Admittedly, I haven’t see the new Transformers movie released this week. And I have no plans to see it. From what I’ve read, even people who like these kind of action movies don’t like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. From London to the US, the reviews are in, and the consensus is: skip it. Roger Ebert calls it a “horrible experience of unbearable length” with a plot that is “incomprehensible” and Common Sense Media rates it “iffy” for kids 13 to 15 and describes the movie as “violent, crude, pointless sequal that just isn’t kids’ stuff”.
Actually, there is a very big point. The point is to sell stuff, and junky stuff at that. A survey of toys at a local Target store revealed shelves upon shelves of toys, video games and clothing all tied to the new movie. Hasbro is making a ton of money. I even found a Tranformer Mr. Potato Head aimed at 2 year olds! Isn’t the movie PG-13?! There are action figures for $44.99…and you can collect them all! Luckily the store has special coupons: “Unleash the potential of Power Coupons: Good on any Transformers purchase throughout the store or on Target.com.” The more toys you buy, the more you “save”.
Parents who may have just recieved a lackluster report card and are looking for ways to boost summer learning may be lured into buying a Transformer Autobot Laptop for $29.99 that promises to teach kids letters, numbers and rhymes… Ugh!!!!!!!!
A search on Amazon.com revealed 159 toys just from this movie alone, and close to 3,000 toys available for purchase from the Transformer movie line. Enough already! Give this movie and all the junk that goes with it a pass! And read Campaign For a Commercial-Free Childhood’s recent letter to the FTC for more information about efforts to stop the marketing of PG-13 movies to young children.
