I love movies. More importantly, I love seeing movies before almost everyone else. Certain movies will get me to the theater at midnight, so I figured I’d see them first and write a review the next day so you can get a real review from someone that isn’t a Hollywood hack.
In this installment… Transformers – Dark of the Moon.
The plot of Transformers is simple: sentient alien robots capable of transforming from robots to vehicles and back have been waging a civil war for several million years. In Transformers, the heroic Autobots, lead by Optimus Prime, come to Earth to stop the evil Decepticons, lead by Megatron. In Revenge of the Fallen, the Autobots take on the original Decepticon, The Fallen, who is out to use Earth’s sun to power a machine that will create enough energon, the lifeblood of the Transformers race, to repower their home planet of Cybertron.
Dark of the Moon opens in a narrative sequence that fills in the background of the final days of Cybertron, and how an Autobot ship was travelling with a secret weapon to end the war. This ship is damaged and crashes on the dark side of the moon. The real purpose of the space race and Apollo program was to investigate the crashed alien ship on the moon.
The movie continues by introducing us to Sam Witwicky’s (played by Shia LeBeouf) new love interest, Carly, played by newcomer Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, in what may be among the most shameless opportunities a film director has ever taken to stare at a Victoria’s Secret model’s ass for several minutes (not that I’m complaining). Carly ably replaces the first two movies’ Mikaela, played by Megan Fox, who was reportedly fired by executive producer Steven Spielberg after she compared the movie’s director, Michael Bay, to a Nazi, about which he was supposedly livid.
The first act is equal parts Sam finding his way in the world after graduating from college, and discovering that even a medal from the President (Obama, in a rather nifty scene) isn’t enough to get a job in today’s post-recession job market, and the unraveling of the conspiracy on the moon. After the existence of the ship, called The Ark, is revealed, Optimus Prime and Ratchet, the Autobot leader and medic respectively, travel to the moon and awaken Sentinel Prime (voiced by Leonard Nimoy), the former leader of the Autobots. Prime awakens Sentinel Prime, and Sentinel reveals the existence of space bridge technology, which would allow for the instantaneous transport of resources.
In the interests of maintaining a spoiler free review, I won’t go any further into the story, as the culmination of Act One sets the tone of the rest of the movie.
If Transformers was our introduction to the world of the Transformers, and Revenge of the Fallen was a battle in a long war, then Dark of the Moon is the trilogy’s Normandy. For the nearly two hour running time, it doesn’t let up. The exposition is kept to a minimum except where necessary, and the action is turned up to 11.
Make no mistake: this movie is Michael Bay’s magnum opus. It is the distillation of everything he’s done into possibly the greatest action movie ever filmed. What he has managed to capture on film is remarkable, and worthy of Oscar recognition for special effects and sound. The storyline will not win anyone expecting anything deep and complicated over, but it serves it’s purpose, guiding the audience from one outstanding action sequence to the next.
The film’s third act is especially worth noting. In this Act, the Decepticons have invaded Earth, and set up shop in Chicago. There is carnage. People die. Autobots die. Decepticons die. It is all out war in a city I used to call home. I recognized streets and buildings I used to walk by. It was visceral in a way I don’t think I’ve ever experienced from any movie.
For those of you that have followed the series so far, and for those of you that have watched Transformers since the 80s Generation One series, this incarnation of Optimus Prime is the most vicious and violent version yet. He takes no prisoners. He has no mercy. Given the events of the film, I’m 100% okay with this. It fits what the character has gone through. No version of Optimus endures what this one does.
On a more technical note, I expect this movie to be a mainstay of home theaters as a reference disk for years to come. The audio quality was outstanding, and the score was excellent. The visuals will be phenomenal on Blu-Ray on an HDTV. As for the theater experience, the 3D quality is the best I’ve ever seen. If you saw Avatar for the 3D, then you need to see Dark of the Moon. In fact, Michael Bay actually sent a letter to projectionists with specific directions to ensure that the movie was presented as best as possible.
My moviegoing companions this evening were two friends, one who is as crazy about these kinds of movies as I am, and the other who is, frankly, a movie snob. He doesn’t generally like big action movies, and hated the first two films in the series. All three of us left the theater raving about how amazing Dark of the Moon was, and for Friend #2 to say that, it’s got to be good.
The only weakness in the film are the minute details of the plot. Michael Bay paints in broad strokes, so this is to be expected, and doesn’t significantly detract from the film.
My final verdict is this: take the fastest means of transportation available to you and go to your local movie theater as soon as possible and throw money at the box office until they tell you to stop for the earliest possible showing of Transformers – Dark of the Moon in 3D you can attend. Then, grab a large soda and pee (not necessarily in that order), cause you’re not gonna want to leave the theater after this starts.
My rating:
