I ducked out to Vegas for the weekend, so no box office or “Cars 2” reaction threads. Sorry. But yesterday I caught “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” with most of the press corps and I had a blast. The action begins to melt your face in the final hour to a numbing degree. The screenplay is naturally all over the place. But it’s a full-on ride with beautifully realized 3D and, as always, impeccable sound design. I’d say it’s my favorite of the series, but I’d love to hear your thoughts. The film opens tonight at 9pm screenings in order to get a massive jump on the weekend (expect a trillion dollars in the bank by the time the fireworks hit Monday). So head on back here with your take when you get around to it this week.
Comments
56 responses to “Tell us what you thought of ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’”
For comparisons sake, did you like it better or less than Tron Legacy?
I love your coverage Kris, but Transformers 3 better than Super 8?
Will you do one for Cars 2?
Don’t do it.
m1: Time has come and gone.
Matt: Liked Tron better.
Juan: Super 8 is objectively better than Transformers 3 if only because of its character work, but I’d rather watch the latter a second time.
OK, I didn’t see it and I never will. But it HAS to be better than the garbage of the first and the second. However, I still prefer the Transformers in the cartoon where I can watch them actually transform.
Is it because this is intended to be mindless entertain so we are giving free pass to the wandering script? I always don’t understand this logic.
Kris, I share the disappointment you have with Super 8, but I do not want another Transformer movie (I think no.4 will come in the summer of 2013)
Gosh Kris. I thought Tron Legacy was an abysmal failure and hit absolute rock bottom for tent pole movies. If Tron was better than this, I wonder how this movie is.
Strange reactions so far (reviews).
Half of them say it’s the best of the series. Half say it’s the worst.
I’m seeing it on Thursday.
I am excited for this film, I really enjoyed the 1st, while the 2nd looked great, but was terrible, this one should be as much fun as the first…
“Is it because this is intended to be mindless entertain so we are giving free pass to the wandering script? ”
Is it because Tree of Life had good intentions people do the same?
Shia just admitted that he nailed Megan Fox on the set.
My favorite of the series. Which really means it’s a little less disposable than the prior two. Honestly though, there aren’t many summer movies that I could watch endlessly and even the “better ones” (ahem Dark Knight) are a chore to sit through on repeat viewings.
Tree of Life has a wandering script sure but it at least has some central themes that it remains focused on throughout. Transformers is just sit back and enjoy the action which is fine in its own right.
I did not like either T1 or T2 but I can enjoy a mindless action film. I love Commando with Arnold for example.
I just hope the action can get me through the tough spots. First one was kind of fun. 2nd was painful, but some of these money shots in the trailer are breathtaking. So cross my fingers.
Probably not going to see this, as I despised the 2nd one. I do have a question though: Kris, was the image brighter then a normal 3d feature? I heard Bay was trying to fix that problem.
An article regarding how Cars 2 has extremely little Oscar chance and the very first time a Pixar film has gotten negative reviews across the board would be interesting, though.
You would think that would make for an interesting and appropriate point for discussion, since this is an Oscar-news website and that is from the same producers of a huge supply of Oscar wins in the past four years. Now, Pixar has done a film which has only a small chance of getting nominated, even in a five-nominee year.
red: Tron did tons of things wrong but I had a soft spot for it. The experience was enough on one hand but I honestly liked what they were doing (or what they were trying to do) with the mythology.
Andrew: Definitely brighter. I took my glasses off a few times to check it.
Stefan: Meh. I’m not going to force something that isn’t in me to write. And after all, who really had high Oscar hopes for the sequel to a film that couldn’t beat Happy Feet in the animated feature race, especially when THAT film has a sequel coming this year, too. It’s a non-story to me. And though I like the first Cars enough to keep it from the bottom spot on my Pixar list (that’s reserved for A Bug’s Life, which I can’t stand), everyone knew this was a merchandising cash grab and nothing more from the moment it was announced.
Kris: Ok, I may not like the movies, but anything that’s making 3D better is good.
It was an improvement over the last two but still shite. I liked the prologue (however implausible it was) but the first shot that opened the main narrative (to please the teenage hormones) immediately destroyed the rest of the film for me. They improved the overview of the battles but I still had no idea who was fighting whom half the time and who were the good guys. Oh and could they please stop resurrecting EVERY MAJOR ROBOT CHARACTER at least twice a film?
