Movie Review: Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Transformers Poster Movie Review: Transformers: Dark of the Moon

After Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen made a ton of money but was poorly received, Michael Bay and the crew promised to make this Transformers less jokey and more serious and darker in tone. He’s mostly succeeded. Transformers: Dark of the Moon is not as idiotic in places and the action scenes and effects are amazing. Sure, the movie is punishingly overlong at 157 minutes, but its mostly a fun ride.

The plot of Transformers has to do with a spacecraft hidden on the Moon with secrets that the Autobots must discover before the Decepticons. The moon prologue is very cool, a nice combo of real footage and CG trickery and the special effects are seamless. The robots and humans interact and appear to really be in the same plane of existence. Hyperactive Shia LeBeouf returns and is looking for a job (only in a Michael Bay film would a medal from President Obama be a bad thing) after saving the world twice. He has a new hottie played by someone who isn’t Megan Fox and lacks the acting prowess of a trained chimp. Acting never mattered much, there’s amazing chase scenes and the final battle in Chicago lasts almost an hour as Optimus Prime (kicking ass and taking names) battles the Decepticons led by Megatron and the awesome-looking Shockwave. John Malkovich pops up with an amusing turn as a demanding boss while Patrick Dempsey (McDreamy from the idiotic soap opera Grey’s Anatomy) pops up to sneer it up as a rich yuppie, adding very little to his Starbucks-approved role.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon excited the 12 year old boy in me. Michael Bay really knows how to create a summer blockbuster. It has mindless, spectacular action (including a freeway chase scene that is riveting) and characters (robots, not human) that you actually care about. Like the diet of rah-rah right wing action fantasies I grew up on, Bay loves the military and flag-waving nonsense, yet every time I enjoy his antics. Transformers: Dark of the Moon is like any junk food, it’s not good for you, but it tastes great and you crave it anyway.

Grade: B

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