Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) Poster

User Reviews

Review this title
1,015 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
6/10
A bit of an improvement over ROTF, but not nearly as good as the first
In order to coincide with a fourth Transformers coming out in the next few months, I'll be reviewing this third entry of the successful film series. I liked the first Transformers despite it's cheesy dialog in some parts and while there were some awkward moments and very bad dialog, I still liked Revenge of the Fallen. Then, when I saw the whole thing in theaters back at 2011, I thought, this wasn't so bad after all. It later turned out to be a good ride, but while I do think it's a bit of an improvement over the previous film, it's nowhere near as good as the first.

First, there are some good things that saved the film for me. The music score from Steve Jablonsky has improved and has an epic tone to it. The story is a lot more decent than the previous film with a much better second and third halves; the action sequences are solid especially the collapsing building scene which took my very breath away. The scenery is great and the special effects are as top-notch as ever. The acting is good, too. While John Turturo, Franches McDormand, and John Malkovich aren't given much to do, they did fine with the material. Patrick Dempsey did OK as the villain, but he's a bit underwhelming. Rosie Hunter Whiteley is a bit bland, but not exactly terrible as the new girlfriend for Sam Witwicky. While Shia LeBeouf isn't as charismatic as he was in the first film, he does have the same charm he brought to the film series so far. The Autobots and Decepticons are great to see again and the voice actors are solid especially Leonard Nimoy as Sentinal Prime, who is a very good villain for the movie much Megatron.

Then, there are the bad things that I would point out. First, the script. While the second and third halves are a lot better, the first half is pretty boring. It seems to be lacking in it's action and it wasn't exciting. Second, the ending is way too similar to the first Transformers (what? with the auto-bots and decepticons fight against each other while bringing destruction to the city and such?) The pacing is also very sluggish it would almost put you to sleep. Third and mostly the final problem is the dialog. There are some humorous bits that might get the audience a chuckle, but there are other parts that are just so inane it would give you a headache.

Overall, Transformers: DOTM isn't nearly as good as the first, but despite the flaws that I just stated, I think this is a great sequel in an overall solid franchise. I may not be a fan of Michael Bay and such, but while I do not like the Bad Boys films, Pearl Harbor, and others, I think that this and the other films are a lot better and it deserves a recommendation to those who haven't seen it.
16 out of 19 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Good considering what it is
rawpow19228 November 2011
I have to say I enjoyed watching Transformers 3. If you take it for what it is, a Michael Bay movie with awesome, epic visuals, an over-the- top weak plot, not very deep characters, and classic 'Bay' humor, then it's great. Not as good as the first, but easily better than the 2nd one.

First off, the visual effects are amazing. One of the best, if not the best, that I've seen, both in details on the transformers, in action/fighting sequences, and in more general landscape shots - the views of Chicago when it was being attacked by decepticons were great. I watched it in 3D in the theater, and it was arguably the best 3D effects I've seen, and best use of 3D cameras, and that is including Avatar which i also saw in 3D. This is what Michael Bay is really good at, and this movie shows he is arguably the expert in visual effects and composition.

visual effects and presentation - 10/10

The plot isn't great. When it starts out, it seems like it might develop nicely into a moderately complex story rooted in some historical events that happened very differently than how we thought (kind of like the hoover dam part in the first transformers), but in the end not much is made of that and the plot is relatively direct and over-the-top. However, it does have a few good moments that offer a bit more complexity or emotion, and anyways I didn't watch the movie hoping for a subtle, complex, and nuanced plot.

Plot - 6/10

The characters and acting aren't Oscar-worthy either, to say the least. Rosie Huntington-Whitely is not a great actress, in fact she isn't really an actress, and it shows, but, to be honest, I have seen worse performances. Shia Labeouf is decent in his role as usual. and again there are some new characters, including some for Michael Bay- esque comic relief (which in my opinion is actually funnier than much of the humor in revenge of the fallen, which felt a little too forced to me).

Characters/acting - 6/10

Fun - 8/10

If you're expecting a layered, nuanced movie with deep characterization and a complex and well-written plot, well, then, don't watch this. If, though, you want a fun blockbuster with truly amazing visual effects, a decent (but forgettable) storyline and characterization, and an easy to follow dynamic, well you'll probably like Transformers 3.
49 out of 73 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
A Big Improvement from Revenge of the Fallen
Loving_Silence15 June 2011
Warning: Spoilers
As a huge fan of the Transformers animated series, I like the first Transformers film. The visuals were spectacular and so were the fighting scenes When I saw Transformers 2, which is a HUGE mess of a film, I was really angry. I vowed never to see a Transformers film ever again. But when the trailer of Transformers 3 came out, I actually got a little interested. I mean the special effects were pretty much great as usual. But this time, it seemed they took off the annoying little robots and that annoying mother and replaced them with good old fashioned action.

When I went to an advanced screening yesterday, I still came in with relatively low expectations. I have to say, that Transformers 3 is an overall improvement from its predecessor, Transformers 2. The film was pretty much at level with the first film, though. The action scenes were highly extravagant and at times, pretty epic. The movie had a lot less lame scenes, which is always a plus. The acting was okay. Megan Fox's replacement, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley was okay, but she's certainly not a good actress, but a mediocre one, actually I liked her more than Megan Fox. I liked how the movie used the Apollo landing as a part of its story, like in Forrest Gump. However there were so many characters that were extremely thinly written. John Turturro's character was definitely not needed and some of the dialogue was incoherent and very messy, at times. The movie is also way too long, at 157 minutes, wow. I thought the last scene with Megatron was completely rushed and so was the ending. Although the last hour of the film is pretty epic at times, so I was fulfilled with the visual effects.

