FILM REVIEW: Transformers: Dark of the Moon

FILM: Transformers: Dark of the Moon 
GENRE: Science-fiction/ Action
CAST: Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, Patrick Dempsey and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
DIRECTOR: Michael Bay
YEAR: 2011


WHY ARE THE CAST FAMILIAR?: Well, I have to say that I'm not overly familiar with a lot of the cast members, but I do recognise a few of them... which is definitely better than nothing. Shia LaBeouf- 'Sam Witwicky' in Transformers 1 and 2 and 'Jake Moore' in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps- admittedly, a film I never saw as- having watched the original Wall Street (or rather, attempted to- I fell asleep), I didn't have particuarly high expectations. Although I saw the trailer many, many times... enough times to feel as though I didn't need to see the movie. Josh Duhamel- 'Lennox' in Transformers 1 and 2 and 'Eric Messer' in the hilarious- yet touching, Life as We Know It. Patrick Dempsey- The 'McDreamy Doctor Sheperd' in Grey's Anatomy and in Valentine's Day, another handsome 'Doctor Harrison Copeland'. Lastly, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley- never heard of her... so not familiar in the slightest.

My review:
I watched this film for the first time yesterday evening with high expectations. You see, I had enjoyed the first two Transformers films, so I already had a bit of an understanding about the story. For maximum cinema effect, I switched the surround sound on and boom! We were in business ladies and gents.


I settled into the sofa with a nice glass of water and some tiramisu- a combination I highly recommend. I must have been distracted by my desert as instantly, I was confused by the opening. But then I got the gist of it- as so often happens with this sort of film, and realised that all hope of a peaceful world had vanished because the Decepticons had kicked the butt's of the good guys- the Autobots... which is more-or-less what keeps on happening throughout the film. It's like a tennis match between good and bad, then bad and good and back again. Until it ends, when we all know that good triumphs over evil- something I guessed before even watching the film.

I thought that the use of archive footage at the beginning was a nice touch and seemed to validate the story- all of a sudden those ambiguous trailers made sense! Using historical facts to bolster the story gave  it a level of believability and plausibility- assuming of course that you can suspend your brains' logic telling you that robot-cars don't actually exist.

I was pleased to see that Sam's (LaBeouf) parents made a return to this film as I thought that in the previous two films, the scenes featuring the three of them were where the humour was found. Personally, I would have liked to see more of his parents in this film as I found that their (generally) robot-free talk was something that I could at least understand!

Having sat through the entire 2 hours and 30 minutes, I was surprised that the plot wasn't tighter. It seemed- in parts, to be rather poorly edited as one minute there was dialogue, followed instantly by a fight scene that had no explanation as to why it was there. I got totally confused! Although, I thought the film score helped to fill in the gaps for me in the plot. It gets a little bit complicated, trying to remember what side everyone is on, as each character seems to have an ulterior motive. Luckily, the main themes in the music made it a bit clearer as to who was a goodie and who was a baddie.

I have to say, I did have one 'Mission Impossible' palm sweating moment (so called, as this was the first film I ever saw where I experienced tension to the point of clenching my hands in concern!). This was when Sam and the good guys had to jump through the window of a leaning glass tower block and then fall back through another one, otherwise their only other option is dying- luckily not the winning choice!

When the film ended, I didn't think- 'oohhh, I need to watch that again', as is often the case after watching a film I've very much enjoyed. Don't get me wrong- this film had it's perks, but I felt that there wasn't as many as there should have been. This film had the potential to be quite simply stupendously brilliant. Sadly, that potential- I felt, wasn't realised. When absorbed in a fabulous film, your thoughts should all be focused on the film. Mine weren't.

Ideally, I would have breathed a sigh of relief and thought- 'phew, thank goodness Optimus Prime and the Autobots were around to save the world'... but I didn't.  Instead, I was left wondering why it is that the Autobots never run out of ammunition or petrol? Oh, and why isn't it called 'Dark Side of the Moon'- was the word 'side' left out? If the title doesn't really make sense, how can the film?

My rating: * * * 1/2