Strap in, hold on and get ready to be blown away!

Rating: 9/10 (29 June 2011)

Transformers 3 is a miracle. It has everything you could hope for in a summer film. There were times when I wanted to stand up and cheer (I did sit and cheer or clap twice in the film) and there were times when my voice box wouldn't work so my shocked and awe functions were relegated to my eyes bulging like I was on Ecstasy and my mouth was agape like I was lining up to have someone throw an M&M in my mouth. There were times when I laughed when no one else did (Sam's interview with Malkovich and when just a few notes of Sweet Emotion played, just like it did in Armageddon). There were times that I laughed when everyone else did (the two New York mini robots doing pretty much anything got me and the audience all giddy). And then there were times when I just sat back, glasses on, blinding light from the screen, crisp and precise sound emanating from the 100 or so speakers, and just took it all in, and thought to myself, "this is why I love movies". This is why I go to the theater. My favourite films take me to another world. A world of infinite possibilities.
When I watched Terminator 2, I believed that liquid metal was real. I was convinced that it could take the shape of a Vasquez from Aliens and stab a man while he was drinking a carton of milk.
In Jurassic Park, I was in that park with the kids and with Malcolm and with the lawyer and the director of Ghandi. Tyrannosaurus Rex was real and so were the raptors before they started playing basketball in Toronto.
In Armageddon, I knew that Bay really went to a giant asteroid and shot on location. He really did take Bruce and Ben and William with him. It had to be real because the worlds that they inhabit felt real.
And that's not even mentioning some of the big guys like Star Wars and LOTR and Matrix and many others. The worlds that can be created take you places. They remind you that with a little imagination, a lot of hard work and a letting a little bit of the kid in you come out, you can creates anything.
Bay's Transformers 3 is a brilliant and worthy addition to these worlds. There isn't one frame of this film that feels fake. There's not one shot that wasn't laboriously coddled over. It's truly a remarkable film and even though I'm not a huge proponent of 3D, here it absolutely works. The base jumping scene will go down, imo, as one of the all time most amazing scenes ever filmed. It's just remarkable that Bay could do what he did.
The film has a very fresh story which is also a bit surprising as it kind of rehashes the story from part two. But when you can get Kennedy, the moon landing, Cheronobyl, the destruction of downtown Chicago, the middle east problems and a plethora of other issues all rolled into one film, it just feels fresh.
My favourite part of Transformers, even more the mind blowing spectacle of watching them transform, is Sam Witwicky. His character is essential to the film and he is the glue that holds it all together. The first 15 minutes or so is all exposition. They go to the moon and discover the crashed Transformer there and it is a very well done beginning. But when Sam finally gets on screen you feel a sense of relief. His mannerisms, his idiosyncratic ways and his entire ethos is what makes the Transformer films so much fun from the human side. Here, he has grown up. He is disgruntled as he feels he should have some cushy, well paying government job seeing as he saved the world twice. But he is unemployed and looking for work. His new girlfriend is hot, obviously, but she is a nice addition to the film. Her story arc could not have been done with Mykala as his girlfriend, so it was written well. Cameos by John Malkovich and Ken Jeong are played strictly for laughs and they do it well, especially Jeong who's a short and sneaky man working in Malkovich's company. He had some of the best early laughs.
Adding to the mix is newcomer Frances McDormand. She plays a caricature of a bitchy CIA agent who is way too full of herself but really hasn't a clue what she is doing. This part is not played for laughs as she insults Sam and Optimus at every chance she gets. It's also nice to see that Coen's alumni McDormand, Malkovich and John Turturro are all in this film. They even share some screen time together (not all three together).
Without getting into the story, to avoid spoilers, just suffice to say that everything you want and expect from a Transformers film is here and many of the things people complained about in the second one are not. Gone are the Transformer balls, leg humping and the supposed racial stereotypes of the twins. Replacing that is more subdued and well placed humour. Even the sheer emotion is magnified in the film as the last 30-45 minutes will leave you breathless and exhausted. And the only spoiler I will mention is my favourite line of the film is when Rosie tells Megatron that he will be used like he is the Sentinel's bitch.
Transformers 3 is a like a ride at the amusement park. It can leave you breathless, queasy and exhausted. But you know that once you get off you just feel like going back on again.
9/10