Third time's a charm for Bayformers

Rating: 10/10 (3 August 2011)

Okay let me begin by saying that my score of 10 may not fit everyone's impression of the film, to be fair I was watching it with a like-minded friend and we went in looking to enjoy ourselves and the film... which we did.
If you don't find yourself in the same position or better, feel free to deduct 1 or 2 stars, furthermore I'm pre-emptively going to say for those that watch it on the 'small screen', that due to the epic scope of the action it may not stand up as well depending on how big a screen you can view it on, so deduct another 2 stars. Even if all that applies however you've still got a 6 out of 10 stars movie, which while not excellent is still pretty good.
So now that's out of the way I'll begin. This stands as probably the best installment in the series to date, which is mostly because they've worked through a lot of the faults with the previous films. The acting is tighter, the effects and sound have improved from the jump in technology again, and the plot is better than what was offered in the previous films (Love/Self Confidence can repair the Matrix uh?).
Most important of these is them finally dropping the 'for the kids' stuff, no destructively clumsy, urinating, leg humping, somewhat racist Transformers are to be found within. Granted, there are still some Transformers with accents and one that even looks and sounds a bit like Albert Einstein, but unlike the other films they're not played for laughs and aren't forced on us with lots of screen time like the 'twins' were (thankfully they don't return).
Even Wheelie, the pint sized annoyance from 'Revenge of the Fallen', has become bearable, having swapped Megan Fox's leg for an equally small and abusive robot, with the two of them going on to even play an active role in the proceedings rather than just being there for the kids to laugh at.
Another great thing is all the nods to the previous films and the original animated series. Optimus Prime, for example, now has a transforming trailer which shares its outside appearance with the animated original. Other mentionable references are the return of MIA Decepticon Barricade from the first film and Sam's replacement car, a Datsun with Bumblebee's paint job and his bee air freshener and disco ball from the first film.
A number of remaining Transformers have gone through changes, Soundwave returns (voiced again by animated series originator Frank Welker, using his Dr. Claw voice), with Lazorbeak (but not with Ravage), to fulfill a more important role than raping satellites and most surprisingly Megatron has taken on the appearance of a post-apocalyptic big game hunter, with a shotgun/blunderbuss, ragged cloak and spiked truck alt-mode to match.
Leonard Nimoy (who previously voiced Decepticon leader Galvatron in the 80's animated movie) gives an admirable performance as presumed dead Autobot leader Sentinel Prime, who helps to develop the lore behind the Bayformers universe, which is also assisted by a grander scale flashback of the war that destroyed Cybertron than we'd seen previously.
The tone of the film is definitely darker, to the point of Japanese tentacle horror at one point, with even better conspiracies and action for the human characters to actually get involved in for once, instead of just being the relatable set dressing for the all robot smashing and explosions that go on.
As for Mikaela's (Megan Fox's) departure, it's barely noticeable, her replacement Carly is honestly a similar if more useful character than Mikaela to the proceedings, swapping mechanical know how (which was never used in the films strangely), for a decent paying job and great social skills that don't just rely on her appearance. Sure its not a huge improvement, but she's clearly better for Sam in the long run and is more than just the hot girl who was with him for his cool car and then later for his cool robot car.
As for Sam, his portrayal is strong and jumps well between screaming in terror, suffering painfully in silence and eventually standing up to fight for what he believes in. Honestly the changes were fairly believable, due to the scope of what was happening, and in the end he still retains a certain 'common man-ness' about him.
John Malkovich, Ken Jeong and Alan Tudyk all give great comedic performances which play well into the action, while Patrick Dempsey and Frances McDormand both deliver slightly-antagonistic performances which sit well with the film.
As for the other main returning cast, namely Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, Kevin Dunn and Julie White, they all hold up well to how they were in the previous films and in the cases of Turturro, Dunn and White, their comedy moments are nice little highlights in the film.
Ultimately this is the film where all the pieces finally fit together nicely, with a lot of stuff for the fans of this film series and of the greater Transformers multi-verse; those who weren't impressed by the previous films won't be won over by this one, but it clearly stands out as a superior closing chapter for the series (for now).