Movie Review: "Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
Franck Tabouring
Seen on: June 29, 2011
The players: Director: Michael Bay, Writer: Ehren Kruger, Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Patrick Dempsey Tyrese Gibson
Fact of interest: None.
The plot: The Decepticons attempt to pull the damaged planet of Cybertron into Earth's atmosphere. Sam and the Autobots must stop them.
Our thoughts: Here’s the good news: Michael Bay’s latest sci-fi spectacle “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” is a tad better than its utterly forgettable predecessor “Revenge of the Fallen.” That said, the not-so-good news is that the latest installment in the popular (and ridiculously profitable) big-screen franchise isn’t exactly a memorable experience either.
Diving into the storyline with a lot of detail would be a massive waste of time, so I’ll keep this pretty short (as we all know by now, story doesn’t matter in this mega blockbuster anyway). In the film, Shia LaBeouf’s Sam Witwicky is back in action, and this time around, he assists the Autobots in a terrifyingly destructive war against new evil forces unleashed by the Decepticons.
Back when Apollo 11 landed on the moon, NASA discovered a bunch of alien material in a crashed spacecraft, and as it turns out, that’s exactly what the Decepticons need to open a portal to space in order to bring their damaged planet Cybertron into Earth’s atmosphere. Now it’s up to Sam and his metal buddies to head to Chicago and take down the nasty robot leaders before it’s too late.
Alas, the misfortune of “Dark of the Moon” begins with the superficial story. The plot here is both incoherent and utterly messy, and although it feels a tad more interesting than that of “Revenge of the Fallen,” it remains overloaded with monotonous battles and unnecessary scenes plagued by terrible dialogue and countless shots of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley’s smoking hot body.
Sure, watching her is indeed intriguing for a short while, but it does get boring rather quickly. “Dark of the Moon” is way too long, and the repetitive robot battles (though insanely spectacular at times) fail to excite most of the time. This flick is fantastic to look at, but one thing it’s clearly struggling with is the lack of suspense, a problem that already messed up most of the second film.
Despite brainless characters and no really intriguing challenges for Sam and the Autobots, “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” scores higher in the entertainment department than its predecessor. The even bigger action scenes here sure look pretty ridiculous, but they do keep things moving along swiftly, even though the special effect overkill and insane editing often make it hard for viewers to see what the hell is happening on-screen. No brains cells required for this experience…
Let me also briefly mention the 3D. I’m a big hater of the whole 3D craziness, but let me tell you, ‘Dark of the Moon” looks better than “Avatar.” There, I said it. We’re still wrestling with a darker image here, but if all the 3D films looked as amazing as this one, I would warm up to it again in no time. Bay is a visual guy, and he definitely got it right in that aspect. Too bad the 3D can’t make up for sense stupidity the film battles for 150 minutes.
The acting is terrible as well, and LaBeouf is turning in one of his worst performances. I heard he would stop doing action for a while after this, and to be honest, that’s probably for the best of all of us (him included). Much to my surprise, Rosie is actually a tad better as his girlfriend than I expected, and so is everyone else. Heck, even Patrick Dempsey does a decent job as a ruthless villain.
Freaky quote: "WHERE IS SHE?" - Shia LaBeouf
The final word: “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” is somewhat entertaining, yes. It boasts good visuals and awesome sound, but it’s stuck with a lack of suspense and dumb story. It’s all getting very old, and I feel this is the time to wrap up the franchise for good. Enough of the senseless fighting between Autobots and Decepticons. We’re all exhausted here.
On the web: http://www.transformersmovie.com/
Article by Franck Tabouring
Reader Comments (1)
How far removed is Sam Witwicky from college now? A few years? And yet, he still doesn't have a job.