An improvement over REVENGE, but still rather tiresome

Rating: 5/10 (9 July 2015)

Isn't Transformers supposed to be fun? The first one was, and even though the second one went overboard with the toilet humor, it still had its moments. To this threequel's credit, the story is better and more disciplined, though. The first 20 minutes set up an intriguing premise about the "real" reason for the moon landings. Yet it never really follows through with it. After that pre-title sequence it's back to the usual with Sam and company as they try to stop the Decepticons' latest (and greatest?) scheme. For what it's worth, Michael Bay reined in some of his baser tendencies. Sam's parents get a whole lot less screen time, and he ditched the racist Autobots from the previous installment. Also, since he shot this in 3D this forced him to tidy up the camera-work and editing. The visual effects also top everything that came before it. There are some really jaw-dropping visuals that probably looked amazing on a cinema screen, and still looked pretty awesome on my HDTV. On the casting side, he got some more veteran actors to do glorified cameos and add legitimacy to an otherwise mostly talent-starved ensemble. However, Leonard Nimoy as Sentinel Prime was a stroke of genius (along with an obligatory Star Trek reference/quote). What didn't work in the film's favor was the tiresome and endless nature of the carnage and destruction. The last hour of the film is basically an extended action sequence, and it was a chore to sit through. The human drama is clichéd at best, insipidly stupid at worst. Michael Bay certainly doubled down on why the films have been so popular, but it seems like he forgot to make it a little more enjoyable. As a result, lengthy stretches of action were rendered boring and depressing. The score didn't help matters much either. Like the previous two, Michael Bay was content to use the kernel of a good idea and slather it with visual effects and mindless action. He knows his audience, to be sure, but his cynicism is on full display here. TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON corrects some of the more egregious missteps of its predecessor, but it unfortunately loses its soul in the process.