Of all the directors out there, there are few that generate as much criticism as Michael Bay, who has become known for favoring loud explosions, rotating camera angles, and a gratuitous idolization of the U.S. Military over actual substance in his films. Still, with blockbuster credits like The Rock, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, and the Bad Boys and Transformers series, Bay has generated billions of dollars at the box office. In regards to Bay’s biggest franchise, when it was first introduced, the idea of adapting a summer film from Hasbro toys sounded ridiculous, but then Bay surprised everyone using stylish special effects to bring giant alien robots to life in a spectacular fashion in 2007’s Transformers. Unfortunately, 2009’s much anticipated sequel, Revenge of the Fallen, almost completely dropped the ball by using controversial characters and mind-numbingly idiotic story-telling. Even though Bay was going to try and redeem some of his severely-damaged credibility with Dark of the Moon, my expectations were near-zero; still, early buzz was claiming that this sequel was not only the greatest action movie ever, but also easily the best use of 3D technology since 2009’s Avatar.
For the first hour of Dark of the Moon, I was convinced that Michael Bay had completely screwed the pooch…again. I have not walked out of a film in years, but the painfully bad story, annoying characters, and shocking lack of humor, had me seriously considering breaking that record. Shia LaBeouf’s fidgety, neurotic arrogance may have been endearing when he was playing a high school student, but now, it is just painfully irritating; as for Megan Fox’s much-hyped replacement, Rosie Huntington-Whitley serves as little more than eye candy, making a cardboard cutout look dramatic. Thankfully, what Dark of the Moon lacks in competent storytelling, it more than makes up for in gratuitous violence and jaw-dropping action…Optimus Prime makes other action heroes look like complete wimps, dispatching Decepticons with the brutality of a Mortal Kombat character. Though it is sad that moviegoers can legitimately skip the first hour of the film, Transformers: Dark of the Moon has more than enough action to narrowly avoid completely going down in 3D-rendered flames.
For more information, please read the full review.
Overall Recommendation: Medium