Overall I rate Transformers 3, an 7/10. Don't go in expecting a Best Picture winner/nominee. With the right amount of expectations, you will probably be fulfilled. A definite improvement over Revenge of the Fallen, which doesn't say much. But at the end, the great special effects and extremely extravagant action scenes more than make up its flaws. I'd recommend this film if you like the franchise.
400 out of 673 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Transformers
0U5 March 2020
Not as fun as the first one, but definitely a step up from Revenge of the Fallen and a fine way to end a trilogy of Shia Lebouf.
26 out of 33 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Secrets from the Apollo 11 moon mission.
michaelRokeefe14 October 2011
Warning: Spoilers
This is the third of the Transformers trilogy from director Michael Bay. Even the highly publicized exit of Megan Fox can't hurt this action flick's appeal. Superior FX make for great watching even if you aren't a follower of this trilogy. Only a select few of the government and military knew of the extraordinary secrets the Apollo 11 astronauts brought back from the moon. The astronauts discovered the wreckage and remains of Sentinel Prime and shuttle him back to earth. That wasn't the only secret on the dark side of the moon. A new enemy makes its malevolence known and an interstellar war rages with the Autobots in full force to save mankind from the Decepticons. Leonard Nimoy provides the voice of Sentinel Prime. Sam Witwicky(Shia LaBeouf)returns as well Josh Duhamel as Lt. Colonel William Lennox. Sam's love interest is most aptly in the form of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley as Carly Miller. Wow! Also in the cast: Patrick Dempsey, John Turturro, Ravil Isyanov, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich and Tyrese Gibson. Also playing themselves are Buzz Aldrin, Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Morshower. Of course the real stars are the well developed Autobots and Decepticons. As long as there is money to be made, this franchise no doubt will continue.
16 out of 21 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
Stunning Effects But the movie lacks Heart and Soul
changmoh28 June 2011
It's 'Bayhem' time again - and this time around demolition king Michael Bay presents his trademark 'Six-C's' in glorious 3D! In case you don't know, the six 'Cs' are: chases, clashes, crashes, combustions, carnage and cleavage. Spread over a bottom-numbing two-and-a-half hours, "Transformers: Dark Of The Moon" can also induce mental and metal fatigue, especially with the clanging robots smashing one another - and the whole exercise making little sense.

Technologically, however, "Dark Of The Moon" is Bay's best work so far - and action fans looking to be awed by scenes of massive mayhem and destruction in 3D should be satisfied. Story-wise, this one is better than "Revenge Of The Fallen", but not as fun and emotionally-connecting as the first.

The film opens with a flashback to the Sixties Apollo landing mission where history is rewritten (by Ehren Kruger) to incorporate the cover-up of an alien spaceship crashing on the moon. That spaceship, of course, is one of the remains of the epic battles between the Autobots and the Decepticons, and its 'discovery' sparks off another war that threatens to destroy planet Earth. Or at least the face of Chicago as we know it.

On the human level, we find that Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) has traded in his girlfriend Mikaela (Megan Fox) for a newer model (a Victoria Secret one, to be exact) in the shape of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley as Carly). Sam is being offered a job by Bruce Brazos (John Malkovich) but we soon learn that Carly's boss Dylan (Patrick Dempsey) may be up to no good. Then, when the conflict between the Autobots and Decepticons hots up, Captain Lennox (Josh Duhamel) and Sergeant Epps (Tyrese Gibson) of the elite Government squad NEST are summarily called into action.

We get lulled into believing that there may somehow be an intelligent plot coming from the conspiracy of the NASA lunar-landing cover-up which also involves the Russian space program and Chernobyl. These turn out to be just an exercise in 'historical name-dropping' to spur our interest before we get to the demolition derby created by the Transformers. Indeed, some of the robots seem to emote better that the live cast. Cybertron leader Sentinel Prime, for example, is even designed to look like Leonard Nimoy (who provides its voice), complete with stuff that looks like beard. Again, the problems of the previous installments recur - like the confusion between the good and bad robots in the clashes.

Unlike the first two movies, there are no more gags about the shock of humans interacting with the mechanical 'bots. Bay, however, insists on some comic sequences and he has hired Ken Jeong to do his in-your-face shtick as Jerry Wang. John Turturro reprises his role as former FBI agent Simmons but this time around, Turturro finds it fit to clown around with his role. The most striking inclusion to the cast is Rosie Huntington-Whiteley as Sam's love interest. However, with limited acting talent, she provides only eye-candy and beside her, Megan Fox would look like an Oscar-caliber actress.

Like the first "Transformers", this one is also a live-action cartoon on a grand scale. Scenes of Chicago buildings being toppled and destroyed can be as spectacular and brain-numbing as those of September 11; and the wing-suit flying sequences are breath-taking. Indeed, these are what most of Michael Bay's fans pay for and they will not be disappointed. The only problem for me is that Bay prolongs and repeats the robotic clash sequences to the point of being self-indulgent. Technically brilliant and visually arresting, "Dark Of The Moon" lacks heart and soul. (limchangmoh.blogspot.com)
266 out of 447 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Mix feelings
Terryfan6 June 2015
Well I knew I would have to review this movie sooner or later being this was the only film I saw in theaters in 2011 which I wish now I saw more but it is what it is.

I love Transformers and as you know from my reviews of Transformers Movies, Video Games and TV Shows I am a huge fan of the Transformers however I know not all Transformers can be perfect and this movie prove to be that.

Transformers: Dark Of The Moon prove what happens when you're not paying attention to anything. Everything about this film just feels disappointing.

The Autobots: Optimus Prime (Voiced by Peter Cullen), Sentinel Prime (Voiced by Leonard Nimoy), Ironhide (Jess Harnell), Ratchet (Voiced by Robert Foxworth), Sideswipe (Voiced by James Remar), Mirage "Dino" (Franceso Quinn),Bumblebee, Wheeljack "Que" (Voiced by George Coe), Wheelie (Voiced by Tom Kenny) Brains (Voiced by Reno Wilson) The Wreckers Roadbuster (Voiced by Ron Bottitta) and Leadfoot (Voiced by John Dimaggio)

The Decepticons: Megatron (Voiced by Hugo Weaving), Starscream (Voiced by Charlie Adler), Soundwave,Barricade, Shockwave (Voiced by Frank Welker), Laserbeak (Voiced by Keith Szarabajka) and Greg Berg voices Igor.

The voice talent and their performances are what I like best about this movie and it was awesome to have Mr.Nimoy return to Transformers because anything he touches turns to gold. As I set in the theater listening to his voice work I can't help but think of Galvatron the role he first performance in Transformers. It's good to have Peter Cullen and Frank Welker in the film together since they are part of the Transformers for so long and you can't have one without the other.

The plot of the movie was good enough as it did have a tense story line Action scenes in the film are the rewarding part as you are given tense and extreme battles. The music is also very well done Also the Special effects are just awesome that is enough to make you go wow

The disappointment I have with this film is that the comedy was really Bad comedy they try to push the comedy and I swear it just so bad that I wanted to cry. The human characters the new ones are pretty much awful and just really insulted my intelligence it just made you wish they added more transformers instead of more stupid human characters who are not even worth the screen time

This in my opinion is the weakest of the films yes I know "Revenge Of The Fallen" got a bad rap but this one deserves it more because it is like a wreck on a wreck while it does have some things to make it watchable.

What I like the best of the film is The voice performances of the cast, the music and the action scenes that are just what you hope for in Transformers. What I hated the most is the human cast who are just pretty much the worse punch line in the history of punch lines

But the plot, the action scenes and the voice performances are the redeeming features of this movie

I give Transformers: Dark Of The Moon an 7 out of 10
14 out of 18 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
2/10
Ugh...
devolucija30 June 2011
Warning: Spoilers
// Minor spoilers and bad guy ultimate plot revealed in last paragraph, but it's so stupid you want to know it. Long and rant filled review.

