Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) Movie Review

Synopsis:

Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) continues to hunt down what remains of the Decepticons alongside the human strike team, NEST. They soon discover a Cybertronian spacecraft hidden on the Moon. With this discovery, they must protect its secrets from the Decepticons, who intend to use them for their devious schemes.

Review:

It was obvious from the outset that Dark of the Moon’s predecessor, Revenge of the Fallen, was Bay’s weakest entry yet.

It's a film that had downright awful humor, a non-existent plot, and a weak main antagonist. Despite that, it was another box-office success.

For this third installment, most of these flaws are still present. What's fortunate is that they’re not as frustrating.

To begin the film, audiences resume Sam Witwicky’s (Shia LaBeouf) adventure.

This time, it's with his new girlfriend, Carly Spencer (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley).

This new change is jarring, as there is no explanation given for what happened to Megan Fox’s Mikaela.

Even more so than Mikaela, Carly is another pretty face yet again, who is also a damsel in distress.

At least with Mikaela, she proved somewhat useful in Transformers’ (2007’s) final battle.

Aside from a few plot points, Rosie’s character doesn’t receive much development and is one of the film’s low points.

One other element that often struggles is the film's pacing.

For Dark of the Moon’s first half, viewers must sit through more human drama and stereotypes. There are also more government subplots.

These have been present since Transformers (2007). In that movie, they were at least bearable.

In this film, Michael Bay goes full exposition. As a result, it impacts the film’s pacing.

As usual, Dark of the Moon’s visual effects, sound design, and action are all highlights.

In this movie’s final half, audiences are witnesses to a non-stop rollercoaster of action in Chicago.

This film also focuses more on the humans during the action, with one involving wingsuits.

As a whole, it’s a well-shot and fast-paced sequence, which makes it fun to witness.

Once again, Steve Jablonsky’s score punctuates these sequences. With it, he delivers near-epic results at times.

Although there is still unnecessary human drama in these scenes, it is the film’s biggest form of entertainment by far.

For Dark of the Moon, there is also a new Autobot character whose voice actor Star Trek fans will recognize.

Veteran actor Leonard Nimoy lends his talents to former Autobot leader Sentinel Prime. It’s an appropriate choice, giving him as much presence as Peter Cullen's Optimus.

Conclusion:

Altogether, Dark of the Moon is a decent improvement over Revenge of the Fallen.

It still has some pacing issues, relentless exposition, and dry characters. If it improved on these aspects, it could have reached the quality of Transformers (2007).

Regardless, Dark of the Moon has some fast-paced action, visuals, and an epic soundtrack.

These elements should be enough to entertain most Transformers or action fans.

Sam’s Action Reaction score:

Characters - 5.5/10

Story - 5/10

Action - 8/10

CGI and visuals - 8/10

Soundtrack - 8/10

Overall score: 6.8 out of 10