Transformers: Dark of the Moon
While the Autobots are out saving the world along side the US military on a daily basis, Sam Witwicky is unemployed. But on their latest assignment to Chernobyl, Optimus Prime discovers that the US government has been keeping a big secret. Back when man first stepped foot on the moon, they uncovered the wreckage of an alien ship that came from the Autobots home planet. And as Sam soon learns, the Decepticons are on the move.
Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) is still the same loveable geek, but now has a new girlfriend (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley). Apparently dumped by his former, Sam somehow got an even hotter girlfriend who lets his unemployed self live and mooch off of her. This seems more improbable than intelligent machines from another planet coming to Earth. Unsurprisingly, Michael bay introduces the eventual damsel-in-distress by an eye-rolling, long, spray-tanned butt shot. Several other characters return for this latest adventure: John Turturro, Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson. John Turturro is again fantastic, and brings the laughs along with Alan Tudyk, who plays his assistant. I only wish the two of them had more scenes, as they made the film bearable in between the suspense and action sequences. And to show that Michael Bay isn’t a complete chauvinist, the boss in charge of the Autobots and military base is played by Frances McDormand, a tough-as-nails, female leader. And brief appearances by John Malkovich and Ken Jeong are silly and surprisingly fun. Throw in Leonard Nimoy as Sentinel Prime with an all-too familiar Spock line, and this Star Trek fan was happy.
Thankfully, the story and action scenes more than make up for the second lackluster installment in the Transformers saga. My favorite scenes were of cleverly cut shots of the original lunar landing, with computerizes cameos of John F. Kennedy, and blending the top secret mission to the dark side of the moon. The story was pretty great and easy to follow, along with the action scenes being smoother. You can actually tell who’s who. It’s everything a summer blockbuster should be – action-packed, fun, with plenty of surprises. Its faults were easy enough to look over in favor of new characters, a strong story, and fantastic special effects.