Let's start with 10 stars.

Rosie and Shia wouldn't know how to fake chemistry if someone wrapped a lead pipe in the periodic table and beat them upside their botoxed faces for an hour. The romance part is so awful, so cheesy in this movie, it takes down a star right off the bat. I will also mention the "romance" between Optimus Prime and America - the "one and only real and holy country in the world". *puke*

9 / 10.

Rosie has to be mentioned again as a standalone entry. I can imagine how the casting went.. Bay walks into modeling agency, closes his eyes and says "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, you're the clone that comes along!", thereby picking out the 403rd pair of tits in the lineup. A horrible actress, pretentious character and a so obnoxiously unnecessary role the movie would have been two stars better if she were not there at all. Also, lips are not supposed to look like that. If I was Shia, I'd worry "Are you sure your lips don't hurt? Can we kiss? Won't a stitch break or something?"

7 / 10.

At one point, a guy "hacks" a bridge. He logs into the "bridge control" , and lowers it. Hollywood, bridges do not have an open internet connection with a designated port for "Bridge Control API", otherwise every hacker would be lowering and raising bridges everywhere.

6 / 10.

Since the black guy stereotypes in Transformers2 got some bad rep, Bay went the other way this time - Irish and Scottish. Yes, there is a green robot with an Irish accent, and a red robot with a huge belly and a beard, with a Scottish accent. How did that happen? Did they scan an Ire/Scot when they landed instead of a car? If so, weren't they supposed to turn into the robot-terminator-chick type from Transformers 2?

5 / 10.

Physics. Oh god, the physics. Dear Michael Bay, please realize the following: a) Moon sand is a highly corrosive and metal-unfriendly substance. Any kind of moving metalpart coming in that much contact with it would self destruct by the time it made 3 steps. b) One plane was enough to collapse a Twin Tower into dust. A seventy million billion ton robot shooting and crashing into a building will not make it "tilt slightly" and when that building falls, it will not get stuck between two others like a bridge, ever, regardless what it's made of, especially if that same robot is still crawling through it and destroying chunks. c) When stuff explodes near people, people tend to be stunned, burned and / or get shrapnel shot into their spines. They do not sit idly by and contemplate the situation. So if a grenade explodes in an office cubicle next to the one where the protagonist is standing, he will most probably DIE. d) You cannot grab a SHARP, MAD, DANGEROUS robot by the neck and keep it in control. You will LOSE YOUR FINGERS. e) Do you have any idea how much extra it costs to send an extra kilogram into space in a shuttle? Now imagine how much fuel and money you would need to send 10 million-ton robots into space with a regular human space shuttle launcher. f) When people fly through glass, they ALWAYS get cut. When they fly through 10 panes of glass, they DIE. When they fly through 20, they DON'T, because they got impaled on the 12th or 13th.

4/10

Stealing characters from other franchises just for the kick of it is not cool. You have a predator robot, a robot that is "Q from James Bond", etc. What...?

3 / 10.

Plot: If I was an evil genius and built a war-turning technology, I definitely would not build it so that it has exactly one weak point that, if struck, undoes absolutely everything it ever did, and I would definitely not leave it exposed. The bad guys' ultimate plan was to teleport their PLANET to Earth's atmosphere in order to rebuild it. This raises several issues: 1) You would have approximately 10 minutes to live, before Earth and Cybertron collided due to gravity. Those 10 minutes would be filled with an apocalypse due to uncontrollable floods caused by tides. 2) If you want 6 billion people for the sole purpose of slave labor, you should think about point 1). Also, it is stupid to believe 6 billion people could rebuild a robotic planet sooner or better than 1000 decepticons - you not only have to accommodate and feed the people, but also modify the planet's surface for them to be able to move on it. 3) There is a part where Megatron is chillaxing in an alley after a big fight, and the flat-lipped wonder of a model-clone that is Carly comes up to him spewing some bullshit about the other bad guy getting ready to betray him. Now, even if she made a point, I would still CRUSH that human insect. A meaningless pretentious bitch telling me what to think? I'm a god damn eleventy billion ton robot, you skank! *crush* The other critically stupid thing is the fact that Megatron then prevents the other bad guy from killing Optimus. If you have two enemies who are fighting, it is generally not a good idea to prevent them from killing each other! And while we're here, the decepticons could have won if the bad guy had just used one of the 994208 chances to kill Optimus he's had up until this point.

This brings the movie down to 1/10, but I'll give it a star for excellent special effects. 2/10.
600 out of 915 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
I don't get why people hate this movie!
joshuadrake-9127529 September 2015
After the box office success and almost critically panned Transformers film that was REVENGE OF THE FALLEN, that was released in 2009, Paramount Pictures announced that they would be releasing future films in the Transformers saga.

The third film was titled DARK OF THE MOON and the film was released in the summer movie season of 2011. The film was the last film to have Shia LaBeouf in the film as Sam Witwicky and the end of the original trilogy of films.

The film is set three years after the events of the 2009 film, with the Autobots, during the collaboration with the NEST (Networked Elements: Supporters and Transformers) military force, discovering a hidden alien technology in possession of humans, which had been found by Apollo 11 on the years earlier. However, the Decepticons unveil a plan use the technology to enslave humanity in order to restore Cybertron, the home planet of the Transformers.

The story was a really good story and it took inspiration from a novel called Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday, written by Alan Dean Foster. The novel was a prequel to the 2007 film, TRANSFORMERS. Due to the critically panned REVENGE OF THE FALLEN, the Twins were cut out of "Dark of the Moon".

The acting is just amazing, but can get dreadful. Shia LaBeouf plays Sam Witwicky one last time and he does a great job. Megan Fox was originally signed on to play Mikaela Banes in the third film, and Patrick Dempsey's character Dylan Gould was to be the employer of Fox's character, but she was fired, instead Victoria Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley plays Carly Spencer and she does a great job.

She is not as good as Fox but considering the shoes that she had to fill, she could have been a hell of a lot worse. Josh Duhamel, Kevin Dunn, Julie White and the rest of the cast are great in their performances, especially Tyrese Gibson, who was also in another 2011 film, Fast Five, which I previously reviewed.

The CGI is amazing and the action is so fantastic in this film and the best part is at the end of the film, and it was so long but I enjoyed it and the film is 154 minute long feature film.

The music by Steve Jablonsky is fantastic and much more cool and amazing was Linkin Park's song at the end of this movie.

Overall, TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON is not the best Transformers film, but it could have been worse.

