Desperately trying to capture the greatness of the original but falling short

Rating: 7/10 (29 December 2011)

I'm not like other movie critics or movie watchers...I love a sequel...bad or good if I liked the original I will keep coming back to see the characters I love again and again but there is definitely a certain expectation that I have and the original Transformers film was so brilliant and unique and took live action translations to a new level. Yes Michael Bay blew things up in a huge way but will anyone (especially kids from the eighties) forget the first time we saw Optimus Prime in live action in that first film? The problem was trying to top that first film. Transformer 2 was so confusing and packed with more robots than seemingly possible. Transformers 3: Dark of The Moon tried to fix a lot of those mistakes and did well in some aspects. I think the issue with the third instalment wasn't even the robots but rather the people. The lead cast has just grown stale and Shia LaBeouf boyhood charm is now an overactive ego.
LaBeouf went from a talent to watch in Holes to having an enormous ego that shows on screen. I don't think his career will last much longer because people see that ego and are turned off by it. Many people complained about Meghan Fox and her acting ability but compared to the new underwear model they added to the cast, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Fox looks like Meryl Streep. Her ridiculous facial expressions (often mocked to great lengths on Youtube) and her simply awful acting ruins the story. John Turturro, who is a great actor, and is still good in this is also bordering on being annoying and overdone as well which is unfortunate. The only redeeming performances are the most underused by the military team consisting of Tyrese Gibson and Josh Duhamel. Frances McDormand joins the cast as the Secretary of Defense but doesn't really up the ante any, Patrick Dempsey's role is mostly pointless and only helps at bringing out LaBeouf's star ego.
Transformers 3 is not a total loss because once again the special effects are outstanding, the battle scenes are breath taking and seeing the Transformers in action is just simply still cool. But you can see the series starting to lose its steam and that really is a shame but I'm sure a reboot is just around the corner and I say go for it!! But it might be time for Michael Bay to step back and let some fresh eyes took over the project. This is a must see for anyone who has already followed the series this far. Special effects, and battle scenes will keep you entertained but the human part of the film might leave a bitter taste in your mouth. 7/10