Being able to see the MI:4 trailer before the screening last night made it worth it, but the screenplay was too all over the place for me. I’ll post a link to Cinexcellence’s review later tonight.
Forget about Transformers 3, I am gushing over Super 8 which, I finally saw. What a wonderful, touching, supremely satisfying film.
For the record, the ending was superb. Totally down with it. And it made perfect sense, non the least, emotionally so.
And the kids are a true revelation. Practically all of them. Elle Fanning is better than Ellen Page and Heilee Stenfeld combined. Wonderful, extremetly naturalistic performance what actresses can only dream of giving.
And props to filmmakers for getting the sexual tension right. It’s palatable.
It’s such a shame that this movie is likely to be overlooked come major awards time but maybe it won’t.
@Kris
Is the 3D action as good as the buzz says it is?
tony: I think so. Really well done. Especially the stuff at the beginning on the moon.
@Kris: Would you agree that John Lasseter might not be as incredibly gifted as the talent he hired to direct at Pixar? His filmography: Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Cars, Cars 2
No because it really doesn’t just hang on one guy over there. Too much of a collective creative thing. (And the fact that Toy Story 1 and 2 are absolutely brilliant kind of nullifies that argument.)
Review.
http://bit.ly/jQbzqL
Transformers 3 blew me away. It was way more streamlined than the first and especially the second. Megan Fox part 2 wound up being fantastically okay, and the 3D is unparalleled. The Skydiving scene, while unrealistic, was completely brilliant. I think as far as Oscar prospects go, it’ll obviously be limited to the tech categories. If this doesn’t finally win Visual Effects for the franchise nothing will. Sound categories should also be locks; but I think there might be a long shot chance at a *gulp* Best Cinematography nomination? If Avatar can win that category, I don’t see why this can’t grab a nod.
I enjoyed the first Transformers, was annoyed by the second. But I am shocked that there seems to be an anti-vote for Bay (is he really THAT much worse than Cameron?) in the Academy. That Transformers 2 wasn’t even nominated for effects is a joke, but seriously – that the first one LOST to a financial bomb in the US, a film that no-one in The Academy probably saw (The Golden Compass) is simply ridiculous. For awards where the most deserving SHOULD have won, that even out-did Sandra Bullock winning for the best acted female lead of the year in film for Blind Side.
It’s a moving modeling portfolio for Huntington-Whitely… but that’s not a bad thing.
Most of the problems that keep it from being a good film are direction issues and lack of attention to details, mainly geographic details (like the other two). But that’s not to say it’s not satisfying to watch. The goal was to make an entertaining movie about talking alien robots and I say Bay succeeded with all three.
I was very sick and needed lots of sleep, but my buddies forced me to go at midnight. I did not fall asleep (and I can fall asleep through anything, no matter how loud) so thumbs up.
The first and second act felt like it took forever, but the third act (the battle in Chicago) was awesome.
The special effects in the film are some of the best I’ve ever seen. The Witwiki parents were very funny again.
28-The difference between Cameron and Bay is that Cameron can actually wonderfully direct a film. Not so with Bay.
28-Just because one film made more money than the other does not mean that film should win.
While I think that the first ‘Transformers’ had better overall special effects than ‘The Golden Compass’ … I enjoyed ‘The Golden Compass’ moreso, and there are interesting special effects going on in every single frame of that movie, as well.
I felt there were some similarities to Tron Legacy in that it has some significant flaws, but the spectacle element of the film makes it worth seeing (and in a 3D theater with a big screen, DVD/Blu-ray and probably even a 2D theater just won’t do), and it is probably just edges out the first to be the best in the series. However, I liked Tron more because I felt the bad parts there never got to the point of the bad parts of Dark of the Moon, and while Tron’s script also had many problems I felt there were at least some interesting ideas in the story there.
The sound work is great outside of some poor song choices on the film’s soundtrack, but in particular the visual effects should be highlighted. While the effects in the second were fine there was no “wow” element to them the way there had been in the first, but that is back and then some in this film; best visual effects in film history IMO (of course that is a field that is constantly advancing).
Honestly, I was kind of disappointed on a more basic level. It’s progressively dumber, more ridiculous, and over-the-top than any of the other films, and that does offer some enjoyment. The thing is, the editing of the film is absolutely terrible. The final action sequence feels honestly somewhat boring, mostly because they don’t balance the multiple levels of action well enough to make the action compelling. It was a bit too small scale, even for a massive film like this. Huntington-Whiteley made me sorely miss Megan Fox. I wanted this to be a joyful guilty pleasure, but I honestly liked “Revenge of the Fallen” better.
