Bay's a destructive guy isn't he?
The Autobots are still working side by side with the military to eliminate the Decepticon threat. After a brief confrontation with Shockwave, Optimus Prime learns of the possible survival of the original Autobot leader Sentinel Prime. Megatron is recovering from his wounds after the last battle and together with his surviving Decepticons, he puts together his latest plan. Sam (Shia LeBeouf) now has a live-in girlfriend named Carly (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley), plus he has finished college and is looking for a job; but there's something sinister in the works that could decide the fate of the entire world. -summary
Should the day ever come when Michael Bay decides to direct a short movie, I will not complain about it. I don't care what it's lacking; plot, character development, story, action, acting, or every last one of those things. I will just be thankful that there's a movie I can get up and walk around after, instead of feeling like I just lost the use of my legs. Transformers: Dark of the Moon which was released in 2011 is the third sequel of the Transformers, and good Lord it's a long movie clocking in at a whopping 155 minutes. I really wouldn't mind this if the movie had a whole lot to say, but come on, this is a movie about robots trying to kill each other. So I see no harm in shortening this.
I'll be honest here. I came into this with high hopes. Fans of the comic would more than likely figure out why... Shockwave, and that was my biggest reason despite all negative criticism from the average movie-goer. Transformers: Dark of the Moon still contains all of the flaws from the previous movies. Fortunately, it's actually better in some ways than the last two as it seems to focus on being a darker entity, but in regards to overall quality, the original still wins. However, this is by far the most violent of the three movies, and along with the killer action scenes it actually makes up for these flaws and delivers a mildly entertaining experience.
The special effects are just so cool, from the action scenes to the random destruction, and believe me, Bay blows up plenty of things this time around. His destructive imagination ran completely wild during the demolition of the city when the Decepticons were trying to kill everyone. I never thought watching high rises being destroyed would look so nice. Plus, the robot vs. robot battles were a little better, to include the Decepticons directly attacked the humans in graphic detail. The character designs were nice as usual, but Shockwave looked the best and pretty much resembled his comic book and animated series counter parts. The voice acting was't that great this time around. Peter Cullen reprises his role as Optimus Prime and he still sounded great. Unfortunately, I barely even noticed Frank Welker as both Shockwave and Soundwave, and I didn't even notice James Remar as Autobot Sideswipe until he was credited for the role.
The plot was interesting again as it followed the Autobots and Decepticons in their pursuit of Sentinel Prime, and a power source he possessed which would be the key to victory. There was a really good plot twist to take place that really did enhance the story. The story was influenced by multiple storylines of the Transformers mythos from both the animated series and comic book; Megatron's Master Plan, The Ultimate Doom, All Hail Megatron, and Last Stand of the Wreckers. It was nice watching variations of these arcs meshed into one. The acting was pretty good this time around and I think Whiteley was a better love interest than Megan Fox. The girl is smoking hot, and I had no problem when she was on-screen. I didn't really have a problem with Megan either. Shia LeBeouf did a good job here again, even though I didn't like how his character was written during the first half at all.
When the action wasn't taking place during the first half, it moved at a snails pace and some of the blame was actually due to the character development. Sam does a whole lot of whining, and he's upset about being forgotten despite saving the world twice. At first, I was able to relate to his character, later he began to remind me of that old friend who got dumped by a chick. When you hear his sad story in the beginning you feel for the guy. 30 minutes or an hour later of hearing the same damn thing, you want to knock him out just to shut him up, that's how I felt about Sam. He became way too annoying. The plot is also saturated with those comedic segments we all have grown to hate long before this. Thankfully, Sam's parents screen time is vastly limited in comparison to the second movie. Sadly, we still get quite a bit of random stupidity from chatty robots.
My biggest disappointment in the movie was no doubt Shockwave. During his appearances, he was the most menacing character in the movie when taken at face value, but he was very poorly developed, in fact he wasn't developed at all. Where was the cold calculating robot who posed a threat to everyone including Megatron? Instead of focusing on Sam's whiny moments and lame attempts at humor, Shockwave should have been better developed, this way he wouldn't have came off as just another nameless Decepticon. His presence just wasn't felt at all, and they could've pulled anyone out of the pages of Transformers to fill his spot. This also goes for plenty of the robots, the character development was just poor all around; and once again, there was way too much of a military presence during the action scenes. I'm not exactly sure, but I wouldn't doubt if there was at least 30 minutes of non robot vs. robot action. Many times, this did not feel like a Transformers movie.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon could have been so much better. There was potential like crazy but Michael Bay is seriously a weak director, whom just cannot execute a truly coherent plot. Transformers ended the same way it began; average with no intentions on going beyond the call of duty. This movie is best taken as nothing but mindless entertainment. I only recommend this to serious action fans and fans of the franchise.
Pros: Action and special effects
Cons: Some glaring plot issues
