Allan Deonarine

I saw Transformers: Dark of the Moon last night and I've been struggling to figure out if I liked it or not.  A little back story: I was a fan of the 80s TV show and toys. So when the first Transformers movie came out I was dismayed at what Bay had done to the character designs. Then when I saw Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen I felt as if they had mutated the franchise into a CGI tech demo.  I came into Dark of the Moon with very low expectations. How much worse could it possibly get? 

First, let me talk about the action scenes, because you don't see this movie for the story.  These were some of the best actions scenes I have ever seen. Not only the quality of the CGI, which was expertly done by ILM, or the fight chorography, but the scale.  The scale of these scenes are incredible. In the last 45min action scene, a building is severed in half as our heroes are still inside.

The 3-D was just as impressive. Bay used the same crew from Avatar, and it shows. Moviegoers are getting tired of bad post-production ports of 3-D movies and have stopped spending the extra money on those tickets. But when 3-D is done well, it is worth the extra money. Something you can't get at home(yet). 

If you're going to see a Michael Bay movie, you're going to see a spectacle. Bay shoots women like they're cars, and cars like they're women. Everything is this movie is sexy and shiny. It's like having cake with ice cream topped with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. It is so good, but you can't eat too much. The last action scene was like that for me. It was constantly at eleven for what seemed like 45min. 

Part of why I felt it dragged was because the movie was so schizophrenic. One minute you're in an action movie next you're laughing at hangover style humor next you're your in a buddy cop film with a quirky sidekick. It felt like I was watching several movies and considering the runtime, I could have.

The story is nonsensical and is barely worth a mention because there barely is any.  The relationship between LaBeouf and the android like Huntington-Whiteley is hardly believable in the best of circumstances. There is little chemistry between them.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon not a very good movie, but you should go see it. Go see it because it is about the spectacle and not the story. Go see it in 3-D because it's actually good 3-D.  Go see it because it is cheesy, has hot actors, fast cars, and great action.  Go see it because it is summer and this is a summer blockbuster through and through.