8/10.
60 out of 72 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
Clever script blended with spectacular special effects...
emo_boi101229 June 2011
I was highly disappointed with Revenge of The Fallen and I thought the script for Dark Of The Moon would be similar to the other films of the franchise. But surprisingly, it was fresh. Ehren Kruger cleverly used the Apollo 11 event to create a Decepticon world invasion storyline with few interesting twists...

Although I was amazed with the explosive action and brilliant special effects used in the film, the film itself lacks a lot of things...

It started very well with the whole history of THE ARK and it crashed throughout the second half of the film. The humour was still silly like Revenge Of The Fallen. For example, Ken Jeong was appalling and Sam's parents (Kevin Dunn and Julie White) tried to be funny and humorous but failed. Replacing Megan Fox with Rosie Huntington Whiteley wasn't much of a big difference. However, she was certainly better than Fox. There was pointless scenes around the last half of the film that made it a really long, boring film. Also, Michael Bay tried hard making the slow motion action scenes very 3D and realistic which was a bit irritating and ruins the film. The main antagonists haven't performed well enough to create an epic ending to the franchise In another point of view, however, this film was fairly enjoyable and the script was written very well. The soundtrack used was fresh and bends well with the film. There was some scenes that just blew me away and the CGI special effects definitely deserves an Oscar nomination. Shia Labeouf, John Turturro, John Malkovich and Alan Tudyk was enjoyable to watch.

Overall, Michael Bay definitely improved this film compared to Revenge Of The Fallen by creating really amazing CGI effects and a really interesting script, but it wasn't enough to deliver a spectacular ending to the franchise...
20 out of 28 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
3/10
Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Some Things Never Change
goldwriting8 July 2011
I'm going to commit what to many will seem like film geek treason, I will now connect Michael Bay and Terrence Malick into one theory of filmmaking.

Yep, deal with it.

Malick and Bay share one important thing and that is a completely unabashed tunnelvision for the type of film they want, damn the naysayers, critics and crowds. They both make movies mainly for themselves and in truth, there is nothing wrong with that. As an audience member you need to know going in exactly what you are going to get. It is the only way to really enjoy anything that falls from the cameras of these two (and some other notables). With that said, let's dive headlong into the metallic masterpiece of summertime popcorn, Transformers!

Transformers: Dark of the Moon continues the story of Sam Witwicky and his Autobot friends. While Sam struggles to gain a purpose in life outside of Decepticon attacks, the Autobots are off helping the government on secret missions. Then everything is torn apart by the discovery of the original Autobot escape ship, known as The Ark, and the captain of that ship, Sentinel Prime. He alone holds the key to technology that could either help reshape the Transformers home world or completely destroy ours. The Decepticons, completely aware of this discovery, make an immediate power play and the war is back, bigger than ever.

Kids buying the Transformer toys today only want one thing, huge robots in spectacular 3D slow motion destroying each other and every building in sight. From this narrow viewpoint, Bay delivers in bulk. The highway fight sequence brought back memories of other high-speed terror scenes like in Matrix Reloaded and The Island (maybe a little too reminiscent of that last one according to some eagle eyed movie nerds). Since Bay actually filmed these scenes in the latest and greatest 3D technology, it was admittedly pretty amazing to watch. In other scenes, some of the CGI was so intensely crisp that it actually started popping too far from the live footage, making it stand out, which ruins a little of the illusion.

So the special effects is where it was at. Big robots, big explosions, big buildings falling down. Those were the high points.

The low points were pretty much everything else.

Standing in the center of all the toys-on-roids insanity is Shia LaBeouf, who in my opinion is a really good actor banking inside really bad movies. I can't fault him for taking parts in some of the biggest franchises in movie history (Transformers and Indiana Jones) because the exposure and paycheck are nearly impossible to pass up, but in terms of showing his skills as an actor, those hefty titles have done him nothing but a painful disservice. He made his big splash on the scene in the Disney TV show Even Stevens and then on the big screen in the Rear Window update, Disturbia. Many people also don't remember one of my personal favorite performances in the Project Greenlight-sponsored film, The Battle of Shaker Heights. Shia has the chops, but gets surrounded by weak emotional performances, both from CGI and real people. In this outing, Megan Fox's eye candy character was replaced by Victoria Secret's model (and current Jason Statham girlfriend), Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. Whiteley was an improvement in sense of acting ability, but the part was written levels below what Fox was given. The original love interest had layers, depth and some edge, while Whiteley was given virtually no background, no emotional outlet and nothing to do but stand there and be hot. Sure, the 12-year old in the audience doesn't want or need more, but to them I say, "Go grab a Victoria Secret's catalog from your parent's bathroom and stay out of my movie."

Beyond the magical pair of leads, Bay brings back the regular tough guys, Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson, to keep on keeping on. They both do fine jobs and don't try to make this more than it is. Coming in for the first time in the franchise is Frances McDormand, an Academy Award winner to class up the joint. While she was amusing and brought a little more skill to the screen, her part was borderline over-the-top, even in a movie with three story tall robots, because she had to balance out John Tuturro who drifts somewhere off to Hunter S. Thompson land. As if they weren't enough, Bay decides to bring in an unusual amount of big name cameos, including John Malkovich (who does a decent job in his few scenes) and Ken Jeong (who seems to be acting in a completely different movie, possibly thinks he's filming Hangover 3). I saved the best for last though, my personal favorite and the only person I was actually thrilled to see appear on screen, Alan Tudyk (who plays Tuturo's assistant/bodyguard). Tudyk is a cult TV and film legend to his legions of fans spanning from the days of Firefly, Dollhouse and other projects not created by Joss Wheedon. Tudyk was the one person I actually cheered form when he magically appeared on screen.

I could go into a section now where I talk about the story, the plot lines, the connective tissue of the writing, but in reality, Bay didn't really care and neither do the younger members of the crowd, so let's just skip it.

The End of the Page recommendation: Transformers: Dark of the Moon starts slow, goes out with a bang and delivers surface entertainment for the middle school crowd.
262 out of 424 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
The Witwicky Trilogy goes out with an indulgent, flawed BANG
CinemaCocoa12 July 2014
After their disastrous second outing, few people had faith in the third part, but Dark of the Moon rights a lot of the narrative faults and feels like the sequel the first film deserved.

A despondent Sam finds himself out of the limelight as the Decepticon threat appears to have lessened, Mikaela and Bumblebee have left him and he struggles to find a job and direction in life. But when Optimus Prime learns that humanity had found a vital Autobot ship crashed on the Moon, he rescues Sentinel Prime from the wreck, just when the Decepticons return with a plan to restore their homeworld of Cybertron.

