Written By: Dan Geer

Watching Transformers: Dark of the Moon is almost like viewing two different films. On the one hand, much of the first half feels like it is filled with unused scenes from the last film, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, containing unbalanced and unnecessary humor, useless side characters and, of course, an over-emphasis on ridiculously hot, scantily clad women that seem to only exist in Michael Bay films (seriously, I don’t believe Rosie Huntington-Whiteley actually exists in real life). But on the other hand, the last half of the film washes all those problems away when Bay delivers some of the best sci-fi action ever committed to film by giving us the ultimate war between the Autobots and Decepticons in the middle of downtown Chicago. It really is an exhilarating triumph in terms of action and excitement in a movie, especially in 3-D, and the story of how it all goes down is actually intriguing and quite dark to say the least. Ladies and gentlemen, total “Bayhem” is in full effect here and is definitely worth the price of admission (and maybe even some popcorn).

The film starts out quite promising, showing us that an alien ship from the Transformer planet Cybertron actually crashed-landed on our moon back in the 1960s, revealing that the real purpose of the space race was to discover just what exactly was, and still is on that ship. We then fast-forward to the present to catch up with Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), who has recently graduated from college and is extremely frustrated by the fact that, even though he discovered an alien race and helped save the world twice, he can’t tell anyone about it and can’t seem to get a job. His new girlfriend, Carly (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley) – a much better person as a whole than Sam’s previous fling Mikaela – tries her best to be encouraging, but Sam is nevertheless determined to find his way back to helping the Autobots in their continuing quest to maintain peace on our planet and protect us from the evil race of Decepticons.

While the idea of Sam having a personal quest to find his way in the world might look great on paper, the film really struggles in the first half trying to balance it out with the real meat of the story, which is the Autobots’ discovery of the U.S. government’s knowledge of the the alien craft on the moon, and how certain materials on the ship could set in motion a chain of events that would devastate our planet if the Decepticons ever got ahold of it. Sam’s personal story could have been more interesting and less time-consuming if the audience didn’t have to weed through scenes solely in the film for cheap laughs, such as Sam’s various interactions with notable actors like John Malkovich or Ken Jeong playing goofy, misplaced characters that don’t really serve the story effectively. While there is nothing wrong with comic relief, and the scenes here are not nearly as offensive or out of place as the revealing of John Turturro‘s butt in a thong in the last film, the sheer amount of it here makes Sam’s story feel uneven and almost completely unnecessary when contrasted with the more compelling aspects of the story dealing with the imminent threat by the Decepticons. Thankfully, enough of the main plot is scattered throughout this first half to help us still care about the exciting conclusion – the real reason to cough up the extra dough to see this flick in 3-D.

Michael Bay is king when it comes to shooting action. Even the most ardent critics that can’t stand Bay‘s movies still have to admit when he delivers in this area. The previous Transformers films, despite their flaws, have always had great action sequences. With Bay‘s third, and presumably final Transformers movie, he pulls out all the stops and gives us a mind-blowing action extravaganza in the last half, and the useless comedy and other bad trademarks of Michael Bay films become virtually non-existent. It is seriously a full hour or so of well-shot, non-stop, in your face, balls-to-the-walls Bayhem that easily rivals any sci-fi action sequence in any other films you may have seen – especially if you watch this in 3-D. Not since Avatar have we gotten 3-D so well-utilized, and I would argue that it is used even better here than in James Cameron‘s overrated film from 2009. Some of the unique and utterly crazy stunts and effects work done here are absolutely jaw-dropping. My jaw was still dropped after leaving the theater.

But it is not just the amazing action sequences or the stellar 3-D that make the last half so great. The story, once it gets going, is actually quite well-executed and interesting, with various twists and turns sprinkled throughout the film, and this time the Transformers take center stage in terms of character development and don’t feel like mere supporting characters like in the last two films. These are the heroes and villains you always wanted in a Transformers movie. It is because of this that we as an audience feel actual emotion when they are in utter peril, and why we get thrills and chills when the villains take hold and all seems lost for our heroes. The scripting is much, MUCH better this time around overall, easily making this the best Transformers film since the first one, if not better.

Sure, we can whine all day about useless and/or overused comic relief, or Michael Bay constantly ogling the body of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley with the camera. But there is much to love about this latest outing from Bay. Action scenes aside, the actors seem to be at the top of their game in this film in terms of performance, even Huntington-Whiteley – when compared to Megan Fox, at least. The addition of Leonard Nimoy as the voice of Sentinel Prime is especially of note, as his character has got to be the most “fascinating” Transformer character since we first met Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) in the first film (had to throw that Star Trek reference in there). In the end, despite a somewhat messy first half, this is the Transformers movie to see – no question about it. The second half easily outweighs the first, and I dare anyone to try and not have a good time watching this movie in 3-D.

Rating: (out of four)