Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Analysis and Review

The action gets better and the story gets longer

After the revelation of actually analyzing Revenge of the Fallen, my expectations for the next film were quickly set on low. However when the first trailers popped up all of a sudden my expectations were high and the new addition of Rosie Huntington Whitely (who I predicted probably can't act but would like more than Megan Fox after what happened in the last movie) so like last time: myself and 7 of my other friends (not the unusually large number of 14 like last time) decide to go see the movie. And again, even though we all showed up really really really really early to the premier showing, we still wound up in the front row. So was the reaction exactly the same as my experience with Revenge of the Fallen? Well...

The Plot

Despite being awarded by the President for his heroic acts in the last film and meeting a new girl (Rosie Huntington Whitely) after Mikaela breaks up with him, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) is having a hard time finding a job. Lucky for him he does get one while at the same time the Autobots led by Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) discover that there is an ancient secret hidden on the moon. That secret? Their long lost leader Sentinel Prime (Leonard Nimoy) who has a device that can save their home world of Cybertron. Unfortunately for them a battle scarred Megatron (Hugo Weaving) and his Decepticons forces are once again after this device, leading all plot points to collide in Chicago.

Analysis

Just in case you didn't read my review on Revenge of the Fallen, particularly the Analysis portion, I'll just summarize it for this one. Its better to watch this movie with a crowd of rowdy fans on opening night than to see this a week later or home alone. Because watching this movie alone and not surrounded by rowdy fans will result into a startling revelation: the movie is shit. Well for me personally not complete shit but I liked it enough to say that I still enjoy it but I'm not going to deny that it is still bad.

Review

There is a pattern I'd like to point out. Strange Prologue. Sam is down on his luck. Something gets discovered. Autobots enter the picture. Government enters the picture. Decepticons show up. Confront the villain. Make out with hot girlfriend who is way out of Sam's league. That seems to be the pattern that these movies are going at. It worked well for the first movie because... that's the first movie. It didn't work well for the second movie because the writers tried to hide that it is the same movie by adding a bunch of other stuff that does a poor stuff of hiding the sameness. Then there is this movie that once again adds a lot of stuff that is not really necessary. However this time around all that other stuff is actually characters this time. That's right, this time more characters that I don't remember their names are added in order to give this movie a more ensemble feel than the long drawn out epic feel they were going for from the last one. However like I said I don't remember most of the new characters. And if I do, I'm trying to understand why do they have to be in the movie.

The biggest addition that should be noted is Patrick Dempsey as..... Dylan Gould. Had to look that up for a moment. He plays Sam's new girlfriend's boss who also happens to be in an alliance with the Decepticons. Why? Uh.... I don't really know why. Other than the fact that he'll be spared from whatever it is the Decepticons planned to do with humanity, just know that he's evil. This could've been a great role for Dempsey who at the time was only known as McDreamy from Grey's Anatomy. It is obvious that he wanted to use this role to break away from the mold, but it doesn't really help him because the character was not really well thought out other than he's good looking and he's evil.

Then let's talk about the obvious. Megan Fox is gone after having a dispute with Michael Bay. So she was written out and replaced by a character straight from the cartoons called Carly. And who did they get to play this character from the G1 show? A Victoria's Secret Model that Bay worked with on one of the lingerie empire's commercials. Oh yeah, and because she's British the character is now British. Rosie Huntington Whitely does offer something fresh despite having no great acting skills and not a very good range. Unlike the relationship between Mikaela and Sam in the previous two films there was something genuinely real about the relationship between Carly and Sam in this film. Again, I'm going to stress that she's not that great. And critics expecting her to wow them were really harsh. But then again that's what we do. But the thing is she was more believable as someone who genuinely likes Sam rather than Fox's Mikaela character. And if the goal was to make the relationship believable, then by all means it worked. Could they have gotten a real actress and made it better? Honestly no, because even a talented actress like Gemma Arterton (who was in the running before Whitely) would not have been able to save a poorly written role. The only thing that saved it was the way she is around LaBeouf's Sam. And frankly that's all I could ask from her really. Plus her character does a really ballsy move in the movie that automatically makes her better than Mikaela.

