Went to see Transformers: Dark of the Moon last night. Overall I enjoyed it. That saying I do like a good blockbuster movie with loads of explosions, fast cars etc so generally Michael Bay movies are my thing. They may not win Oscars or be subtle but good for just a fun night out at cinema without having to think too much!!
Its got very mixed reviews – but dont all Michael Bay movies?? People have been saying how the 1st transformers was alright but really hated the 2nd one. I think I need to check them out again as I liked them both – maybe I am getting confused and merging the best bits of the 2 movies together??
Anyway, on to the movie. For a start its 2.5 hours which is very long for this type of movie. Probably too long and too much padding, in particular the first half or so. It starts off slowly introducing the story. Basically the story is there are about some columns from Cybertron which are able to bring the whole planet “to Earth” – and then basically the Decepticons taking over the world – not a good thing.
There were attempts at clever special effects/lookalikes/camera work and uses actual footage from the 1960s at the time when Apollo 11 was being built and eventually sent into space. I personally didnt think this quite worked.
There were some interesting cameos including John Malkovich (as some perma-tan crazy boss) and Ken Jeong – kind of playing the same character as usual again but I found some of it funny – reading other reviews, some people didnt.
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
Going back to the very start of the movie and we see Shia LaBeouf and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. We quickly see why Rosie was hired with one of the first scenes basically showing her bum. Soon after, you can see that she just cant act. She looks amazing hot but just cant act!! (Shes the FHM sexiest woman and I think also Maxim – even though her nose you could argue is a touch big. Nothing personal, just a personal opinion. Not like I can talk!!). Thankfully, she isnt in too many scenes. If it wasnt for her, I would probably give the film 4/5. Its amazing that this is her first EVER movie/TV role of any kind. There are many many other actresses out there who can act and who look just as hot. Off the top of my head – Mila Kunis
Maggie Q or Kristen Bell??
I thought Shia LaBeouf was pretty good. There were some funny moments in the movie – bit more than expected – and he was involved in pretty much all of them.
When humans are killed in the movie and shot by the robots, they end up being turned into dust/smoking skeletons. Bit surprised it was this “graphic” for a family movie.
Product placement overload 
One of the things which annoyed me about this movie – and other movies like it – is all the product placement. Its not even subtle. Lenovo, Cisco and Nokia to name a few. They must have paid a lot!!
We watched the movie in 3D. I am not a fan of 3D movies and think they are a waste of money. Its just a way for movie companies to get more money. However, I had heard that the 3D in Transformers 3 was very good so we went for the 3D Version. It was OK at times but once again pointless. Just no need for it!! For one thing, the glasses just made things darker. Also, it was sometimes just blurry. It would be better maybe if they could just turn up the brightness! However, I think having to wear the glasses is a big stumbling block. When it goes glasses free then maybe it will have a future. I found them straining my eyes and they were getting tired – especially with a 2.5 hour movie!!
Like I said at the start, overall I enjoyed the movie. Car chases with some beautiful cars, explosions, token hot woman – thats all good. The special effects were amazing. The last 45 minutes of the movie is just all none stop action. You may have seen in the trailers with the snack robot and the skyscraper. That is just brilliant!
Re-using scenes??
Even with all the money he has to spend on this movie, Michael Bay still tries to save a bit of money. Its tough times in the world I guess with all the financial problems – every little helps!! LOL. There are 2 scenes with seem to be re-used from his movie The Island. Check out this video – scene 2 in particular looks identical with the buildings in background etc. Heres the vid – http://gawker.com/5817713/michael-bay-just-re+using-from-the-island-for-transformers-3
Spoiler .. stop reading if you have not seen movie
(Spoiler….) – When they wanted to blow up the column things and only had one bazooka to fire, why didnt one of the Autobots blow it up (sooner than they did)??
