Generally speaking, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is not what you’d call a good film. It is big, noisy and meaningless. The plot is wildly illogical, and the actors do more running than acting. But after the first successful Transformers film, we know why millions of people – including us – want to watch this sequel.

We want to watch the robots, of course – those beautiful giant machines that can shape-shift from everyday vehicles to futuristic fighting machines in split seconds. The spectacular sight of their joints expanding, appendages twisting, gears cranking and whirring, is worth the price of the ticket alone.  One may have replay the robots’ transformation scenes a dozen times on DVD to fully appreciate how intricately designed the robots are.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen takes place two years after the fierce battle between the good Autobots and evil Decepticons in the first Transformers movie. That battle had killed the Decepticon leader Megatron, but a plan is now underway to revive him and reunite him with his master, the vengeful Fallen.

Meanwhile, young Shia LaBeouf – the human boy who helped the Autobots – is now ready to go to college, even though it would mean leaving behind his uber-hot girlfriend (Megan Fox). But when Shia arrives on campus, he suffers from strange visions to seem to hold answers to the impending war between the robots again…

With director Michael Bay at the helm again, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen begins intelligibly enough, but then gets dumber and dumber by the minute. The first hour has its share of humane, humourous moments, but the second hour is relentlessly action-packed, cramming one ferocious battle after another. It soon melts into one breathtaking blur, when you can’t tell one series of explosion from another.

Thankfully, the robots are still fascinating to watch even when the ridiculous finale – at Egypt’s pyramids, no less! – can’t decide between three endings. Sure, this movie won’t win any Oscars, but damn those robots look good.