"Dark of the Moon" is the Real "Transformers" Film!

Rating: 8/10 (29 June 2011)

The first "Transformers" was an enjoyable experience back in 2007. Even though it wasn't great, it was still a great experience watching the film. But the second one back in 2009 had a considerable drop in terms of quality from the first film. Even Michael Bay accepted the fact that "Revenge of the Fallen" was a sequel with a precipitous drop in terms of quality from the first film. Then "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" was announced with Bay promising that it would be a good film. And yet, it is. "Dark of the Moon" is a significant improvement from "Revenge of the Fallen" and is absolutely the best installment of the franchise.
As its predecessors, "Dark of the Moon" has a mediocre plot. As mediocre it is, this is how it goes. Back when Apollo 11 landed, Neil Armstrong and crew were given a top secret mission to investigate a Cybertronian spacecraft that had crash landed on the Moon years ago. They discover several robots and kept the operation secret for a long time. Later, the Autobots and Decepticons learn of its existence and race to get it which can lead into two results; if the Autobots get it, the world is saved, if the Decepticons obtain it, humans will be enslaved and Earth will be used as the base to rebuilding Cybertron which would result in the destruction of most of Earth.
"Dark of the Moon" will take us deeper into the origins of Cybertron. This third installment will include much more robots, and most of them are much cooler than what's already in the previous two films. One takes the form of a Ferrari, one's some sort of professor, one's a gigantic snake-like form driller that's around ten times the size of Optimus Prime, one's super ancient, and there's much more. These robots take the action to new levels and will get our hearts racing so fast like never before.
The acting, however was normal. Shia LaBeouf was great in portraying the role of Sam Witwicky. The others were also okay. But newcomer Rosie Huntington-Whiteley seems to have a lack of experience in acting. But anyways, the result here is what you get for casting a new actress who's new to the world of acting, and for one who's new to acting, it's not that bad.
The script was kind of awkward though. There were some scenes that were confusing and made me lose track of where the film is heading. Sometimes, these convoluted scenes force the characters to say strange things and I found it really annoying.
"Dark of the Moon" loses points in the shifting of scenes. Sometimes, they make the film look awkward and not really enjoyable as it could be. Here's an example (no spoilers): Optimus Prime talks about something very serious that relates to the fate of the whole world INTO Sam finding a job with humor. Definitely ironic.
But besides all those, "Dark of the Moon" is definitely a fun ride to experience. The climax of the film takes up almost an hour and is definitely satisfying. The huge and dangerous robots compliment to the thrill levels of the fight scenes. The fight scenes are super awesome!
The 3D in this film was acceptable, although it wasn't exceptional. Depth was sometimes conspicuous, though. But at other times, the robots and the explosions were out of the screen. But definitely, the scene which had the most amazing 3D effects were when the title showed up during the beginning of the film. That was amazing!
The special effects in one word: amazing! There's no need to complain about that. The robots, the explosions, the fires, were simply amazing. But what was shocking, and funny, was how they used CGI to create the face of John F. Kennedy during one short scene. The face was clearly different from the others' faces. But good try though.
Through halfway of the film, expect some reminders of disaster films such as "2012" as well as "Terminator Salvation". But what amuses me in these scenes are: where are all the people. I mean, it was only a few minutes after the destruction of the world began, and the terrified people only started running away. But then, minutes later, millions of people started to vanish and barely any person was there.
But anyways, that doesn't matter. "Dark of the Moon" is satisfying.
To wrap things up, "Dark of the Moon" is simply a great film and definitely worth watching. I know "Revenge of the Fallen" was a bummer but "Dark of the Moon" will replace that horror. 3D is not a bad choice to watch this film. I truly recommend watching this film. But remember, don't get the expectations too high. If you do so, you'll be really disappointed with this film.
Michael Bay's promise is fulfilled. "Dark of the Moon" delivers. It is absolutely the real "Transformers" film we've been waiting since 2007.
Prince AJB's Rating: 8/10 (Great)
Thank you for reading my review on "Transformers: Dark of the Moon". I do hope that this review is useful for you to read.