A Definite Improvement

Rating: 7/10 (10 July 2011)

Having seen the last film, "Revenge of the Fallen," I did not have high expectations for this movie. I also heard a lot of bad reviews of this film. But having seen it, I have to say the movie was actually pretty decent and I think it's a definite improvement from the last one. In fact it's probably the best of the three. That's not to say it doesn't have its problems, but I did actually find myself entertained by this film and I do appreciate that the filmmakers tried to make improvements based on everyone's complaints about the last film.
IMPROVEMENTS - Annoying characters are mostly dialed back and removed, and stereotypes are dialed back. That's not to say there aren't stereotypes, but the stereotypes this time around didn't totally offend or annoy me to the point where I couldn't enjoy the film. Skids and Mudflap are gone with no explanation (they needed to be removed from existence), the parents aren't in it as much, and John Turturro is far less annoying. The story makes more sense (at least for a popcorn fun blockbuster) and I'm able to understand what's going on without getting totally annoyed. There are no robot balls, and there is no close-up of John Turturro in his underpants (there is a close-up of Ken Jeong in his underpants, but it's played up for a shock humor joke which actually made me laugh for the big payoff so I can't complain. Others might find it offensive, though). Oh, and there is far less dog and robot humping all around.
OTHER POSITIVES - Obviously the action and special effects. Definite props to the animators, the cinematographers, the stunt coordinators, and the special effects guys because they did an amazing job. Again. Plus I'm actually able to tell which robots are fighting in this movie, which is good. The jokes are a bit funnier this time around (not all big laughs, and not all tasteful, but definitely more hits than the last movie). There is better (not great) but better character development and I didn't totally loathe anyone. The pacing, the editing, and the music were also all very good. The elements I enjoyed all contributed to the story and added to my enjoyment of the film. The villains are also much more threatening because they have a definite goal and you see more of the damage they can cause (although the foaming at the mouth was over the top).
NEGATIVES - There are a lot of unnecessary cameos and characters in the film who pop in and leave. For example, I'm not sure why John Malkovich is in this because he doesn't really do anything. He just comes in, acts weird, and leaves. They introduce him like he's an important character and then he's dismissed about halfway through. Kim Jeong will be annoying and offensive to some people, but he didn't annoy me so I really only mention this for the benefit of others. Bill O'Reilly and Buzz Aldrin make unnecessary and distracting cameos. And I love Leonard Nimoy, I think he had a good voice role in this film, and I love Star Trek and Spock, but the Spock love was totally distracting. They mention Spock a lot, show a scene from "Amok Time," make references to the Enterprise, and even have Leonard quote a famous "Wrath of Khan" line. It's really very distracting. There are a ton of distracting ad placements in the movie (which, you should really expect if you go to see any Michael Bay film because they pay for the effects). Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is a very sexualized, very stereotypical, very useless damsel in distress who may be offensive to some people (as one of only 2 major female characters in the movie). There are also still very noticeable plot and logic errors, despite the improvements, and some scenes that don't quite fit right.
But, in spite of my problems with it, it did entertain me and I did enjoy it. It's about on the same level as "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" or "Twister" and any problems I had are made up for by the improvements and positives.
7/10 - Some problems, but overall enjoyable popcorn fun. Recommended for people who just want to watch a robots and stuff blowing up movie without worrying too much about plot or characters.
3D
I don't like 3D anyway, but I saw this with a friend in 3D, and I do have to admit that the 3D was better than the last film I saw in 3D ("Tron Legacy"). It's not totally dark, and it didn't make me sick looking at it. However, the graphics popping out are still distracting, and I can't focus on some of the animation detail due to the blurring effect of some of the 3D graphics. If you go to see this I recommend 2D just to get the full details of the animations.