Honestly not as Bad as People Make it Out to be

Rating: 8/10 (1 July 2014)

***ONE VERY MINOR SPOILER THAT DOESN'T GIVE AWAY ANY PLOT POINTS***
After seeing this when I was 11 or 12, I, as pretty much anyone of that age would be, was mesmerised by this film. Of course, that was simply because such a film is like a staple diet for kids that age. If that makes any sense at all.
Anyway, 4 years later, and I'm still loving this film. And it's not because it's feeding my inner 12-year-old (well, not completely)— it's because I genuinely think that this is a good film.
I understand where the hate is coming from: enraged viewers still haven't gotten over the somewhat shabby Revenge of the Fallen, and are continuing their hate over this sequel, too. People complain that it's too long, bloated, the acting is bad and the comedy is ridiculous. These complaints are what's ridiculous. Transformers: Dark of the Moon is exciting, the CGI is incredible, the acting isn't too bad, and the comedy is toned down, but very much needed. Let's elaborate...
The CGI. Pretty much the only aspect of this film (or, indeed, the entire franchise) that is not hated upon. It is simply incredible- you don't stop and think- "was that real?", or squint to see if there's some sort of not-so-real detail— pretty much nothing is flawed about it, except of course, the infamous scene where Sam is carrying an invisible robot in a brief shot.
The acting— not bad at all, I don't understand why people hate on it so much. People seem to hate Rosie Huntington-Whitely's acting, but it is not bad at all. Fair enough, it's not Anthony Hopkins, but at least it's not Alan Bagh (Birdemic). None of the other actors are bad at their job either: each one gives a very realistic performance. Yes, Shia screams a lot, but wouldn't you if you were flying through the air over a truck that just fell over while there are robots shooting at each other?
Now, the comedy, which made Revenge of the Fallen one of the most hated films ever. In DOTM, the comedy is toned down to Wheelie and his companion (who's name fails me at the moment). Their comic relief is much needed, as Dark of the Moon is as the title suggests- dark. There is a lot of killing, and some of it is graphic, but brief. The climactic threat is quite intense, and in the midst of it, these two provide a little relief. I will admit that there is a lot more humour in the first 3rd of the film, with the humans, but it does tone down once the action picks up.
And that's another thing that people are complaining about. "Too much" human involvement. Can I get one thing straight? Each of the Transformers movies are set on EARTH. Earth. That's where HUMANS live. How can you have a credible storyline if robots are fighting each other and there's no human involvement? And if there are humans, you have to develop them and make them interesting. The only reason why Carly (Huntington-Whitely)'s character was underdeveloped was because she was replacing Megan Fox who was abruptly fired. And she doesn't even need a back story- all we need to know is that she and Sam are together, and she's simply replaced Fox's Mikela (spelling?). And then you get all these other complainers saying there's too much action. Goodness me, it's a freakin' film about robots. No one complained about Pacific Rim.
Now, the storyline. There's only one major plot hole, which no one is going to care about unless they're a troll. Each of the scenes match up, there's no major clashes in the story, and it's actually pretty good. I'm sure there's some things people will nitpick at (yes, I have seen CinemaSins), but nothing too major.
I could go on and on, but I'll sum it up here. All in all, this is a great film, despite the unnecessary hatred for it. The CGI is incredible, the storyline is pretty much solid, the acting is believable, and there isn't the ridiculous comedy that was found in ROTF. A much darker, thrilling film that's based on a toy lineup. Doesn't require intricate thought, but is still very good, nonetheless.
On a final note, may I remind everyone that this film is intended for guys. GUYS. What does a guy film need? Explosions, action and hot female leads. This film has all that. This is a fun, dark action film that is definitely geared towards the male audience. Suck it up, quit hating and enjoy this epic masterpiece. Plus, it's doesn't feel 'cheap' like some action films (I'm looking at you, Die Hard 5...). It feels... Epic. Literally.
One final, final note to wrap this up— the score for this film is absolutely incredible. Very well done and really epic. Major, major props to Steve Jablonsky. He really captured the scale of this movie. (Yeah, scale. Giant robots, epic score— large runtime. It's about the scale).
That's about it. 8/10.