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Title: Transmorphers: Fall of Man
Director: Scott Wheeler
Writer: Shane Van Dyke
Distributed By: The Asylum
Starring: Bruce Boxleitner, Jennifer Rubin, Shane Van Dyke, Alana Di Maria
Release Date: June 30th, 2009
MPAA: R

Taking place three hundred years before the events of Transmorphers, Transmorphers: Fall of Man explores the beginning of the Transmorphers’ invasion and eventual takeover of the entire world. Officer Ryan Hadley (Bruce Boxleitner) is an officer on patrol who discovers a woman killed in a car accident…with an cauterized hole through her forehead. Dr. Jo Summers (Jennifer Rubin) hears about the accident and believes that there’s more to the event than just a car crash. War veteran Jake Van Ryberg (Shane Van Dyke) repairs the static TV for his friend Madison Ryan (Alana Di Maria) when he discovers that the satellite transforms into a robot. As events become catastrophic and the world falls into peril, these four must team up and fight for their own survival as well as humanity’s.

After getting past the abysmal Transmorphers, we sludge through The Asylum special with its sequel Transmorphers: Fall of Man. Actually, it’s not a sequel but rather a prequel. Even though it’s trying to rip off Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which is a sequel. I know, it’s confusing. But that could be said for pretty much anything else to do with these films.

Let’s start off with the production values of this film. We’ve got the cameras, which are…stable for the most part. And the sound is…decently mixed.

Wait a minute…they actually have production values on this one.

Now, don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a Spielberg budget. And it shows, especially on stuff like the far away shots, which come off as harsh, grainy, and digital. But compared to Alien Vs. Hunter, the production here is light years beyond the previous productions (although still light years behind big budget production values).

However, better production doesn’t mean better story. Like the other films, this isn’t a plagiarism of the film it’s based on, but rather a rip off of several films. Mostly Transformers, Aliens, and Terminator (and no, the combo is not as cool as it sounds). Although the plot has plenty of action scenes and character moments, all of those still come off as a painful grind to watch. There were times when I had to take a break from the strain of watching it, just like the other The Asylum films.

Characters have taken a slight step up from the other two films. This is because they take some time to showcase who the characters are and build up their relationships. You know, storytelling 101. Not that I cared for the characters at all. But hey, at least I remembered who they were.

Just like how the characters are bad but are at least a step up from its prequel-sequel, so are the performances. Bad and bland? Yes. But my God was it a step up from Transmorphers. The majority of the performances are awful, but the main supporting cast is at least bad. If someone was to tell me the main cast never went on to have a good performance, I’d believe them. And likewise, if someone was to tell me that some of them did do some pretty good performances, I’d believe them to. I’m just not sure if it’s terrible acting or terrible characters.

One good (?) part, though, is that just like Alien Vs. Hunter snagged Katt Williams, Transmorphers: Fall of Man got Bruce Boxleitner (as Ryan Hadley). Why do these films and other small films go out of their way for name actors? Simple. Actors with experience bring something to the table. They make the characters more memorable, and, with Boxleitner’s case, do their best to salvage the lines. Is it a great character to play? Of course not, but at least it’s interesting to see a familiar face and talent.

Unfortunately, he’s killed halfway through the film. With Alien vs. Hunter, at least we got to see Katt the whole way through. Perhaps this is an interesting way to shake up the plot, but unfortunately it leaves us with the other uninteresting performances.

With all that being said, though, Transmorphers: Fall of Man is much better than Transmorphers. If someone put a gun to your head and made you watch one of The Asylum films, this would be the one. Now, it’s still an awful movie. When I say it’s better than the other The Asylum films, I mean that the quality goes from a terrible no budget film to a very bad made for TV film. However, even then, it may be the only mockbuster better than the film it’s based on (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen). Maybe….

Andrew Hudson
ahudson@comicattack.net
@Hudsonian