If you like Transformers....

Rating: 8/10 (30 June 2011)

My son had a couple of Transformers when he was a kid. They intrigued me as toys: I liked the idea, I quite liked the TV series, and I greatly enjoyed the animated movie.
When the first live action movie came along I was pleasantly surprised, particularly at the script being as snappy as it was. The second instalment was a bit "Oh dear", however. I didn't find the story particularly engaging, and the action was terribly difficult to follow because all the Transformers looked the same.
Number 3 is much better. Megan Fox is gone (her absence is due to her dumping poor old Sam, we are told), but Shia LaBoeuf, his mum and dad, John Turturro and a couple of the forgettable military people are back (as are Peter Cullen and Hugo Weaving in the voice department), with several well-known faces who I was surprised and pleased to see, all of whom seem to be thoroughly enjoying themselves. And the new romantic interest, Rosie Thingie-Wotsit is OK, albeit I found her top lip hugely distracting.
The story has more going for it, and it is pleasing to see Leonard Nimoy voicing Sentinel Prime (Nimoy voiced Galvatron in the animated Transformers movie back in 1986). Nimoy's presence gives rise to two pleasing moments in the film.
The action - and there is a lot of it, the last 40-odd minutes is a non-stop action sequence - is much easier to follow than it was in the previous film. There are places where the 3D is absolutely spectacular, particularly in the first 10 minutes or so.
This is a superior popcorn movie.