Watching Dark of the Moon feels like an endurance test by the time it finishes, this is due to a ridiculously drawn out battle set in Chicago for the climax. While it makes up for Revenge of the Fallen's terribly underwhelming finale, it does become a blur of insignificance after a while because there's simply too much happening! But if there is one thing done right this time is a correct use of characters. A lot of the ludicrous padding and fluff from RotF is completely missing; our human characters are involved but not excessively (ie. Sam's parents hardly feature at all!) and let's say this film provides us with humans who aren't noble and just. There's a lot more of the Transformers too (you would hope so) and it feels like they have a lot more respect shown to them now. Decepticons genuinely appear threatening and the Autobots are shown to have personalities again, continuing from the first film's groundwork (a scene with a silent, brooding Optimus-in-truck-mode is a favourite). The action is off the rails too. More in keeping with the original film we see them transform during battles.

There are some deeply unsettling scenes too. The setup involves assassinations against humans who knew about the mission to the Moon, executed by Decepticon Laserbeak (great to see him too), one where he infiltrates a family's house by pretending to be a friendly Autobot playing with their daughter. Woah, woah! RotF was too cheesy, but this is really dark all of a sudden!

As a fan of the Transformer characters, this film sees a lot of deaths. Some are most unforgivable. We haven't seen this many prominent robot deaths since the slaughter that was the 1986 Transformers: The Movie! The only other gripe I mostly have about this film asides deaths and a bloated finale is Carly, Sam's new love interest (the forgettable Rosie-Huntington Whitely) who is given things to do thanks to the plot, but is far less notable than Fox's Mikaela (I cannot believe I just wrote that) but I do believe the film would be stronger without a love interest. But it is Michael Bay, we need a girl for those slow-mo shots.

It is a vast, vast improvement and a faithful sequel to the 2007 film. It is too long, and it does make some unforgivable decisions regarding Transformer characters, so it feels less perfect in those regards. It is still a fun film though.
19 out of 21 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
The last GOOD Transformers movie...
jaxenross10 November 2017
I love this movie, especially by the fact it's an action one - and Michael Bay sure knows how to do an action film right! The last hour or so of the film really blew my mind, so much fun and games for everyone. Not only that, but I find it to be in my top list of the best films of all time; I may have seen most of the greatest films ever made and had different opinions on them, but none of them I have seen can top this film here! An exhilarated masterpiece to the live-action Transformers saga out of the three films I own and the last GOOD one that I know of. Going forward, the films fluctuate in quality: some being good or bad, but none of them can recapture the magic of three.
7 out of 8 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
4/10
Amazing visual spectacle but tedious and full of clichés
joefitz6028 June 2011
This film is certainly an outstanding visual spectacle that boasts some of the most impressive, fluid and stunning cgi sequences I've ever seen. The photography is fantastic and the 3d technology is used effectively to create stunning, visually amazing scenes. However, that is the only aspect of the film that I believe deserves merit at all.

Despite the continuous action, destruction and battles, I found this film to be extremely boring, and the final battle, which claimed the last hour of the film was far too long and drawn out and it greatly prevented me from appreciating the visual spectacle that is the final battle as it's so long it becomes tedious and I couldn't wait for it to end.

The extensive use of cgi action scenes was what ruined the film for me, and although I never fully agree with the typical view that modern films have too much cgi and effects and not enough good story, this film certainly presented a convincing case that the above statement is true. As there is so much shooting, exploding and fighting in this film there is relatively little time for dialogue, which was largely, poorly written, and full of clichés.

Finally, I didn't rate the casting of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley or her performance. She has clearly been chosen for the role for her good looks and her great sex appeal although I think she shines brighter as an underwear model than blockbuster film actress. Also, It seems unbelievable to me that Shia LaBeouf's character, although not a bad looking guy, has been in relationships with 2 characters played by women who have both topped the annual FHM 100 sexiest women in the world poll. Rosie has clearly been cast to attract more male viewers, bring sex appeal that the film didn't really need and throughout struck me as being far out of Shia's league.
396 out of 677 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
Transformers 3: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
limoncella-641-4223528 June 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Man, so much stuff happens in this damn movie. One can only scratch the surface of what the movie has to offer when reviewing it. The best I can do is list the best and worst of it.

The Good

The best thing about these movies is how they look, how well the transformers integrate into the real-life footage to make a compelling action sequence. Here it's cranked to eleven, and the CG is very impressive. On the larger shots, even tiny transformers far in the background look convincing.

There a several action set pieces (specifically towards the end) which are easily some of the best of the trilogy. The whole scene with the collapsing building and the tracking shot of Optimus slicing and smashing his way through a bunch of decepticons are colossal showstoppers.

This is also one of the best 3D movies to date. One major critique of 3D is that 3D glasses make the film darker, but here they do a very smart thing, the film itself is brighter than your average movie and this problem evens itself out. Another thing that worried me before I saw it is that if there was so much high-speed action maybe that and the combination of 3D would give me motion sickness, end of the movie: no problems.

The Bad

The villains suck. Megatron does absolutely nothing throughout the whole film until right at the end, and even that was a let down. Shockwave appears briefly at the start and vanishes for two hours, he himself doesn't actually do much, it's all down to this big nameless tentacle-clad decepticon he works with. Starscream does nothing, but then he never did anything anyway. I'm not even going to mention Patrick Dempsey. But the biggest let down is with the movies main villain "Sentinel Prime". Basically he is Optimus' predecessor but he changed sides to the decepticons and made a deal with Megatron to bring life back to their home planet Cybertron. This is the driving element of the movie, but there are many plot holes from this. Early in the film Optimus basically says he wants to make Sentinel Prime leader of the autobots again, and offers him the matrix (an item that brings dead transformers back to life) but Sentinel Prime declines. Then he changes sides. Why did he decline taking the matrix? it would in definitely be a help in his ploy. Sentinel Prime gets numerous chances to kill Optimus once and for all, but like all lousy villains he delays his hand and Optimus lives.

The product-placement is out of control. I am not joking when I say there is a scene where Shia LaBeouf stops the movie to recite a Mercerdes Commercial

The annoying characters from the last movie are gone, save one. The little autobot who humped Megan Fox's leg makes a return. Just be thankful there's no Skids and Mudflap

The Down-Right Ugly

The acting here is a range from Tolerable to Impossibly-Bad. There are actors here that have been in some high quality material that just blatantly signed onto this because A) they wanted a paycheck B) they have nothing else on their schedules I mean John Malkovich and Frances McDormand are Oscar nominees who are so unbelievably bad in this movie they make Shia Lebeouf look like Laurence Olivier and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is the stiffest most wooden actress i've seen in ages. John Turturro is awkward but after three movies I don't care anymore.

Stereotypes a-hoy, not as prominent as before but it's here. We have: Tyrese Gibson and some other black guy fist-bump and ridicule one another. We have LeBeouf call a Japanese man "Moto-Mushi-Ichi" and decepticons with dreadlocks. Plus that gay guy from the hangover makes an appearance as some loony scientist, but luckily Michael Bay had the sense to drop him out of a window.

