Transformers: Dark of the Moon Movie Review

I’ll be the first to admit that I went into watching Transformers 3 with an expectation of 0. The previous two movies had been very discouraging with their focus on Shia LeBouf and Megan Fox. The one thing I can say about the movies, the CGI effects and battle sequences have always been more than stunning. Yet, the first two movies were soulless shells wrapped in visual chocolate. It wasn’t hard to enter the third movie expecting more of the same.

For the most part, we did receive more of the same, except we received more of the Transformers it seemed than humans in this go around. That small change made a small difference with this movie; it was no longer a completely soulless shell, but a partial soul.

There was still a lot of Shia LeBouf engulfing the storyline, though perhaps it was the lack of Megan Fox that made it seem more alive. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley replaced Megan Fox as LeBouf’s love interest in the film. While this was Huntington-Whiteley’s first real acting role, her abilities have already surpassed Fox’s abilities as an actress. That said, I completely could have done without the explicitly long camera pans of her body, as it all seemed highly unnecessary and playing only to a specific audience type. LeBouf doesn’t improve his acting ability in this installment, remaining comical unintentionally.

The story itself wasn’t terrible as it gave the characters some conflicts to actually deal with and not just focus on LeBouf getting or keeping his girl. The main story is that an Autobot ship crashed on the moon in the early 1960s. The US and Russia were in a race not just to get into space, but to also get to the moon to inspect the crash. The use of real footage from the historic space race was amazing and a nice touch. Though, I could have done without the stand-in for President Kennedy when it wasn’t the actual footage. It just didn’t seem to mesh well. The rest of the footage worked amazingly well. Eventually, the Autobots on Earth learn of the crash site and go there to investigate, finding Sentinel Prime and some of the items he was protecting. I can’t go into much more detail without major spoilers, though I will say the story is quite interesting and entertaining. The side storyline is that of LeBouf trying to keep his girlfriend. The storylines to intersect and do so in a way that makes sense.

As I said earlier, the special effects were amazing for this movie. Michael Bay doesn’t waste any money on cheap special effects. However, I recently came across an article about one particular section of this movie’s special effects. At first, it’s rather surprising, though further down into the article, it becomes logical to what they did. http://www.gofobo.com/node/2426531

This movie was shot in 3D, meaning that from beginning to end (aside from the scene in the article above) was made to be seen in 3D. In the beginning, the use of 3D was engulfing the audience and perhaps was the second best use of the 3D technology, only behind Avatar.

Overall, this is the best of three movies. This time, it isn’t just about the special effects. I’m not sure how they could follow up with a fourth movie with how this one ended. Though, I do believe I’m ready for the franchise to end this particular movie line. Perhaps in another ten years, a reboot could happen.

If you enjoyed the previous two films, you’ll more than likely will enjoy this film, as well. For those who didn’t enjoy the previous two films, much like myself, you’ll find yourself entertained from beginning to end without too much eye rolling. The only eye roll sections I found were for Huntington-Whiteley’s scenes when they pan over her body and when, during extreme fight scenes, she comes out of the debris pristine and very supermodel-like with wind-blown hair.

Make certain to see this movie in 3D as it does pop more so than most other movies. And see if you can catch all of the amusing quips they make towards Megan Fox and other references.