Dir. Michael Bay, USA, 2011, 154 mins
Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Josh Duhamel, Patrick Dempsey
Review by Matthew Rodgers
This third and purportedly final instalment of Michael Bay’s feature length Hasbro advert had many a pre-conceptive obstacle to overcome. There was the soulless splurge of Revenge of the Fallen, which almost single-handedly destroyed the good work of 2007’s Spielberg flecked franchise launcher. Then there was the open admission from Bay and the cast that they’d “dropped the ball” with part two. And finally there was Bay, the orchestrator of vehicular fetishism himself, who even here manages to make a potentially apocalyptic world look like a beautiful Coca Cola advert. These are critic proof movies, the $1.5billion gross is testament to that, but they just aren’t critic friendly. For the record, this critic loved part one and tolerated the second based on that earned goodwill. Dark of the Moon falls between the two, but is sadly closer to its immediate predecessor in terms of quality.
Imagine Wall Street 2 is a prologue to this and you find Sam Witwicky (LaBeouf) searching for a job, despite saving the world twice and receiving a medal of commendation from President Obama. The Autobots meanwhile are something of an A-Team, assisting the government in covert missions to take down nuclear terrorists under the command of Agent Mearing (Frances McDormand). All the while they monitor the stratosphere for any signs of an Energon influx that would indicate Megatron and the evil Decepticons were planning to invade. When the powers that be learn that the 1969 moon landing was a front for a crashed Cybertron spaceship, it prompts a good vs. evil battle in downtown Chicago to decide the fate of the planet. Roll out.
Transformers was always going to have a problem keeping things fresh once the original had bashed so many blocks. Quality CGI can be done on a home computer these days – just watch the DVD extras on Gareth Edwards’ wonderful Monsters – and if you’ve seen one alien automobile transfer into a giant robot, you’ve seen them all. Revenge of the Fallen decided to go for the “more is better” mantra and failed spectacularly in a cacophony of shouting and indistinguishable special effects. This time Bay has decided to plump for 3D, and for the first time since Avatar it’s a format that complements the visuals perfectly. Where previously CGI had tended to suffocate the screen with fighting robots trash compacted into one colourfully fast edited blur, here the added depth perception allows the viewer to differentiate and appreciate the amazing visuals.
Thankfully so in Dark of the Moon’s case, because the final hour is huge and overwhelmingly impressive: vertigo inducing sky diving, a huge sentinel Decepticon that turns this into Battle: Chicago, and a 360° out of vehicle experience for Witwicky. It’s truly stunning stuff that numbs the brain into forgetting the more patchy elements of the set-up.
Character and heart are found wanting (again). It wouldn’t have been hard to upgrade from the scrapheap bound Megan Fox, but Bay has decided to plump for another actress based on chassis alone. Although Huntington-Whiteley is no Jar Jar Binks, she would probably have failed a Hollyoaks audition, let alone land what turns out to be a catalyst role in a blockbuster franchise that fails based purely on her lack of chemistry with LaBeouf. He too tests the patience; his shouty, volatile, wise-ass shtick lacks the charm is once carried.
If this is to be the end, then at least the quality trajectory is on the rise, and the astonishing extended set-pieces make two and a half hours of stilted comedy and hyperactive dialogue worth sitting through. Next time though, let’s hope it’s the director that’s transformed – into someone with a bit more of a grasp on narrative.
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