Some visceral "American" moments, like using the moon landing to spark the movies plot. Also blowing up the statue of Lincoln to let Megatron sit on the chair instead. Since i'm British I didn't care for these scenes that are obviously meant to say to American audiences: "These decepticons are blowing up America! Damn Them!"

In Conclusion, I may have some major complaints with this movie but it is a ton of fun. The movie delivers on everything it promises and everything you expect and not a single dull moment. If you loved the first movie, and loved the second movie (god help you) I can guarantee you will love this movie even more. I'd say the definitive summer film this year has been made clear.

So.. Viewing Audience.. Roll Out...
231 out of 401 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Cybertron Lives On
slayerjmk9529 June 2011
Warning: Spoilers
In this epic conclusion to the Transformers trilogy, Earth's final stand against the Decepticons is about to begin. Starting off with a fast-paced war scene on Cybertron, then switching to the 1960's when man finally lands on the Moon, only to have a secret agenda of their own, hidden from the world; to investigate an alien ship that crash-landed. With mind-blowing CGI, good to descent acting, good story, and intense action sequences, Transformers: Dark of the Moon proves itself to be the best of the trilogy. The friendship with Sam and Bumblebee is really emotional as they are on the brink of destruction and even greater tensions arise as Sam is told by Mearing, the new head of the Autobots operation, he is no hero and will not be needed in their fight. Lennox and Epps return as Sam's friends and contacts in the military, only to become more distraught over the years as the fight between Decepticons and Autobots begins to take its toll on them.

Dark of the Moon really shows that after a disastrous sequel, a third installment can correct the mistakes that were made previously, except this did more than that; Dark of the Moon beats both of the first 2 movies put together, having the first film's in-depth story and characters, and the second film's incredibly intense action sequences. So, overall, Dark of the Moon deserves praise for its true effort to become something great.

9/10 Stars***
23 out of 34 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Back to something resembling form.
bh_tafe318 September 2012
The Transformers series recovers slightly after an horrendous second instalment with a decent final act, providing of course that it is the final act.

The story (yep, unlike No.2 this one has a story) is that the autobots sent a ship out into the galaxy nearing the end of the Cybertronian War which crash landed on the Earth's moon. The Yanks found out about this, which is why they were so eager to land there in the late sixties, their real mission being to investigate this alien vessel. Turns out have the dormant former autobot leader Sentinel Prime (voiced by Leonard Nimoy, the voice of Galvatron in the original animated film) on board, and he has a cargo that could hand the Decepticons final victory in the Cybertronian war and grant them dominion throughout the universe.

So the stakes are huge, so is the budget. So are the nods to older characters. Uber badass Shockwave finally makes an appearance, the autobots treating him with suitable fear and trembling. The rebel autobot Wreckers make an appearance, though as particularly vulgar characters. The autobots have the odds stacked against them, beaten and exiled, and yet triumph in the end after much sacrifice.

I won't say too much about the plot. Though there aren't many surprises, you're better off seeing them in the film than reading them in this review.

THis is easily the best characterisation of Optimus Prime, and also Megatron in the film series. Sentinel is an excellent addition, and I must admit to chuckling at the various Spock references throughout the film.

So with the human actors. LeBeouf, who I quite liked in the first and found tolerable in the second, is here just annoying. We swap the brunette Barbie Doll Megan Fox, for an actual Barbie Doll in Rosie Huntington Whitely. Though to compensate not being able to see Megan draped over a motor bike in short shorts, we are shown a close up from behind of Rosie walking up a flight of stairs in her underwear. As a matter of fact, that is her introductory scene which tells you all you need to know about her character. Frances McDormand and John Malkovich are both welcome additions and their characters both appear to have walked in off the same film John Turtorro's had in the first movie. Patrick Dempsey is perfect in his role as an oily business man conductor of mass enmity.

Spike's parents were so funny in the first film, and so vulgar in the second, hear they have improved to being merely banal.

Some of the set pieces are astonishing, the highlight being some humans trapped in a sky scraper leaning on another sky scraper, trying desperately to make their way across the fallen building into the still intact one as Shockwave tears the building apart, but the whole battle sequence in Chicago is breathtaking. The ending is suitably dramatic and feels final.

What can I say? Loved the transformer characterisations in this one. Had a couple of decent human characters added and actually had a story, even if it was pretty thin. Better than the second, not as good as the first. Loved it!
11 out of 15 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
2/10
Where will the explosions stop?
tbmforclasstsar28 June 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Around a half hour into watching the third installment in the Michael Bay driven Transformers franchise, a very serious thought entered my head.

"What the f*** is this movie?"

I really am not sure where to begin when discussing such a chaotic mess that seemed like a 6 hour movie stuffed into a two and a half hour potato sack and beaten repeatedly with a pillow case filled with bars of soap.

I guess we can start with the goals that seemed to be laid out in making this third film.

First off, action and CGI were, without a doubt, the number one priority in this film. This makes complete sense. The action and CGI is really exciting to look at and a getaway for some viewers when they see a film; robots transforming from cars, buildings collapsing from the sky, soldiers flying into battle in wing suits, and what must have been thousands of explosions all in 3D.

The next objective had to be comic relief. If you are a minor character, you will say something funny. If you are a small transforming robot, you will definitely say something funny. Don't forget to make the jokes a little more vulgar than the first two films and even a little cheesier. Cheese sells.

The last major objective had to be how much sex appeal can we put in this movie. I suppose when you cast the likes of a Victoria Secret model in her first role in a film (see my previous article about Ms. Huntington-Whiteley from yesterday) and the hunky doctor from Grey's Anatomy your film is set to draw boys and girls alike.

The film accomplishes all of these goals, but at what cost (now it's as if I'm talking in an Optimus Prime voice). What about story? Coherence? Character development? Audience to character relationship?

It seems like I am just beating a dead horse over and over again (or a horse that surely does more coke than Tony Montana when directing his films), but I am more and more offended each time I see a Michael Bay film. Even more so, I am offended every time some moron in the theater tonight started clapping when Bumble Bee had a stellar looking upper cut kill or Rosie Huntington-Whiteley stood slow-mo with explosions blasting all around her (not joking, they clapped).

Transformers: Dark of the Moon is a bumbling mess of fire and loud noises and is just another film for Michael Bay to add to the references on his resume for most ridiculous director of all time.

Even worse is the flow and logic of Dark of the Moon. I have seen plenty of films to accept that not understanding what is going on doesn't really matter, but it is different with a mainstream blockbuster. When watching a David Lynch film, you can expect something like this. When watching a film about transforming robots, coherence should be somewhat standard.

