The acting is pretty much what you would expect in a Transformers movie, and is far superior to the acting in Revenge of the Fallen,taken much more seriously and less comically. Shia LaBeouf was average as Sam Witwicky, although after seeing the film, I think I will write a letter to Witwicky, telling him to change his name to Sam Screamwicky, for it seems like all he did throughout the film was scream, shout or complain about everything in existence. Even when there was nothing to be upset about, he still seemed to fly off the handle and go on a tangent, yelling at the Autobots and individuals around him. Jeez, somebody get this kid a counselor to talk to! But Labeouf was quite good at times and I must say, he had quite a few triumphant moments towards the end, turning into the true, sophisticated hero I always envisioned him to be. LaBeouf is not a bad actor as some people put it, I respect him and believe that he has a lot of interesting moments on film, particularly in films like Disturbia and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, so it was very fascinating for me to see him prove victorious towards the end of Dark of the Moon, going from the womanizing, rebellious lad we all knew him as in the first film, to a brave, risk taking hero that helps end a peril that could destroy the world. That's what I call good character development! The other actors were also good as their respective characters, Megan Fox's Mikaela replaced by a blonde female named Carly, played by Rosie Huntington -Whiteley. The character of Carly differs greatly from Fox's Mikaela, Mikaela hostile and somewhat arrogant at times when Carly is calm, collective, charming as well as swift and protective when the time is right, although there were a few moments in the film when she appeared as a casual dim-witted damsel in distress. John Turturro also prevailed when playing Seymour Simmons, although his role is quite limited in this film and he doesn't appear as much in this film as he did in the other two films. But one of his golden scenes, by far, was the scene where he picks a fight with Bill O'Reily on a tv screen. How awesome is it to see someone actually talk back to O'Reily in that manner? It would have been funnier if Simmons broke the television in anger over O'Reily's unkind words, but that's just my opinion. Another set of characters to have a limited role are Mr. and Mrs. Witwicky, who were played quite humorously in the first two films by Kevin Dunn and Julie White. Sure, they were quite funny as the somewhat dim-witted parents of Sam Witwicky, but they didn't have that much screen time like they did in the last two films, and I would have done anything to see Mrs. Witwicky deliver another hilarious line of dialogue or see the two dogs humping one another again. The Witwicky household will surely be missed, but trust me, there is still a lot of funny stuff in this film, particularly in the characters of Wheelie and Brains, and even the fight scenes had a little bit of humor here and there, because no action thriller is complete without something that will get a chuckle from the audience.
If there is one think I really liked about this film, it was the special effects. They were hands down the best CGI effects I have ever seen in a Transformers movie. They were so crisp and clean, it's like the Transformers characters were right in front of the camera, and the scene where the astronauts come across Sentinel Prime on the Moon is probably my favorite scene out of the entire film. The visuals were stunning and made my eyes pop out of there sockets, really bringing out the appearance and the inner workings of each robot in disguise. The Autobots are the Autobots, still the same iconic characters we have seen them as in the last two films, although I think Optimus Prime was a bit more rough, more on edge in this film than he was in the last two films. That doesn't mean he still isn't the wise old master to all the other Autobots, I just thought he got a little aggressive in some of the scenes involving the Decepticons, the US Government and Sentinel Prime. Sentinel Prime is probably my favorite character of this film, probably because he is voiced by Leonard Nimoy,one of my favorite actors from television and film. It seems like Nimoy gives the voice of Prime a sinister, threatening touch, similar to what Orson Welles did with Unicron in the 1987 cartoon Transformers film. But I think what made Sentinel Prime stick out the most to me was his unique design and color. He surely looks like no other Transformer out there, and the fact that he actually turns on the Autobots and kills Ironhide really makes him a teeth grinding character to cringe over, setting up a good story arc for a conniving arch-nemesis that will do anything to get back at the Autobots for what they have done to him.Speaking of Ironhide, I thought Jess Harnell did a job well done playing the voice of Ironhide, especially in his final moments just before he is slain by Sentinel Prime. The other Autobots were great as well, Robert Foxworth hitting the nail on the head when it comes to playing the voice of Rachet and good old Peter Cullen still having the art and enthusiasm when playing the voice of Optimus. I couldn't think of anyone better to play the voice to such a beloved character, surely the character that signifies the Transformers franchise. And I must say, Hugo Weaving has really come through when playing the voice of Megatron, a huge,huge,huge improvement over his voice to the character in the last two films. I thought it was much rougher, darker, and much more menacing, perfect for such a villainous villain, if that makes any sense, and the other Decepticons who follow under his command are also quite fun to look at and listen to as well. Starscream, Shockwave, Soundwave, all you're favorite baddies are there as well as a few new faces, including a weird eel like Decepticon that can crush buildings into dust and a vulture like Decepticon that has the ability to swoop down at enemies or attack from above. Boy, Michael Bay and his crew really know how to add new and exotic characters into each incoming Transformers film, bringing in characters that will attract the eyes and ears of many people, forcing them to buy toys of those certain characters and do the voices of those characters to themselves, for each character has a different, unique voice from one another. I have to admit, I often find myself quoting or doing the voices to the Transformers, for they are certainly appealing and the voice actors really know there stuff!
