because it is one of many burning questions in Transformers – Revenge of the Fallen without answers. There is obviously some interest in developing mythology, a lively hood, and a backstory for these robots, one individualized from the cartoon/toy series they were born from. Or, at least something more than “planet destroyed, we’re here, deal with it.”

For instance, there is a scene where audiences are introduced to a robot nursery. Baby Decepticons are dying due to a lack of energy. Okay, but how are they born? No female robots seem to exist in the Decepticon ranks, so that rules out any known form of natural -impossibly creepy- robot birth. Do they simply appear inside a blue egg and pop to life when ready? A small robot humps the leg of Megan Fox for laughs (and it is funny), but do they even understand the concept if their babies appear from nowhere?

Fallen also introduces an aging Transformer, a one time Decepticon who switched sides to join the Autobots. He transforms for the first time (in the movie at least) inside the National Air and Space Museum, and he carries a cane. Was the cane part of his original construction? If not, where did it come from? What is the life expectancy?

These questions, however picky or corny they may be, pile up after a while. See, summer blockbusters are not allowed to simply blow things up; they still need a base, rules, light logic, and a core to fall back on. That’s what separates the enjoyable junk food of the movie world from the Transformers. It is especially critical in the case of a franchise like this. It is even worse when you have 150 minutes to do so, and still fail miserably.

Michael Bay is more concerned with tossing two robots on screen, twins born from apparently the same mysterious blue bubble, who could be the worst racial stereotypes in modern film history. But hey, one has a gold tooth, and that’s funny right? It’s doubtful their names are spoken in the movie, and if they are, it’s likely drowned out by a mass of explosions.

Revenge of the Fallen does a fine job with its action. It’s impossible to question the technical wizardry behind the movie. They even addressed a key problem with the original, that of incoherent fights that mashed similar looking robots together in battle. Thanks to slower edits, better camera angles, and slow motion, there is at least attempt to make this work.

Of course, those battles lead to casualties, at one point 7,000 of them. Mere seconds after this announcement, the film tosses in one-liners from the wise cracking ghettobots (not an actual movie term) for a laugh. If you want the audience to take this seriously one minute, why are you trying to make them laugh the next? Even Independence Day knew how to properly handle tonal changes, and that’s saying something.

A lot of the non-action set up shots feel like a poor car commercial. The cars/Transformers drive into view, spin needlessly to kick up dirt, and yet stay clean without a speck. If this where the automakers government bailout money went, why is everyone being charged to see this? All these shots do is waste an unbearable 150 minutes yet it doesn’t have the brains for 80.

The human side of this mess reunites Shia LeBeouf and Megan Fox, a young couple bafflingly caught in the middle of this alien war. Supposedly, LeBeouf has unknowingly had a piece of the life-giving All Spark from the original film with him for two years. The Decepticons have been looking for it since the first film, but through the power of script writing magic, finds it the same time LeBeouf does with a simple robot made from a RC car.

That’s mildly plausible, but audiences are also supposed to believe that government covered up the appearance of the Transformers from the general public despite causing a few billion dollars in damages to downtown Los Angeles in the previous film. Now the Autobots have become part of a special government sect, sent out to fight off the final Decepticons who are still trashing major cities while governments claim a gas leak left a streak of blown up cars, buildings, and military vehicles all through Shanghai.

Um, no.

Of course, what follows that opening Shanghai assault (which has no bearing on the story) is an equally ridiculous kitchen assault, where blenders and toasters come to life after LeBeouf drops the All Spark piece. Obviously, these Transformers are not birthed in blue sacks, but they do come fully loaded with rockets and ammunition. Maybe that’s how the Transformers reload, by popping blue ammunition sacks somewhere inside their mass of metal.

That would make more sense than 90% of this movie.