For the first hour and a half of the film I had no idea what city the film was in. I heard Sam (Shia LaBeouf) say "DC" early on, so I assumed that was where we were. But then his girlfriend Carly (Huntington- Whiteley) worked at the Milwaukee Art Museum (it took a while to realize that the museum was now fictionally home to her boss) and a fight takes place on a highway listing signs to "Aurora" and "Rt. 20" (names that any Chicago kid would recognize). Hell, the headquarters of NEST is clearly the downtown loop area.

So after a certain transformer leaves the NEST headquarters and is next to the reflecting pool in DC moments later, I thought "either Bay has decided his audience will have no idea what length of time passes from cut to cut or Milwaukee and Chicago are now Washington DC." I think the answer is the latter, but I am still not sure.

This is just one example of the incoherence that can be found in this film (like how Bumble Bee saves Sam in the middle of the battle and moments later is on his knees for execution by the hands of the decepticons). It is bewildering how unorganized this film is.

Maybe the final goal of Michael Bay in this film was to bring back memories of some of the most significant events in the United States since the 1960s. The film includes the Apollo 11 story, a rocket ship blowing up after take off that is extremely familiar to the Challenger explosion in 1986, and, as if the event being referenced wasn't fresh in many minds, sky scrapers tumbling to the ground and characters falling out of windows to their death.

There seemed to be no goal to the film other than mind fluff; expensive, loud, and annoyingly repetitive mind fluff. As a major credit to the special effects and CGI team, the film's action is a tremendous accomplishment. The problem is the success is contained in a film that has absolutely no other redeeming qualities.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon is almost too bad to describe. I would like to say it contains the worst story and flow in any movie I have ever seen, but that would just seem overly dramatic.

I will say this, there were much better ways I could have spent my $15.50 and two and a half hours of my life than seeing this film. There have been enough films with explosions in the last five years to not have one for another 50.
208 out of 355 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
Fantastic
tgernwnk29 June 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Just been to see it at the odeon in Liverpool switch island in 3d, wow fantastic movie, i need to see it again to take it all in, full of action and a far better story that the previous one although i liked the second one, i was somewhat sad at the end to see a lot of decepticons killed off, but we all know they can be brought back to life. Don't miss this in 3d its one of the best i have seen so far.

its got lots of laughs and a few new autobots, although a lot of people did not like the twins in the last movie, i felt they should of been included in this one even if it was a small appearance.

Lets hope they don't stop there and bring us more of the transformers.
35 out of 47 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Cracking Action Sci Fi - Don't believe the hate!
jonathan27030 June 2011
Warning: Spoilers
I'm a big fan of the original blah blah....... Make no mistake - as per the first two Bay-Em-ups, this is not G1 Cartoon - and why should it be? I loved the originals, the comics, the books, the toys – I'm 31 and lived through it all in the 80's. I don't consider myself a fan-boy, but I would have liked things to have been a little closer to the cartoon/toys. Michael Bay has access to cutting edge 3D and CGI tech, and all of the latest military hardware on tap to make this a massive summer blockbuster - and for me, it did not disappoint. Importantly the errors from the second film have been eradicated, Yes - a few clichés may be in there, and a couple of superfluous characters, and it may not be intellectually challenging (Just in case you were wondering – some reviewers have scored it on this basis) - but who cares? It's not an Intellectual subject matter...... Alien Robots have a war on earth....... enough said. Do I want to see Optimus with his trailer?......yes. Do I want to see massive robots smackdowns?...........yes. The fit new bird in tight her panties and tight fitting dresses?.....er - hell yes! Lots of awesome supercars?... of course, and what about a bunch of army dudes with flying squirrel suits being chased by a Decepticon and then smashing the sh@t out of it when the all crash land???......your damn right I do!! And that my friends, is exactly what this film delivered - lots of cool 'laugh out loud - it's that amazing, action stuff!' There is bit of light relief from silly (but still amusing) small robots and Sam's parents again, but nowhere near as much as previous - and thank god - no Jive Talking Autobots!. Turturro is funny as hell – and so are John Malkovich's teeth! I didn't want to see this film, as I was disappointed by the second film. But this is awesome!! Best of the three by a country mile! In fact, I honestly can't think of a better big budget sci-fi actioner. The 3D is amazing too! Seriously guys – Don't believe the negatives!
22 out of 34 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
5/10
Well I pretty much got what I was expecting.
Hamzakhalid3 January 2012
Warning: Spoilers
I'm seriously surprised at most of the reviews that streamed about this movie. I think that critics and movie reviewers need some perspective, this is a Michael Bay film about transforming robots that kids used to play with (including me), so I went in with the right amount of expectations and got a very impressive visual experience. Now I'm not giving Micheal Bay an excuse to make a bad film but as far his movies go, this is definitely one of his finer ones.

It has both its pros and cons. Pros: The story is a HUGE improvement over the second one, with some good twists added there and then, albeit a bit long. Now it's not Phenomenal story telling but acceptable enough for a good fun summer action film. The character development is able to keep me watching since the second one had absolutely NONE of it. The SFX are fantastic. This movie has the best CGI out of all 3 in the trilogy. Even the smallest robots look very realistic. The action scenes are AMAZING. I could actually differentiate between the good guys and bad guys this time, its amazing how much more depth it adds to the scenes. The highway scene is my favourite from the movie. The robots also get a lot more screen time and pay a more important part to the story than before. Unlike in the second one, each robot gets a fair amount of screen time and does something useful instead of just being the military's attack dogs.

The cons: The humor is unnecessary and unfunny, although it has been cu down to minimal amounts .The romance is useless and awkward. The two main leads don't have any chemistry and I don't see why Shia needs to be paired up with a hot supermodel every film (or why he still even needs to be there at all). The acting is meh, shia and josh are great but the rest of the cast is pretty...meh. Rosie has very little acting talent, although she is a slight improvement over megan fox in terms of acting. The soundtrack is awesome but it sounds very very similar to the scores in the Dark Knight and Inception. The decepticons are still portrayed as mere evil destruction machines who hate everything, i wish they were more developed characters and that the relationships between the robots were explored more, I mean, whenever any bot dies, the others are literally cool with it two seconds later and do not mention the incident again. (SPOILER) Megatron is no longer the evil villain bent on dominian, instead he's simply the anti hero who is solely focused on saving his planet, HE EVEN SAVES PRIME'S LIFE at the last second simply because Rosie called him sentinel's bitch(SPOILER).The biggest problem which I had with the ending is that it is wrapped up too quickly, another 2 mins would have been fine. The movie's run time is very long, the first hour could've been done in 10 minutes.

Overall I think the movie is able to deliver a very entertaining experience. Yes the trilogy would have been better in different hands but I was able to enjoy it as much as I did the first one. Just don't go in expecting anything revolutionary or brilliant, turn of your mind, ready the pop corn and enjoy.

