Transformers: Dark of the Moon movie review

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Mon, 27 Jun 2011 3:00p.m.

Sentinel Prime in Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Sentinel Prime in Transformers: Dark of the Moon

By Kate Rodger

Michael Bay is the Hollywood director people love to hate for his big dumb action movies. But love him or hate him, Bay knows how to make movies which make money, truckloads of money, movies which appeal to a mass audience who just want to watch stuff blow up. 

This he does with relentless intensity in his Transformers movies, and the third one, Dark of the Moon, is his biggest bang yet.

Much to my surprise at the time, I was part of the cheerleading squad for Bay’s first Transformers film; I loved it. I was also among the disappointed masses when Revenge of the Fallen dropped the ball. But despite a drubbing from the critics and many fans, the film still grossed NZ$1 billion globally, writing Bay’s ticket for more where that came from.

All eyes are now on Dark of the Moon, the first to be delivered in IMAX 3D, increasing its Box Office value even more.

For the uninitiated, the Transformers franchise is based on the bestselling Hasbro toy, and is essentially an ongoing story about good robots and bad robots (transformers) from outer space who are now resident on planet earth and who fight each other, alot.

Humans get mixed up in the fighting too of course, and lots and lots of stuff gets blown up.

To round the movie experience off, and given the Bay target market of teenage boys of all ages, we, of course, require eye candy.

The first two Transformers turned Megan Fox into a pin-up screensaver superstar, until the  Bay/Spielberg powerhouse swapped her out in the third for British Victoria’s Secret supermodel Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (keep an ear out early on, as Bay takes a swipe at Fox via his scriptwriters).

You may also burst out laughing, as I did, with one of the most memorable objectifications of the female form in recent cinema history, as Bay introduces Carly (Huntington-Whiteley) to Transformers audiences by way of a tracking shot, up stairs, from behind. 

So gratuitous to be hilarious, any feminine outrage at a Michael Bay film so obviously a pointless exercise in futility (what was I expecting?).

Let us ponder the premise for a moment.  Tying the story together this time around is the idea the moon-landing wasn’t as it appeared, with an Autobot crash-landing on the moon in the 1960’s, leading to the space race.

Fast-forward to now, and our human hero Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) is trying to readjust to real life after saving the planet in the last movie, he’s dumped Mikaela (Megan Fox), and is now in love with Carly (Huntington-Whitely).  He’s also job-hunting, that is until a Decepticon take-over is launched (the bad robots) and Optimus Prime, Ironhide, and the rest of our loyal Autobots (the good robots) leap to our defence.  All-out war breaks out and Planet Earth could be part of the collateral damage unless Sam and Optimus Prime save the day yet again.

There are a few new characters and transformers, with Bay even managing to call up class acting talents John Malkovich and Frances McDormand for a mini-break from their usual fare.  Watch out too for a classic cameo early on.

And that’s about the sum of it.  Again, while Bay gives this story more time to breathe, it still suffers from muddiness and silliness, and at two and a half hours this movie was way too long! 

As a fan of the first Transformers, neither the last one nor this lives up, but there’s no doubt Dark of the Moon is an improvement. Some of the IMAX 3D action sequences are insanely good fun, making this one of the few movies released lately worth the extra ticket price.

So you get the picture, Transformers does what it says on the tin.  It’s big, it’s brash, it’s loud, it’s dumb and it’s mostly entertaining if that’s what you’re up for.  Yep, it’s your quintessential Michael Bay movie. 

Three and a half stars.

3 News

    Transformers: Dark of the Moon
:: Director:Michael Bay
:: Starring:Shia LaBeouf, John Malkovich, Josh Duhamel, Hugo Weaving, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Patrick Dempsey, John Turturro, Frances McDormand, Alan Tudyk
:: Running Time: 154 mins
:: Rating:M - Contains violence and offensive language.
:: Release Date: June 29, 2011
:: Trailer: Click here

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Comments

03 Jul 2011 11:58a.m.

Angus wrote:

I think DOTM is both the best TF film and the best film of 2011 so far. The story is great, the action is extraordinary and Michael Bay kept his promises on a less dorky and more darker film. The robots also felt more like characters in the film, and their Transformations are much clearer and look great in 3D (which really is the best since Avatar). I give it a solid 4 stars.

26 Jun 2011 11:18a.m.

David wrote:

Sorry but I agree with the other comments kate you have forgotten to talk about the cinematography and the 3D been possible the best so far?

26 Jun 2011 10:34a.m.

Review? wrote:

Somewhere in your review you may consider including a review? Because I don't see anything.

26 Jun 2011 03:02a.m.

Josh wrote:

Revenge of the Fallen made under $850 million, not a billion. That's a huge difference, lady.

25 Jun 2011 10:28p.m.

Nhashon wrote:

After listening to your review on transformers dark of the moon , i felt lost . Sorry to say that Kate but i have previously read your other interview on other movie which about 90% had a good review for a movie person who loves movies wouldnt may want to check out the movie . I though think you have failed to review this one and i guess you are gona have lots of negative comments on this movie when people see . Some things i think you totally forget about the movie is - the 3d view of the move , the story telling and the main thing which i go to the movies for is direction . Further you could have said , is it the best 3d of 2011 , the characters , the sound effects , the visuals , the robots , the effect on aduience and etc . Im still gona see this movie in 3d . And i think you 3 and half stars would probably go wrong

25 Jun 2011 06:44p.m.

Why Bother? wrote:

Maybe Kate Rodger should try reading a few movie reviews before claiming to write one. All you actually did was write your opinion of a franchise, and added a couple of specifics about this movie. Your comments on IMAX 3D did nothing to illustrate why they were 'Insanely good fun', and instead gave a hollow opinion rather than touch on things such as the quality of the 3D itself. I am going to see this movie next week, and was just wondering how the movie looks. This movie hasn't just been shot in 3D, but the transformers themselves have also been dual rendered from two slightly different angles to create a more natural 3D look - where was the comment on it's quality other than "one of the few movies released lately worth the extra ticket price"? A fifth of your 'Review' seemed like more of a bitter swipe at the casting of 'eye candy' and a tracking shot of Rosie walking up some stairs. God forbid Michael Bay should target his movie at a) the people who used to watch transformers as kids, and b) the teenage boy market, because...... It makes him Millions! It's a guy movie! Explosions, giant robots, fast paced sequences to look like more is happening than it actually is! Who cares about objectification of women? There are chic flicks made with little other direction then showing the good looking lead character taking off his shirt, or a playful shot of him naked but 'Oh wait there's a lamp in the way!'. Get over it! Men and women are objectified in movies, you just happened to be watching a movie targeted more at males. I suggest you lock yourself in a room, and read a few thousand movie reviews by professionals, and try to create a unique style for yourself that covers all of the bullet points for writing a movie review. Maybe next time you should give a good outline of the plot, rather than the most vague write up ever! You wrote about the humans and the Transformers we already know! What about the NEW Villain? You get an 'F' for your review. Circled. In Red.