Shia LaBeouf does what Shia LaBeouf does... play Sam Witwicky. And yup. He's still Sam Witwicky.

Then of course lets get to the big villain of the story: Leonard Nimoy's Sentinel Prime. PLOT TWIST! Okay I know I shouldn't spoil it, but the movie has been out for a long time by now and even when you see the movie you kinda see it coming. Because first of all the Marketing and Official Plot Synopsis released by the studio makes it seem like Shockwave (the cyclops robot riding the gigantic metal worm squid thing) is the main villain. The thing is in the trailers you never see this supposed villain do anything except for one shot pose to cock his gun. So it leads one to wonder is he really the bad guy? Then of course when Sentinel comes in one immediately knows that there is going to be a twist that he's the bad guy. And why is he the bad guy? "The Needs of the Many, outweigh the Needs of the Few." Good way to quote Spock, Mr. Nimoy. So really his motivations don't exactly make sense about bringing an entire dying planet next to a live planet when the device that can teleport things could've easily just teleported human slaves to their planet if that was the plan. What was the point of teleporting the entire planet if they can just do that? It doesn't make sense!

Yes, the action in this movie is a lot better than the previous two combined. Things can be seen clearly and we can easily tell who is fighting who. This is mainly attributed to director Michael Bay adjusting to IMAX 3D cameras which forces him to shoot this way. And thankfully for those of us who just want to watch a movie where giant robots kill giant robots, it is a blessing. However the action does get dragged out. And I mean really dragged out. The Third Act usually consists of the last 30 minutes of a movie while this one it seems to consist of the last hour of a movie. And to top it all of the beginning did kind of drag as well. But at least it didn't drag to the point where things got boring. It was still fun and the action is exciting to watch. And even though the action is clearer, it seems like one could care less about the safety of the heroic Autobots against the slew of nameless Decepticons.

Also, yes, the final three way battle between Optimus Prime, Sentinel Prime and Megatron (remember him?) was not as great as the rest of the action. And too bad that once that battle ends, it is the end of the movie. Literally.

Final Thoughts

This was a lot better than the last movie, yet still not as good as the first. It definitely could've used a trim on the running time and it probably would've been at least equal to the first movie. At least I can still watch it and find it enjoyable. Just pure fun dumb enjoyment. But then again, nothing beats seeing this film with rowdy fans on opening night.

SCORE: 6.5/10 - The best action in the trilogy

For a review of the previous film, CLICK HERE
For a review of the next film, CLICK HERE

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - Analysis and Review

When the Hate started coming in... and Rightfully So

The hotly anticipated sequel to the 2007 unexpected (though not really if one were to think about) smash hit goes for bigger and broader in scope. And the expectations of many were so high for the cast and crew to improve on the very fixable mistakes that were made in the first one as well as enhance what was good in the first one. Does it do that? Well...

The Plot

When Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) triggers a map to a new source of power that gets embedded in his mind, he is once again thrusted into the war between the noble Autobots and evil Decepticons. With his girlfriend, Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox), and his college roommate, Leo Spitz (Ramon Rodriguez), they must trek across the globe to not only find this source of power before the Decepticons do but also hope that it may save the life of Autobot leader: Optimus Prime.

Analysis

It is actually amazing how much watching a movie on the day of release with a massive audience can make one's perception of a movie very murky. I remember it very clearly that while my group of 14 friends and I showed up really early to our screening we still wound up being stuck in the front row. It got crowded really quick, to the point where some people were willing to sit on the steps. Of course that didn't fly well for the ushers, but some refused to move.

But back to my point. I remember having an incredibly fun movie going experience watching this movie. The crow was laughing and cheering and just full of this overwhelming excitement that was intoxicating. My friends and I were caught up in all this energy that it just made the experience a thousand times more enjoyable.

However when we walked out of the theater and had dinner at the sushi establishment across the street...we never talked about whether or not we liked the movie. Which was weird because that is something we always do after seeing a movie. 

It wasn't until I bought the movie on special edition DVD (damn you blu-ray for ruining my chances of having a complete special edition DVD set) that I discovered why we didn't talk about the movie.

