Transformers: Dark of the Moon is 100 times better than Revenge of the Fallen and is the definition of what a summer blockbuster ought to be. That’s the first thing that you should know about Michael Bay’s third, and probably final, installment of the Hasbro Transformers trilogy.
The story: Back in 1969, the United States sent the first men to the moon but there was a short period of time in which those men were on the dark side of the moon and no video feed was ever recorded. The men were really there on a secret mission to figure out what had crashed on the lunar surface. Fast forward to present day and the Autobots learn that what had actually crashed on the moon was a Cybertronian ship which held a powerful weapon that could have defeated the Decepticons during their civil war that destroyed their planet. This movie is a race to acquire the weapon and the contents of the ship before the Decepticons can use it to bring a devastating war to Earth.
Returning Transformer actors include Shia LaBeouf as the lead, Sam Witwicky, Josh Duhamel as Lennox, John Turturro as Agent Simmons, Tyrese Gibson as Epps, and Kevin Dunn and Julie White as Sam’s parents. The new faces include Sam’s new girlfriend Carly, played by the Aussie sex bomb Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Alan Tudyk as Dutch, Simmons’ assistant, with appearances by Patrick Dempsey, John Malkovich and Frances McDormand. Overall, the acting is pretty much on par with what we have seen in the previous films. Turturro, Tudyk and Malkovich stole every scene they were in because of the very comedic aspects of their roles, while everyone else acted they way we have always seen them, except instead of Megan Fox we have Rosie.
So why is this movie better than the second? Because it doesn’t have those supposedly racist robots, Skids and Mudflap. It eliminates most of those annoying and sexual robots along with all other things that make absolutely no sense in the transformers world, like a robot disguised as a human. There were no mothers getting stoned and the dialogue itself had also improved a bit. I’m not going to say that there isn’t any cheesy dialogue because there is, especially when it comes to the significant side plot of Sam’s romance with Carly. This romantic 
side story took up way too much time in my opinion and isn’t the reason people are going to see this film. This was the one and only part of the film that really bothered me and is probably why so many people laughed during some of the more serious parts (maybe we laughed at Patrick Dempsey’s character too).
As for the animation, they did a top notch job once again. The robots, and even the car versions, looked even more badass than in the first two films. Optimus had some new weapons which just made him look even more heroic, but it was the new characters, Shockwave, his pet drill worm, and Sentinel Prime, that stole every scene they were in. Not only were they massive, they were both ridiculously strong and had extremely cool weapons. It was always a visual feast whenever you got to watch them go into battle, SLIGHT SPOILER even if it sometimes ended with the loss of a popular transformer. END SPOILER. Lastly, with regards to the animation and the transforming, Bay decided to use slow motion and slow down the transforming process so that people could see it more clearly, a common complaint I had heard from the older crowd. This was a beneficial change the ended up working out really well with the 3D.
Speaking of 3D, Bay’s decision to film the movie entirely in 3D paid off really well. I was actually surprised how good it looked because I thought the speed of the movie was going to give people a headache when watching it with the glasses. I’m not an advocate of the technology but I highly recommend seeing this movie on a large screen and in 3D, it’s actually worth it this time.
As for the duration of the film, DOTM comes in at about 2 ½ hours and that was fine with me. I had no problem with this time length because I didn’t find the movie boring at all. Obviously there are some slow parts but this movie, unlike the second, tried to build its story so it seemed as if there was less action in it…that is until you get to the final 40 minutes in Chicago where you aren’t even given a chance to breathe. I probably lost a pound because of how intense the action was in the third act. It was chock full of epic robot fights, buildings falling, and one colossal Optimus battle (although not as good as the forest fight from the second film).
It seems as if Michael Bay has restored his credibility and has once again proven why people go to him when they want to make a cool action movie that involves blowing shit up and taking things to the next level (it has wing suit base jumping!) The film is not without its plot holes but I, like most guys my age, aren’t really going for the story anyway, we want to go have fun and watch robots kick some ass, which is exactly what you get. You also may laugh at its occasional corniness (or stupidity) but, remember, the Transformers TV show was also kind of corny so expect it, embrace it, and try to love some of it. Overall, Transformers DOTM is a fun film that is totally worth seeing, and hey, you might end up liking it more than the first one.
Rating: An intense, explosive, and downright epic cinematical experience; this is Transformers at its best (7/10)
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