During an interview with Kevin McCarthy for “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” then-franchise star Shia LaBeouf explained just how precarious the situation was on “Revenge of the Fallen”:
“We were given a date, we were given a bunch of money, we were given a bunch of toys, and we had no script. And it was a writer’s strike, so you couldn’t get one if you wanted one.“
The major factor in the critical downfall of “Revenge of the Fallen” was the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. As you may surmise, scripts were very hard to come by during this period, and “Revenge of the Fallen” wasn’t the only film affected by the strike. “Quantum of Solace” also went through production without a completed screenplay, another disappointing entry in a beloved franchise that still has its defenders. Making it up on the fly with massive production budgets seems ridiculous, but you’d be surprised just how much movie studios love making money.
“Revenge of the Fallen” may not be that great, but in terms of general entertainment value, it has serviceable elements despite its flaws. I’m not recommending you should watch it, but I’m not not saying that either.