But it does show a lot of just how powerful the theater going experience is. Watching this movie alone is not fun. Watching this movie during matinee would not be fun either. Watching it with a crowd of people who loves this movie no matter what? That is truly something magical. 

But now that the magic doesn't follow me to home viewing, lets talk about this piece of ****.

Review

There was a lot going on in this movie. And I do mean a lot. First there is LaBeouf's Sam having to deal with college and being away from his girlfriend. Then there's the horny conspiracy theory roommate who serves one purpose in the movie: being the conspiracy theorist. Then of course the villain from the first movie is brought back to life to kill the number one reason why people want to see this movie (Optimus Prime) so that it would really tie in to another plot of the movie. Then there's the globe trotting to get to the climax and the third act of the film. Okay that doesn't sound like a lot is going on, in fact it all goes together quite nicely on paper. The problem is a good idea on paper may not look good on screen.

As I mentioned the plot seems to be about bringing Optimus Prime back to life after getting killed by a revived Megatron. Oh, is that a spoiler? Well with all out honesty the plot of the film is marketed as an ancient Decepticon wants to harvest the sun's energy....because he wants to harvest the sun's energy. The title Revenge of the Fallen suggests that the titular Fallen (the ancient Decepticon voiced by Tony Todd) wants revenge on someone. Though as the opening prologue states: the ones he wants revenge on have been dead for thousands of years. So...there really is no revenge factor. If anyone should be getting revenge it should be Megatron (voiced by Hugo Weaving) because he was killed in the first movie. The title would've fit perfectly if that was the case because he has indeed fallen and come back to life. But no he does not seek to kill Optimus for revenge, he seeks to kill Optimus because his master The Fallen can only be killed by someone with Prime in their name. So in a sense the character who should get revenge doesn't actually get revenge on the character who would give cause for revenge but instead does things because he was told to do so. Makes sense?

Anyway this film could've gone a lot differently had it been marketed as what it is: we need to bring Optimus Prime back to life. That is the plot of the movie. But the problem is they had to make it so complex yet at the same time so convenient that a world ending device could also be the key to bringing Optimus back to life. So many moving parts for something that should really just be straight forward. Yet that plot gets mixed in with other plots that get dragged out unnecessarily. Especially with the nonexistent presence of this new villain because although he shows off that he is powerful he doesn't really do much to justify his place in the movie. Let alone justify why his name should be in the title.

The acting was just over the top. I'm not going to name names specifically because lets face it everyone was acting over the top in this movie. Even in the emotional scenes it seemed too heightened for what it should be. The one who I was paying attention to was Isabel Lucas who plays the robot disguised as a human named Alice. The reason was mainly due to her being pointed as the next big thing, and a fine actress. Unfortunately the role she was given in this movie was not a really nice display of her acting range. Which is sad because I've seen her in The Pacific and she's great. 

And the action of seeing robots fight other robots is completely ruined by not knowing who is fighting who. A lot of new hero robots are introduced, including female robots, and a lot of new villain robots are introduced, but in the end unless one is really paying attention very very very carefully (like me) you would have no idea who is who or who is fighting what. This was a minor problem in the previous one but at least there were multiple times when the fights were clear. In this one the only fight that was clear and well done was the one with Optimus battling Megatron and two other Decepticons at the same time. Other than that one part, all the other action in the movie is terrible. And this is suppose to be coming from action auteur, Michael Bay.

I should probably talk about those two idiot robots in the movie but I'm not going to waste internet space for that.

Final Thoughts

I wish I can relive that movie theater experience of seeing this movie with a crowd of blind excited fans because the movie I remembered seeing on the big screen was not the same one I saw when I watched it at home alone. And after seeing the third one that's when it dawned on me that seeing a Transformers movie with a crowd of Transformer movie fans is the best way to see the movie. You will get lost in the energy and feel like it is the greatest movie ever! But sadly it is not.

SCORE: 4/10 - A movie to enjoy only at a midnight screening with hardcore fans of the series

For a review of the previous film, CLICK HERE
For a review of the next film, CLICK HERE