My rating: 7/10
25 out of 36 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
Top Class Film
jatinder37715 December 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Having watched this film I think Michael Bay definitely learnt from the mistake he made in ROTF. He cut out all of the stupid comedy e.g the twins.

He also made the overall plot a hell of a lot better, the way they linked in the moon landing to Transformers was fantastic I thought, and additionally the old footage they used was clever.

The action scenes were pumped up so much more, and I felt genuine sorrow when IronHide died, and BumbleBee was going to be executed. The background music composed by Steve Jablonsky was fantastic and never so more appreciated during the car chase scene when they are tyring to protect Sentinel.

People will criticise because it is a typical Hollywood block buster but if you want pure escapism then watch the film
62 out of 88 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Quite A Spectacle
jakimiku13 July 2011
Well, lets get a quick look at the film. Explosions, CGI, 3D and after these comes everything else. These three things are the main reason why one should watch Transformers: Dark of the Moon. We all know who Mr. Bay is and what his movies are famous for: explosions, explosions, explosions and destruction, destruction, destruction. Plot has never been his strongest feature, but hey, and i am being totally honest here, it works well enough, at least for me. All i wanted to see was a typical Michael Bay movie, something like Armageddon or the first Transformers, and what i got was a pleasant surprise.

So, before watching the movie its probably not a sin to say that we were certain of one thing: it couldn't have been worse than Revenge of the Fallen, which, lets be honest, was pretty atrocious. This time we've got plot linked to Moon and Apollo 11, which was clever and worked well for the movie, decepticons taking over the world and turning Chicago into something we're used to see in The Terminator movies and autobots with their human allies resisting them. Oh, and what we don't have is Megan Fox. Thank God for that. The new female lead, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley has one task: be pretty and well its safe to say that she succeeds at it, no one expects her to deliver an award-winning performance, but she did really good (it's her first film by the way) and she fits in the movie and with Sam very well.

Anyway, the film is much bigger and more serious than the previous ones. This time we've got emotion and character, which maybe has something to do with, again having Steve Jablonsky and Linkin Park for soundtrack. Iridescent which is played at some points creates an excellent aura. All this decepticon destruction and "drawing the bigger picture" motive provides us with more seriousness and depth.

So all in all, Transformers: Dark of the Moon was an awesome watch. It could be for anyone, if only one goes to watch it for the right reasons (needlessly to say explosions, CGI and 3D). We've got fast pace, a lot of visuals, romance, a lot of mayhem and well, a moral (presented heavily with clichés but, hey, no harm). All of which are vital components for a solid summer blockbuster and a clear head to define Transformers as something more than meets the eye. Just sit back and expect a fun and adventurous ride and you won't be disappointed.
30 out of 49 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
1/10
I have seen the future of horror, and his name is Michael Bay
usskirkncc300130 June 2011
Warning: Spoilers
He has now made two blockbuster movies which make no sense no matter how many ways you try to put them together, and people don't seem to care. The critics have brutally trashed both this movie and "The Fallen" movie, yet audiences love both films although they seem to have been put together by a group of 2nd graders who playing out randomly strung together old cartoon episodes with their toys.

I am an old school fan who liked the first two movies, but "Dark of the Moon" makes "Fallen" look like Shakespeare. It's incredible how many people are saying that this movie is better than "Fallen". With all its faults, at least "Fallen" had humor, some incredible action sequences and effects, and an interesting, if incomplete, script. This movie has none of these things. This is a very long and boring movie that wastes the talents of good actors. The attempts at humor are painful to watch. The three Transformers movies cannot be connected now no matter how hard you try. To make another sequel would be ludicrous, but seeing how much money this drivel is making already, I bet they have already taken the five minutes needed to write the next one. The original writers were smart to bail out of this train wreck after Bay made them write "Fallen" in a couple of days and went on to butcher the little that they had time to write. This time there was no writers' strike, so I expected better--like explanations and connections across all three films. You'll get none of that here, just more incomprehensible nonsense that ignores the other films. You don't know what's going on half the time, and the final battle has no pacing, motivation, or orientation--it just drags on and on and on---like that 20 minute desert sequence in "The Fallen" multiplied by 10.

What happened to the Cube's knowledge in Sam's brain? Why was Sentinel Prime's ship shot down by the people that were working with him? How was Megatron going to rendezvous with him if they ended up finding earth in different time periods? Why did Megatron go after the cube if the original plan seemed to be to enslave earth and transport Cybertron there using the space bridge? How did Sentinel's ship crash on earth's moon if it was shot down over Cybertron? Why didn't Megatron go after the Space Bridge parts when he awoke in the first movie? Why didn't he after he awoke in the second movie? Why didn't they use the shard in the second movie to activate Sentinel on the moon instead of Megatron? How did Sentinel, the Cube, and the Sun Harvester all end up on earth? Why are the Transformers not even bothering to project human images in their car modes anymore? Why does Prime carry The Matrix of Leadership (a key to activate the Sun Harvester) inside of him and use it to energize Autobots which it is not meant to do? When, why, and how did an entire army of generic Decepticons hide inside of the moon? Why do the Transformers transform? These are just a few of about a hundred questions that this movie brings up. I suspect that not even Michael Bay knows the answers, and he doesn't care. it's insulting.

There are some good ideas, but it's all put together very badly, and not much is explained. Watching this movie gave me the feeling that Bay and the actors are here to wrap this up and are not interested in this material. The studios will be pressuring him to make #4, so he can get some 3rd graders together to write a script again---yet another group of Autobots has been buried in a volcano for 4 million years! They can transform to dinosaurs-- no explanation is necessary. Out of all of the planets in the infinite universe, their ship crashed on earth because...well because the script says so. They were looking for the cube, no-- the Harvester, no-- the space bridge, no wait...they were looking for the ancestor of Michael Bay. If Bay is never born, these movies would never exist and we can reboot.
324 out of 575 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Good for the series
ry-bier10 March 2012
Warning: Spoilers
I liked this movie. After the first two I thought this one looked pretty good, better than the first two. It was. I was expecting a long final battle sequence. It took up almost half the movie, which was cool. The acting was pretty good, not to bad. The special effects were some of the best I had ever seen. The Oscar nominated special effects were very fluid. The explosions and fight scenes looked almost more than real. I liked the story, too. I liked the Sentinal Prime betrayal thing, but, the thing with the pillars was kinda strange. The things I didn't like about it was that it starts out slow and sort of dull. But after that it gets steadily better and better. So, for all that I give it an eight out of ten. I do recommend this movie for people who like great special effects and action.
7 out of 9 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
An error has occured. Please try again.

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed