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Thursday 21 July 2011

Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Review

Transformers: Dark of the Moon was better than I expected it to be, but it could easily win the award for most drawn out, overbloated narrative in all of modern cinema. Despite all of the explosions, the remarkable special effects, the John Malkovich cameo and the government agent in a wheelchair, Michael Bay has a serious issue with pacing. Ever since that godawful mess Pearl Harbour, he seems to have some obsession with really long movies - and not justifiably long. Long as in building up to a battle for half the movie, and when it finally arrives, dragging out the battle for a further hour of plotless antics. I mean, the effects were REALLY great, but utilised by a different director this could have been incredible. Which is a shame, because Transformers 1 was thoroughly enjoyable. Having said that, Revenge of the Fallen was an undeniable mess, and this third installment is a definite improvement.
And what is it with Michael Bay anyway? The man has a serious fetish for destruction. I don't think I've seen quite so many explosions in one movie (except perhaps Pearl Harbour). I can't see how this guy's career can progress any further beyond this volume of explosions, unless his next film is about the big bang and the creation of the universe. Or maybe they'll hire him for the 'When World's Collide' remake, and it'll be 2 hours of buildup before the 2 planets inevitably smash into each other for 20 minutes and everything goes bang.
Generally though, my complaints didn't start until the day after, when I realised how dumb this movie really was. But during the viewing experience, I was thorougly entertained by the eye candy, and thought the price of admission was well worth it. Just another Hollywood film then.