Yeah, Ben makes a good point. This film, more than any in the series, is like a giant fucking soundtrack commercial. Awful song cues throughout.
Whoa Kris, the linkin Park song when they were driving was pretty good.
Overall, I loved it and it’s the best of the 3, and I really liked the first. The story is good and simple, and the action is some of the one of the best put on screen.
If only they could manage to put it on mute whenever they start into the Shia LaBeouf storylines.
http://blog.flickchart.com/index.php/transformers-dark-of-the-moon-a-flickcharters-movie-review/
about the song use: The Linkin Park song was alright, but early on there were two or three U2 songs that just felt completely unnecessary.
I’ll say it. I absolutely hated the Linkin Park song. They played it way too often in the film, it was way too sentimental, and it didn’t make anything feel bombastic enough.
The Linkin Park song sucked. IMO.
I have zero desire to see this movie, I couldn’t even stay awake either time I tried to watch the first one, but…wow, that new girl is really not good looking. If she was cast because of looks…phew…major fail. Sorry, shallow of me, I know…
That’s the thing. I know people scream “boring” at dramas, but ‘action’ …. it almost always puts me to sleep.
I think it’s the monotony of it and/or too many action sequences has ineffective choreography.
Or if it simply peaks too early as was the problem with Iron Man 2.
Good News/Bad News for Transformers 3. Good News, it’s better than Transformers 2 and the 3D/Visual Effects are top notch. Bad News, the movie is terrible.
Having the Autobots take backseat to the U.S. military is truly a strange decision. The issue is most recognizable during the third act/Chicago sequence but truthfully it permeates throughout the entire film. The last thing a 300m sci-fi tentpole epic should be is boring but that’s exactly what Transformers 3 was for a majority of its runtime. John Malkovich, John Turturro, and Ken Jeong acting stupid and chewing scenery doesn’t cut it.
I wanted to watch a Transformers film that featured giant robots fighting. Instead I got a recruitment ad for the U.S. military with moronic humor throughout.
I have to agree with Ben M., I thought the special effects were the best I have ever seen. I can’t remember a film giving me so many WOW moments in such a short amount of time (the last hour and 20 minutes). Both Shockwave sequences were mindboggling in their spectacle. I go to a movie like this to have that perfect moment where I just don’t want a particular shot to end, it’s so beautiful, and this gives that up in spades.
It also has to be said that at one point I actually said outloud “Oh no, Bumblebee!”, which for me proves that I was at least somewhat emotionally invested in this franchise. I don’t think people give this “world” the credit it deserves (that being said, yes, Number 2 was just….no.)
Just saw it.
Dumb story. Paper thin characters, as usual.
But pretty kick-ass action. Amazing sound/fx. And I think it’s quite a bit better than the 2nd film (which isn’t saying much).
Seeing Turturro again, Malkovich, McDormand, Jeong, Aldrin, etc etc was nice, but there was nothing to hold onto with them.
Rosie whateverhernameis was better than I expected (which can be said of the movie, too). But it’s nothing to go woo-hoo about.
As a Summer blockbuster spectacle – it was worth my $$.
Kind of loved it. Probably the most fun I’ve had in a theatre all year. Some of the humor is still cringe-worthy (Ken Jeong in particular), and the Michael Bay melodrama is as cheesy as ever. But I can’t help but really dig the absurd excess of this franchise. The second one was shit, but the 1st and 3rd are just such a blast. Guilty pleasure? Sure. Sue me.
Oh and I have note that as a die-hard fan of the now 30 year old Transformers + Beast Wars mythos, this installment was geek nirvana for me. Finally a Transformers movie where the robots have an actual storyline that isn’t just a subplot of Shia Labeouf and the US Military. They really take center stage this time and it works. Would love to see Paramount tackle an all CGI Transformers film without any human characters. There’s a ton of mythos for them to draw from.
ha Kyle, I agree with you. I really like Bumblebee a lot too and his relationship with Sam. (As much as people hate Shia I really like him. Like a young Michael J Fox to me.) When I thought Bee was going to get executed I was feeling it a bit.
And the scene where he transforms throws Sam then catches him and transforms again is one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen.
Kevin: The first and third aren’t guilty pleasures to me. I see nothing wrong in appreciating how good they are.