Movie ★★☆☆☆ 

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is simply astonishing in its hi-def presentation, arguably one of the top five or so discs on the market. Michael Bay loves deep, bold color, and this does cause some problems in terms of flesh tones, which tend to look bronzed. This is replicated on the Blu-ray in this AVC encode, along with the enormous level of saturation elsewhere.

Black levels are stunning in their depth, with minimal crush that is at its worst during the early Egypt scenes. Some noise is evident, typically during special effect or complex air photography. This is all minimal, nitpicking material, as shadow delineation is typically astounding and the grain structure completely unobtrusive.

Everything else about this transfer is beautiful. Stunning levels of detail hold during long, mid, and close range shots. The complexity of the robots is amazingly held true, with no visible aliasing or flicker (although the Transformer home base backdrop is slightly troublesome). Sharpness wavers in a few focus-oriented shots, and remains razor sharp for the rest of the ridiculously long run time. Faces are filled with texture, from dirt, sweat, pores, and scrapes. The contrast is wonderfully bright with rare intentional “Michael Bay style” blooming, loading this transfer with the highly sought after “pop.”

Video ★★★★★ 

A DTS-HD 5.1 track grabs you from the company logos, delivering a throbbing robotic bass line and swirling transformation effect in all channels. It immediately continues its dominance, with an unbelievable level of low-end power. Optimus Prime saves Sam by barreling into a building, and then flipping upside down to find his shot. The bass that accompanies that move is unreal, crisp, and astoundingly deep.

The front soundstage is wide, with positional dialogue, action, and movement tracking left to right. The surrounds are consistently engaged, from missiles firing front to back or flying vehicles filling each channel. Highs are maintained beautifully, the transformations replicating the clang of smashing metal with zero distortion. Any of the action scenes offer demo-level material, and there are plenty to choose from.

Note: Those playing the Wal-Mart exclusive “Big Screen Edition,” with certain scenes in the IMAX format, have noted a lower volume level, resulting in sub-par audio. The HiDefDiscNews review notes the differences in detail, typically boiling down to a -4dB dialnorm in the dialogue, and a higher discrepancy elsewhere.

Our review on DoBlu is based on the standard edition.

Audio ★★★★★ 

Housed in a two-disc set, Transformers 2 is a bonus-packed release. The first disc offers only a commentary from Michael Bay and his writers, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman.

The second disc houses the awesome making-of, The Human Factor: Exacting Revenge of the Fallen. This documentary is over two hours in length, and split into seven parts, loaded with behind-the-scenes footage, and an excellent piece on the deadline crunch.

Fans will adore the somewhat promotional but still fun 25 Years of Transformers, an 11-minute featurette detailing the toy line and how it has evolved since its inception. A Day With Bay chronicles one day of Bay’s schedule as he begins his first interviews with the press. Giant Effing Movie is a mildly funny montage of the production, from the first day to the Tokyo premiere.

Two interactive features let you look at the history of certain robots in the film (across multiple mediums), and another lets you create your own Transformer (meh). A 23-minute piece on pre-visualization is followed by a brief collection of deleted scenes. The latter is closed off by promotional material, namely trailers and a music video.

Extras ★★★★★ 

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Review

While it may irk traditional fans, the movie needed to be set on Earth. The human characters are the key to the story, and add in an element that would otherwise be missing. It also allows for wilder battles in a realistic setting that enhances the action, increases the amount of expected “summer movie explosions,” and adds more drama.

Sadly, there are too many people. Characters are continually added well into the film, including Anthony Anderson and Rachael Taylor, neither of who fit in the role of high-end computer geeks. Their inclusion in the story seems purely for comic relief, which the film has far too much of already.

The same goes for the clichéd “secret government organization” called Sector 7. Likewise, their entire subplot could have easily been cut, decreasing their awful humor spots substantially.

Some lines are genuinely funny, especially one ripping on Michael Bay’s prior disaster effort, Armageddon. By the end of this exceedingly long affair, the humor has drained all tension, seriousness, and believability right out of the film.

