Transformers 3 review

As I sit here; trying to contemplate what to say about Transformers 3, I’m left with a feeling of emptiness.

I’m not empty because of the movie. In fact, I think it’s a great movie. It’s everything I asked for. When people would say that Transformers 2 sucked, I wouldn’t agree with that. There are many great scenes. What was the story trying to accomplish, I don’t know but it’s not that different than what was going on in Trannies 3. I think in lieu of spending a lot of money on the desert and Great Pyramids, we got to see what that money could do to destroy Gotham, I mean Chicago. (You can’t see the river drawbridge scenes without being reminded of TDK or even when Optimus, in full truck and trailer mode, is driving down the same street that the Joker did and then had his truck flipped. That area must be making bank with all the high priced movies shooting there.)

I feel empty because I think Michael Bay is bored. While the story of Trannies 3 was better and more comprehensive it doesn’t compare to the first one where everyone who grew up playing with the toys and watching the shows where completely blown away. He’s bored and just wanted to take this movie out by trying every trick in his book. I want to make sure that I give the writers their due. Unlike many trilogies this one wasn’t something that was a planned arc that would show the growth of these robots. Let’s not confuse it with Star Wars or LOTR. But to the writer’s credit I didn’t see the twist coming from Sentinel Prime and the plot of returning Cybertron was interesting. Where I felt empty was the execution.

Again, I have to say I feel this is a great movie in so many ways. I’ve now seen it twice and felt the same way each time. It was a spectacle to see but the “pops” and build-ups weren’t there. The second time around I saw more of the battles and they did feel longer. Any you must keep in mind that for a 15 second, grand robot fight, every single frame is basically manufactured, rendered and created by computer artist gods. In an actual real life action sequence you’d spend a fraction of the cost and could go on for 20 minutes to even come close to the cost. So I understand that time and financial constraints are what hold back the ultimate battle scenes, which is why you’d rely on a better script and execution to get the “pop” you’d want from the audience.

Make no mistake, watching the freeway scene / the HALO diving and flying through the air / almost every transformation / every hand to hand battle between robots; all where amazing. Including the use of 3D. This is what 3D was made for. This was on par with the excellence of Avatar. While 3D is over used in so many movies, such as Thor where you hardly noticed it and really just added to the ticket price, you got your money’s worth out of the 3D in Transformers 3. I’ll be glad when only a select number of films are made with the intent of having 3D and actually pull off the effects this precisely.

I’ll get back to my point so we can finish this up. With all the great things that can be said about this movie, I feel that it truly is time for Michael Bay to move on. He’s clearly tired of the franchise. I think like any genius he gathered himself and wanted to prove that the second film’s flaws could be fixed. The issue is that the heart as sole where gone. Where I could see passion was in the performance of the great “Dr. Jeong”. He’s great and to add him to the cast was fantastic. The humor of his paranoid character, which ultimately proves correct, was so funny. The other new actors, Malkovich and McDormand, weren’t needed and seemed to be over castings. Ultimately who cares, so they got a few million to be in the film, a drop in the bucket.

I can’t wait to see what Bay does next. He’s proven with these three movies that there is nothing visually that he can’t pull off. Bay has proven to be the lord of the BOOM and can take any script and turn it into a action spectacular, such as Con-Air or The Rock. Unbelievable stories but true escapism for a summer time audience.

Bay’s had to basically create actors from nothing, and I’m not talking about his female leads. I’d like to see him tackle a script that has to work around humans, even if it’s a sci-fi world, and put all the money and talent into what happens around them.

Even though I’m left a little empty and feel as though the director is clearly done with these characters, I can’t wait until Bay’s next project. The same can be said for the Transformer franchise. With the money that it’s making, there’s no way that they don’t do another film or set of films. I think it’s also proven that they can spend the money on special effects and not worry if it will make it’s money back. So imagine the right director that has an unlimited budget and also has a great story to tell. That sets up for a great Trannies 4!!!

I’m already getting excited.

As I told friends going into the movie; all I want to see is big robots transforming and blowing each other up. That’s certainly what I got.