The action of the film is at best, as always, and the action scene at the very end was probably the best action scene I have ever seen in a Transformers film. Sure the final battle with Unicron in the 1987 film was groundbreaking, and the final battle with Megatron and the other Decepticons at the conclusion of the first film was interesting, but this final scene really through out everything it had going for it, and I couldn't do a review of Transformers: Dark of the Moon without talking about it. Seeing the eel like Decepticon wrap itself around a skyscraper with hundreds of people inside, it was really intense, and seeing all the people inside the skyscraper, Sam and Carly included, falling and clinging to life on the broken wires and debris, it really had you sucked into the motion picture, and concerned as to what would happen to the characters and the people around them. And of course, the Transformers beat the living screws and bolts out of one another, although this film around, it is much more epic, much more intense, and has you wondering what characters will stay and which characters will go. Of course, a lot of our favorite characters bite the dust in this film, Sentinel Prime included, but it was still awesome to see them duke it out in an all powerful match up, using their own mechanical fists and weapons to dash through one another and crush each other into a thick metallic pulp. Optimus Prime really puts his foot forward in the fight, for he never gave up and really prevailed in the end, taking out both main antagonists of the film as well as some of their henchmen. The other Transformers also fight prominently as well, even Bumblebee has a few great moments to shine, sorta like a robotic Bruce Lee or Chuck Norris. But a lot of Transformers and Decepticons loose limbs and body parts in the brawls, even using them for the better advantage of their team, which is just how it was on the original show. Some might say that this film series stained the original 1980s cartoon's name, but it's moments like that that make you flash back to your youth watching the epicness of the original Transformers on your old television set as a kid, helping you to remember how dramatic, character driven, and thought provoking the original series really was. I personally never grew up with Transformers, but these films really got me into the universe for the first time, allowing me to watch some of the original series and the stories that would follow, making Transformers one of my all time favorite franchises to savor. It is truly mind-blowing, even if it's about robots that transform into vehicles and weapons.
So I really enjoyed Dark of the Moon, even though there were some things that really mashed my apples into applesauce. Some of the scenes with Wheelie and Brains drove me a bit nutty, and to be honest, I thought they were more annoying than the ignorance of Skids and Mudflap in Revenge of the Fallen, but they surely simmered down by the conclusion of the film and weren't as bad of a problem. I also thought a few scenes were a bit reminiscent of the first film, even some of the action sequences paralleled some of the action sequences of the 2007 film, and if I was to see this movie in 3-D, there would be a lot of scenes in Dark of the Moon that just wouldn't look right to me. They would make the 3-D in The Last Airbender movie look like the 3-D in Avatar. I think everyone is up there with me when I say that some things just don't look good in 3-D. Animated films look breathtaking in 3-D for they have a lot of colors and exotic shapes that really pop out at you. Some of the scenes in not only this film, but action films in general, just look plain and unappealing, branding the 3-D effect futile. I only hope that in The Amazing Spider-Man film hitting theaters next summer, we get a lot of vibrant, stunning, and eye-popping effects with the 3-D nature. It will surely make it the Spider-Man film I've been waiting for. As a matter of fact, they had said that the teaser trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man would appear in front of Dark of the Moon but it didn't. What a pure bummer, especially for a hard-core Spidey fan like myself. But Dark of the Moon was surely worth the wait, and even though it isn't as good as the very first Transformers film, it still is a ride worth going on. It had good action, good CGI effects, good music, and the actors really worked hard to make their respective characters as realistic as possible.
If I were to sum up the Transformers trilogy in one word, it would be adequate, for they are not the best films of all time, but they are surely worth some spotlight. The epic feeling of each and everyone of these films really makes them worth wild to me, for we all have fond memories of when these movies first came out and how excited we all were, and now that the Transformers trilogy is engraved in plaster, some are disappointed, but I'm surely not, I still enjoyed these films, even if there were some things that made me hurl in a puke bucket. They gave the Transformers franchise the wings to keep going, stay fresh in a similar manner that the Star Wars Prequels kept the Star Wars franchise alive and going strong. Some might not be happy with the way the films turn out, but there are some that really cherish these films nonetheless, and these films can go down in history for attracting new Transformers fans, building new Transformers mythos, and creating new Transformers tales that differ greatly from the stories most are familiar with, but still stay true to what they were based off of, the original Transformers television series, comics and action figure toy line. The Transformers movies got me into Transformers, and though they are corny and idiotic at times (trust me, there are a lot, A LOT of ridiculous moments in all three of these films), they are still great, great fun, filled with laughter and extreme excitement, and I highly recommend them to anybody looking for a good action movie or movie filled with lots of special effects and wonder. And there is no doubt that several years from now, more people will be attracted to these films, for they really got Transformers to where they are today. Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg did what they could to make a series of movies that would blow the minds of many movie goers at heart, and they succeeded in my book, giving us pretty stellar screen adaptations of the "out of this world" Transformers story. Autobots, roll out, for now, for we may very well see sequels or reboots of these films someday. They are surely something worth chatting over and they helped many people realize what Transformers was created for.
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