[Review] Transformers 3: Dark Of The Moon - 16th July 2011

★

★

★

★

 - Leaves A Lot To Be Desired [For rating system, see information tab at top of blog]

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Release Date: 29th June 2011
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Director: Michael Bay
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Writers: Ehren Kruger
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Cast: Shia LaBeouf - Rosie Huntington-Whiteley - Tyrese Gibson - Josh Duhamel - John Turturro 

Review

Ultimately I feel there is little that can be said about ‘Transformers 3: Dark Of The Moon’. The film is a classic example of something that has sacrificed all substance, purely for style.

The film is totally overpowered by special effects, and it has to be said, they are spectacular. In some ways, this makes discussion of the negative aspects of the film not worth mentioning. Not because they are little problems, but because in a strange way you don’t notice them.

‘Avatar’ set the standard for special effects in 2009, and since its release I have not seen a film that has matched its class in terms of visuals on a large scale – Until ‘Transformers 3: Dark Of The Moon’. The action sequences throughout the film are exceptional; the near perfect CGI combined with effective use of slow motion, editing and phenomenal sound mixing creates scenes that grip you and leave you mesmerized.

Having said that: while the effects, both visual and sound, are of the highest quality, everything else in the film ranks as average to poor. Performances, narrative and writing all seem to have been forgotten and cast to one side in the wake of the visual effects.

The cast displayed very mediocre individual performances, and as an ensemble attempted to create a screen chemistry that unfortunately never became believable. Shia LaBeouf maintained the same standard performance he set in the previous films. Small comical roles from John Malkovich and Ken Jeong added an element of humor to the film - however, the loss of Megan Fox for Rosie Huntington-Whiteley was the biggest problem. It seems she was casted to try and better the appearance of Megan Fox, a cardinal error, as her performance and on-screen presence lacked any impact and bordered on irritating.

The narrative of the film was also unexceptional. The writers added a clever element to the plot by turning the first ever moon landing into a type of government conspiracy, but unfortunately it did not conceal the fact that the films story was a simple ‘good versus evil’ yarn.  A new perpetrator teams up with the old perpetrator, creates a plot that would destroy the world, leaving it up to the heroes to save the human race.  A narrative that worked perfectly for the effects throughout the film, but was still predictable and weak nonetheless. 

‘Transformers 3: Dark Of The Moon’ – a very poor film in terms of substance, but exceptional in terms of effects. I would recommend going to see this at the cinema in 3D, just to be mind-numbingly dazzled.