Transformers 3, much less than meets the eye...

Rating: 6/10 (9 October 2012)

I'm not a fan of the Transformers but I did enjoy the first two films and I don't ask for much when it comes to movies about giant robots fighting each other. Transformers 3 however failed to even live up to my low expectations and in my opinion it is easily the worst film of the series.
In the first two films director Michael Bay was at least aware that a movie based on large robot toys should be fun. This movie tries to get clever by infusing robot lore into actual historical events such as the moon landing in '69 and the Chernobyl meltdown of '86 which had great potential if only they'd bothered to think it all the way through. Stagnating in pits of exposition with plot holes large enough to ram Optimus Prime through sideways, we get bogged down in lengthy scenes where everyone tries to act more crazy and over the top than everyone else, presumably to hide the fact that nothing much else is happening and it's all very boring. To compensate for the absurd over acting displayed by most of the cast Bay throws in a new leading lady who barely acts at all but in her defense she does do a decent job in the role she was really hired for and that is to fill the 'sexy eye candy' void left by the controversial departure of Megan Fox, who should be glad she was left out of this debacle.
The first half of the film is filled with little more than scenes of Shia complaining about everything, so much so that I almost switched off around the 30 minute mark but thankfully the second half of the film ramps up a little and we get to have a bit of fun as the story starts to unfold with some twists (albeit mostly lame or obvious ones) and an injection of much needed WOW moments of visual delight. At last we get some of Bay doing what Bay does best - total mayhem, but regrettably by the time the film really kicks into gear I was way past caring or investing into the movie on any level.
Watching Transformers 3 I couldn't help but feel Bay was growing bored with fighting robots and the complete lack of extras on the Blu-ray could be a telling sign that I might be right. It was like he was on auto pilot, there was a definite lack of typical overly stylistic signature Bay moments and I wondered if he actually bothered to turn up on set most days. In fact he has become so disinterested that he's now reusing songs from the soundtracks of his previous movies (Aerosmith's Sweet Emotion also featured in Armageddon). It's way past time for Bay to move on, especially if there is to be a fourth film because this franchise is in desperate need of fresh ideas and some enthusiasm.
Despite being a pretty terrible film Transformers 3 grossed a truckload of money and there are rumors that parts 4 and 5 will be filmed back to back. The bad news is that Bay is meant to be directing. The good news is that LaBeouf may be replaced by Jason Statham so hopefully there'll be less moaning and groaning from the leading man which might, if nothing else, free up some time for Bay to blow more stuff up earlier in the film.