It’s obvious that months, if not years, were spent attempting to make the Transformers themselves realistic and believable on screen. The updates are wonderful, and the special effects stunning. Yet, they’re made out to be fools, especially the Autobots in a painful sequence outside the house of Sam Witwicky as he argues with his parents. This scene continues on well past the point of being entertaining, and does nothing for the characters.

Action is consistently interrupted by cutaways to one of the multiple story lines, and these stoppages are jarring. Aside from the opening battlefield brawl, there fails to be another energetic action sequence like it without constant interference by an unnecessary plot development.

In addition, while the special effects are a true achievement, they’re hard to follow. The fights between the robots are either too fast or close up to tell who is gaining an upper hand. On a smaller scale, the same can be said for Frenzy, a small Transformer that moves incredibly fast and attacks without being able to tell where he’s even shooting.

As a fan service, this is a decent attempt to resurrect a franchise that has been dormant for too long. Its many missteps don’t entirely ruin the experience, but certainly do not help things either.

Movie ★★☆☆☆ 

What was once a huge selling point for HD DVD has come to Blu-ray in a nearly identical package. The transfer is the same, and there is nothing to complain about.

Despite the overly hot contrast that’s purely a flaw with the source (consider it a Michael Bay trademark), this transfer is loaded with immense clarity. Details are astounding at times. During the desert assault, wait for the close up of Jon Voight’s face. Every ripple, pore, and wrinkle is visible, for better or worse for Voight. Color bursts off the screen with high saturation, and the remarkable black levels never let up. This is a visual hi-def assault.

Video ★★★★★ 

The HD DVD featured a Dolby Digital Plus mix, while the Blu-ray goes uncompressed with TrueHD. The differences include heavier, deeper bass on Blu-ray, and some minor additional clarity in terms of positional audio. Only purists will notice anything other than the bass increase, especially noticeable during the ripple effect from the opening military base attack.

Regardless, this track offers everything during its action. Bullets and missiles fly around the viewer, debris can be heard in all channels as things are destroyed, and yes, the bass is top tier stuff. In the midst of all of this is well-mixed dialogue that never sounds like it’s being overwhelmed.

Audio ★★★★★ 

Two discs line the inside of this Blu-ray release, following the same path as its HD DVD counterpart. Rather stupidly, certain extras still need to be downloaded via BD-Live. If Blu-ray has all of this extra space, and the disc had around a year to come out, why force users to download stuff like the annoying bordered tracking feature?

Anyway, over on disc one, there’s the Transformers Heads Up Display, a HD/Blu-ray exclusive. Billed as a picture-in-picture commentary, there’s far more than that going on here. Pop-up trivia, interviews, pre-vis, and loads of other content are included.

A final hi-def exclusive is the Transformers Tech Inspector. Here you can view the individual Transformers from a variety of angles, in stills or in a spinning motion replay. You’ll play with this for a while until realizing you won’t be returning.

The rest of this two-disc set includes all extras from the standard DVD. The menus on this release seem barren, but there’s a wealth of content. A commentary by Michael Bay needed a few other people alongside him. There’s surely a lot more to discuss.

Over on disc two, two fantastic documentaries cover all aspects of the Transformers. Our World discusses the origins of the series and the film. Interviews range from the special effects team, writers, Hasbro execs, and the actors. At 49 minutes, it almost doesn’t seem like enough.

Of course, that isn’t enough, as the 65-minute Their War goes even further. The fan base is interviewed about their passion, design choices for all robots featured (and some not) in the film are discussed at length, and even some of the backlash from the die-hard followers gets some screen time. These two features would have made a fine purchase on their own.

Script to Sand is the final feature, a brief nine-minute look at the Skorponok desert attack. It’s mostly comprised of storyboard and animatics. After the exhaustive work in the other features, this doesn’t even seem necessary.

Extras ★★★★★ 

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

Transformers Review