Transformers Dark Of The Moon

Following Shia LaBeouf, reprising his role as Sam Witwicky, this Michael Bay film has everything that makes a Bay movie what it is: crashes, cliches, cleavage, and CGI. We learn that the space race of the sixties wasn't just to be the first country to set foot on the moon, but was to study some alien technology that crashed on the moon.

The story made more sense this time around compared to the second one, but really, really lacked in any emotional connections that the first one had. There were still holes throughout the story though, but most of those holes were filled by Michael Bay just fading to black and coming back and everything is okay and already happened. The characters are in about to save the world? Fade to black, come back, and there are decepticons everywhere. I did like how they took some old footage of historic events like the landing on the moon and JFK addressing the men landing on the moon. It's always fun to see old footage combine with current films to create something new. The writers seemed to try and put more story into the movie rather than just focus on the action. This was a mistake in my opinion. They dragged the story out far too long, but I won't say that most of it wasn't fun to watch.

One of the many ironies of this film was the acting. It was really funny watching Shia LaBeouf and crew pump out different emotions and lines automatically, like robots. And then on the other end of the spectrum  Michael Bay tried to humanize the Transformers a little too much for my liking. Not only were the Transformers acting more like humans, but Michael Bay added red oil to the machines to look like blood as they were cut and injured. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley playing Carly Spencer, Sam Witwicky's new girlfriend, was a better actress than Megan Fox, and I actually think is more attractive. And of course she is wearing minimal clothing for most of the film.

Another thing that really bothered me was how much the idea of fighting for freedom was pushed onto the audience. It almost felt preachy at times. There would be Optimus Prime narrating and then he would pause and end his narration with "Today we fight for freedom". Why was that needed? I just don't get it.

While the story and the acting were less than proficient, the CGI and action sequences were outstanding! That's more of why Michael Bay's films still make money is because of his great use of CGI and special effects. The slow motion, while sometimes overused, worked well and was fun to watch. Seeing the actual transformers change always makes me want to go home and pull out my old transformers toys and play with them.

Overall, it was another Michael Bay film full of his trademarks, and was a fun summer blockbuster, but as far as movies are concerned this butt-numbing two and a half hours was far too long for this Transformers.

5/10