You can see the light, but it's mainly on the dark side.

Rating: 4/10 (4 July 2011)

There are spoilers in this.
Shia is getting better with every film. His comic timing is genius and he really is young talent. He's emotional in the right way, pulls us in and you sympathise with him and his relationship to the Autobots. The action scenes are becoming slightly easier to handle, with less of that crappy shaky-camera effect and the actual CGI on the Transformers has been improving since the first meaning we're starting to see more human features on them in comparison to what we've seen previously- just a clunk of metal making noises. They're getting slightly more colourful because I think Bay realised that some things were indistinguishable.
The CGI is, of course, amazing being a multi-million dollar film and we had a few nicer long shots that let you soak all of the battle scenes in rather than meshing it all up into a headache of an eyesore.
And that's all I have to say that's positive.
On the negative side of this moon, it's gloomy. Megan Fox's replacement is tripe, to be frank. She can't act to save her life and even Megan "one facial gesture" Fox does a better job, it's sad to say. Their relationship was more believable.
Rosie's brilliant acting skills are obviously not why she was chosen for the role. Inconsistency seems to be a major factor in this film with a few things. One minute she's whipped on her boyfriend and the next minute she's saying she can't deal with it, then she's riding off with him again. A blonde, dopey maiden who's in dire need of saving and can't do anything for herself. And Bay, the black-on-black, epic "homey slap" between two characters who have been given no back-story were palm-to-forehead moments. I thought we'd come a long way from stereotypes, but obviously not. Anyway, more inconsistency with the battle at the end: explain to me how Optimus Prime fights Sentinal Prime and nearly loses, then a fully-pumped and rested Megatron pulls him apart no problem, but then Optimus leaps up and rips Megatron open, easy-as-you-like? I hate that in films so thanks, Bay. I was kind of expecting an epic battle between the old foes to finish off the series, but we don't get that. Instead we get one of the most gruellingly tedious action montages that I've seen in recent years right up from when they're in the falling building to when the Primes start fighting. That whole last section lasted for a good twenty minutes or more. You could have had an extra few scenes with Megatron and Optimus to really delve into their history and friend/rivalry relationship (Magneto/Prof. X style). Bay's got no respect for the original program and displays this well.
Also, Hugo Weaving IS NOT Megatron. I cannot forgive Bay for this. What is even more bizarre is that Frank Welker, Megatron's original voice actor, took up on his old role for the first two video games of the movies AND did the voices for Soundwave and Shockwave in the last two films! Bay, where is your logic? I wouldn't even let him into my studio if he wasn't reprising his old role. It's a travesty because Optimus was given his nostalgic privileges, so why not Welker? For true fans of the original series, it's a major let-down and since we get some more dialogue from Megatron in this film, it's a distraction for those already familiar with the Decepticon they know and love. When I heard Soundwave and Shockwave, even I thought, "Wow, that sounds like the original Megatron".
Anyway, forgive an old fan's rant. I love Weaving, but not as Megatron. When I saw the scene between Starscream and Megatron, with him complaining at him as he always did, it felt good and reminiscent of what I loved about Transformers, but that was short-lived because then I had to endure some completely stupid and nonsensical scenes with Ken Jeong just there for "let's rinse out a popular actor of today" factor. His performance was funny as hell, as he is a funny guy, but it felt wrong for this movie. But nothing was more awkward than John Malkovich being a stern boss to someone who play-fights with Bumblebee the next... And don't get me started on the wealth of inconsistencies in the plot. It's just convolution handed out in droves. Bay, you're a confused, greedy and selfish man. As mentioned earlier, I can't stand inconsistency like this.
The movie actually starts off pretty well, in fairness. The plot seems as if it's going somewhere and that Bay isn't afraid to show the more "human" qualities of the robots. The Autobots make their trademark cliché phrases and stuff, and even Starscream sounds fearful of Megatron again, which he didn't in the previous two films which I thought was brave of Bay and it paid off. There are some interesting "cover-up" tangents, but it soon very quickly loses any momentum it had and then you realise it's the same old crap. Very pointless.
Anyway, everyone's a critic and you may have thought it was the best film of the year so far. I thought the film was entertaining enough if you want a decent action movie, minus that really long stretch of tediousness near the end, and was impressive on a visual scale (didn't see it in 3D because I don't believe in giving these companies money for something that hasn't worked since the '40s and probably never will- 3D is useless and gives me a headache) but was a 5 (6 at best) as a standalone movie, but overall, I gave it 4. Two stars for CGI, one for an OK action movie if you're not a Transformers fan and one extra for some MINOR improvements.