Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
Certified: PG
Duration: 153 minutes
Directed by: Michael Bay
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Patrick Dempsey, Kevin Dunn, Julie White, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand
KRS release
Transformers: Dark of the Moon shows off Michael Bay’s strengths and weaknesses in such an eloquent fashion.
On one hand, the film is the best 3D to grace the big screen since Avatar: it visually offers depth, objects are hurled at the audience and there are explosions and much more in crystal clear high definition. It can be described as an exposition of technical wizardry and the minute special effects details make the film an evident work of self-obsession.
On the other hand, it once more highlights Mr Bay’s problem in telling a story; characters are not developed properly, the film has a bombastic attitude and he simply overdoses on his own hi-tech craftsmanship.
Better than the second film but lacking the urgency and tight knit storytelling of the first film, this third outing however ties up the trilogy with quite a bang. The action is spectacular and seeing those giant robots battling it out is quite a giddy feeling unto itself. Yet it all feels a tad repetitive as the last action sequence drags on for nearly more than an hour without seeming to add anything new to the story.
The war between the Autobots (the good guys) led by Optimus Prime and the Decepticons (the bad guys) led by Megatron is still going on harshly. The Autobots are given information of a spacecraft embedded on the moon where there is secret technology engineered by the venerable Sentinel Prime. When this is brought back to earth and placed in a government secret facility trouble starts brewing.
Meanwhile, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) has graduated from college, broke up with his girlfriend (Megan Fox was kicked off due to incompatibility issues with the director) and he is now hooked up with Carly (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley). Carly has her own apartment and works for a certain Dylan (Patrick Dempsey), a multi-millionaire with a dubious agenda.
Sam gets a job as a messenger with the crazy Bob Brazos (John Malkovich). He soon discovers that the Decepticons are pulling a fast one on the Autobots. A plan is afoot and Sam, along with military operatives Captain Lennox (Josh Duhamel) and Sergeant Epps (Tyrese Gibson), gets on his way to Chicago, a city which will be pushed through the grinder in an action finale spectacle.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon had the opportunity to be a great film but it is too narcissistic to actually realise that it is committing suicide on its own visual spectacle. However, the 3D sequences are handled the way the medium should be. Watching Chicago reduced to rubble, skyscrapers bite the dust, robots shooting each other up and improbable wingsuit gliding sequences all make for quite a ride that teens and fan boys will lap up. This is one of the movies where the decision of seeing it in 2D or 3D can make for a different visual experience.
The film also veers away from the first two films in a particular aspect. The death of a transformer here (good or bad robot) is much more visceral, as too are the sequences where the Decepticons get rid of their human allies.
As for the cast, Shia La Beouf screams a lot, John Turturro and Frances McDormand are a hoot while Patrick Dempsey is slimy to an extreme. John Malkovich and Ken Jeong have very weird characters and are grating on the audience’s sensibilities. Much talk was made of Victoria’s Secrets model Rosie Huntington-Whitely taking over girlfriend duties. She fills this role quite well: that is she poses, pouts, looks hot and sexy, runs through the rubble on high heels and falls through a skyscraper without breaking a sweat. All this without losing her heels or looking anything less than a teenage boy’s pin-up dream.
The roles of the military types are all left underwritten and Mr Bay was audacious enough to conclude the film with these brave soldiers in slow motion with the tattered American flag in the background.
The film sports a pompous musical score that borrows more than its fair share from the soundtrack of last year’s Inception.
Having said all this, Transformers is a summer box office extravaganza. Its assault on the senses deserves to be seen on the big screen as anything else will rob this film of its strong points: special effects that are honed to the ultimate level.