WE FLEW to Tokyo, Japan early this week to attend Monday?s world premiere of ?Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,? Michael Bay?s highly anticipated sequel to 2007?s blockbuster franchise, starring Shia Labeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson and John Turturro.
Other than Turturro, Bay and the rest of his leading cast members were around to watch the film for the first time (Bay only finished editing in LA the night before). They were joined by talented newcomers, Ramon Rodriguez and Isabel Lucas. ?The movie you saw last night is not the copy the world will see when it opens in the US late this month,? Bay winkingly told us the following day when we joined the press briefing at the Park Hyatt in Shinjuku.
Excitement
The excitement that reverberated from the shrieking and hyperventilating fans at the premiere was palpable?and amusingly infectious! The crowd was thrilled to see the glossy yellow Camaro parked on a huge stage outside Roppongi?s glitzy Toho cinema suddenly ?transform? into the adorable Bumblebee!
Inside the cinema, we were seated beside ?Unang Hirit?s? delightfully charming Suzi Abrera?and, just a few seats away, were popular VJ Utt and award-winning Hong Kong heartthrob, Daniel Wu, who voices some of the film?s characters in Mandarin.
The franchise?s special effects-pumped sequel, ?Revenge of the Fallen,? turned out to be a spectacularly dizzying action-adventure that features jaw-droppingly loud explosions and breathtaking flight and fight scenes (watch out for our review)?including cameos of familiar figures from ?Transformers?? parallel universe.
The meet-and-greet with Bay and the stars the next day was fun, informal and playful. The director shared how thrilled he was for the chance to shoot at the fabled Egyptian pyramids. He beamed: ?Shooting there was magical! The ?Transformers? sequel is one of the first movies in 30 years to shoot on the pyramids. Technically, the movie was extremely hard to make?we broke a lot of new ground with its visual effects. First, we shot the live-action portion with the actors. Then, we animated the different characters that were interacting with them. This movie far surpassed the first one?s animation and character detailing!?
Shia, Hollywood?s current ?It? boy, also didn?t disappoint?he answered questions with disarming candor. It was amusing to see him genuinely embarrassed when a member of the press asked him to compare kissing Megan and Isabel, who plays his character?s sizzling-hot classmate at the university. His answers were peppered with witty one-liners that made his director and costars laugh.
Questions
The dazzlingly lovely Megan reminded us of the carefree and guiltless Angelina Jolie in her ?Gia? heyday. She tirelessly worked the red carpet with a ready smile, and willingly posed for every shrill fan who screamed her name.
Josh won over the crowd with his sincerity and dashing good looks. But, there?s more to this hunky actor than meets the eye: When a reporter asked Megan who she?d like to transform into if she had the power, the sultry actress readily replied: ?Johnny Depp?s wife.? When it was Josh?s turn to answer the question, he answered with a lopsided grin: ?Johnny Depp!?
