In the Theatre with Kevin Murphy - Transformers; Dark of the Moon - Paramount Pictures

Film Critics role out, its time for the review of the third and final member of one the richest and mixed film trilogies of the past four years. Once the world was done with the Spider-man series the Transformers came to the big screen. First one (2007) was pretty good, Revenge of the Fallen (2009) made me bored and almost made me walk out halfway through. The newest and final member so far Dark of the Moon kept me entertained but only enough that I wouldn't walk out of theatre or need a drink from my “magic potion” to keep me further entertained.

Album beats movie any day!

As the war for both Earth and Cybertron continue the Autobots discover the ruins of their old ship the Ark on the dark side of the moon. The discover was first made in the 60s and was the core reason for Apollo 11. With the ancient secrets stowed away in the Ark the Autobots and their enemies the Decepticons have now evolved their war into a very dangerous business transaction for the sake of their home world.

Well Transformers 3, its better than revenge of the fallen but I found it to be second rate compared to the original. The one thing I liked about this movie was that it had incredible visuals that you can really only see in 3D. Unfortunately I didn't see it in 3D, I saw it at the good old Paramount Theatre in Hanover, Ontario. Its was a good old theatre but a movie this gigantic must be seen on a big screen. Back to the visuals; they are epic, they are crisp and the are raw. That is everything you expect to see in a big summer blockbuster, and its clear Michael Bay wasn't cheap when he made this film. All the big important transformers looked good sound good and their action scenes are what made the film almost passable.

However the sad reality is, Transformers 3 didn't pass. There are a number of reasons why it didn't pass my inspection. The first and most obvious is the acting, the lungs of any motion picture. Most of the actors return except for Megan Fox who was fired for comparing director Michael Bay to a certain historical figure who shall remain nameless on this review. In her place we have Victoria Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. She's very pretty but that's about as far as she goes, her character really has no character, she uses her soft breathy voice all the way through the movie and what does it do; nothing really. Her character tries to act smart and tough but her personality really is just an air head and I think she should stick to modelling. But she's not the first model to start out bad with acting, and she wont be the last.

Shia LaBeouf returns as the lead once again, and he hasn't really changed that much. His character Sam has matured a bit more but he still a sapping little suck up who is trying to hit on a girl that is too good for him when he should be more focused on either trying to get a job without worrying about his relationship and helping Optimus save the Universe. I still think his character is very childish and since LaBeouf isn't doing transformers anymore we cant see his character evolve into a mature adult. I just hope his future roles will have a better sense of maturity. Josh Duhamel did OK and didn't change much so I cant really find anything wrong with his performance.

Like Jurassic Park, the special effect characters are the real stars of these movies. The Autobots and Decepticons that play the most serious roles played their parts well with their deep voices and powerful charisma and attitude. We also have a fun and respectable cameo from Buzz Aldrin who I thought showed a good mix of fiction meets history.

This movie was way longer than it should have been. 2 hours and 10 min is more than enough for a movie like this. They went way over the line with jokes, show stoppers and close ups of the female lead from all angels. We focus a bit too much on Sam and his new girlfriend when a bit more should have been spent with the Transformers. At least half the scenes with Sam and his girlfriend didn't seem necessary and could have saved the movie a good 20 min.

So apart from the effects, Transformers 3 isn't a very satisfying finish to the Transformers' series. Dark of the Moon has the fandom, popularity and science to make a good summer blockbuster but not the sense of character and life to be something Id call a motion picture. I would much rather be at home watching re-runs of Beast Wars than having to see this again. But what I really hope for in the future is that they just start over, come up with new ideas and new characters that can really breath out a good story than will leave more than just the loyal fans satisfied.

My Rating: 1.5/4 Shamrocks