Man...10 months I worked by way researching about Transformers outside of Bay's movies, hoping to find something bigger than Revenge of the Fallen...
let's review on that, last year, I started reading the comics, and from there became interested to know what Transformers is outside of the movies. what is a waste of time...probably, but it made things better in terms of understanding that franchise. I did the following things:
Tv Series
All of the original series,
all of Transformers:Energon,
a few episodes of Transformers:Armada
All of Transformers: Beast Machines
All of Transformers: Animated
Movie:
saw the animated film.
and several comics.
Just today, I finally saw the third film...it was satisfying all around, but good golly did they have ways to make it just about twice as bad as it was good.
Plot: it's been a few more years or so since the death of The Fallen and the destruction of the harvester. Sam has graduated from college and Mikaela has broken up with him. But he is currently Living with his new girlfriend Carley and is looking for a job. Meanwhile, after encountering the Decepticon Shockwave and his pet Driller, the Autobots find out that an autobot ship which was lost for ages is on the moon with their old commander, Sentinel Prime. They find Sentinel and resurrect him and he tells them that he has the key to save Cybertron. Sam finds out that bringing Sentinel is a trap and tries to warn the Autobots. But before long, Sentinel kills Ironhide and reveals that he is a Decepticon and he plans to make a space bridge on earth to bring Cybertron into Earth atmosphere in order to try to save it and the Transformers race.
What truly kills this film is the first...hour or so of the film. because there you're throwing in Ken Jeong, and John Malkovich. that was painful...slightly funny...but painful. The only things i particularly liked about the beginning was how the Decepticons started out...especially with Laserbeak and Soundwave. Actually all around, there were a lot of things that were like a normal transformers episode from the original series when it came to most of the scene in the beginning where there were Transformers. The film got a little better once the action started but it still took a while before it was really worth it. I loved the ending I really hope there's no movie after this one because if not, than I'll will be all the more content with that kind of ending.
Acting/Characters:
Humans
Shia LeBeouf/Sam Witwicky: I really did not care for how he was in the beginning. he was having this temper and making a big deal about his girlfriend and her boss...it was just painful. But lucky he got better by being back to his normal self concerning his part in helping the fight against the Decepticons. Which isn't awesome but it's better than he was at the beginning. All around, LeBaouf, I like you, i've enjoyed seeing you since Holes...but i really hope things change for the better for you with your Transformer days finally over for you.
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley/Carley Spencer: I actually liked her. I thought she was better than Mikaela. Most of what I liked about her aside from things like not letting Wheelie hump her leg, was that she wasn't that much of a sex symbol. I mean she was a little bit in the beginning, but generally, you hardly saw a cleft around her chest area at all. it was all face to me. And I liked what she did in the ending. It showed that she wasn't just standing there being the hotty of the battle field.
Patrick Dempsey/Dylan Gould: I really did not like his character. I mean I liked how he started in the beginning when he showed his true colors with Laserbeak and Soundwave, but that was it.
Jen Keong and John Malkovich/Jerry Wang and Bruce: they may have given us a few laughs, but there are scars...for also bringing us painful things to watch.
John Turturro/Simmons: well...he wasn't good, but he wasn't being as weird as he was in the first two.
Kevin Dunn and Julie White/Ron and Judy Witwicky: the best thing about them is that they're there for three scenes and that's it. It would've been better if they weren't there at all but for what we have, this is good.
Autobots:
Ironhide: He was awesome to the end.
Wheelie and Brains: Just as painful except there was a better ending with them.
Q:Q was a waste and they should never have made him all Einstein-like and he wasn't even there for that long.
Bumblebee: I was okay with Bumblebee's part. It was good.
Optimus Prime: Action wise, I enjoyed Optimus. I especially liked how his carrier thing that he carries (I don't know what you call it.) had a purpose. Cause that thing almost never has a purpose when it comes to Optimus. The thing that really got me was the fact that he had the Matrix of Leadership...how did he get it? wasn't it destroyed when he destroyed the harvester? I mean I'm fine with it still existing and all that but still. that aside, all around I was alright with his part as staying a simple b-a.
and for honorable mentions, once again, there were characters like Rachet, Sideways and Mirage that were hardly there at all.
Decepticons
Laserbeak and Soundwave: To me, they were the highlight of the beginning of the film. I mean Soundwave is my favorite Decepticon and i loved how he was doing his normal role in the Decepticon army, especially with Laserbeak by his side. Laserbeak may have been a little silly with his flying inside that building but he still did good up to the very end.
Shockwave: How could they do that to Shockwave? He started out as a possible main villain and he really only said one line. "OPTIMUS!!!!" and he was only there for three scenes. Shockwave in my opinion is the most underused, excellent characters in the whole Transformer universe, and I thought for sure that there would be so much of him in this film. and what happened? he's there for three scenes...THAT HOW MANY THE PARENTS WERE IN!!! from there is were I really say Frick you Bay.
Starscream and Megatron: they really ended up as just the background characters. I mean they kinda were in the second film but this made it worse. But there were some pretty good endings concerning both of them. But what was stupid with Starscream was all that spitting. what the heck.
Sentinel Prime: I was shocked when he betrayed the Autobots. I mean many people seemed to have saw it coming but since I have led to think like they do, I was shocked. I mean Sentinel being a bad guy was a bit of a punch in the face. Practically Mon Mothma joining the empire big. That made the film more interesting...but what gets be plot hole wise is the fact that when Optimus offered the Matrix to him, he gave it back...i mean maybe he's not too much of a Decepticon, but still, it would make more sense to take it.
Music: eh, not the best choice. I especially didn't care for the song they chose for when the Decepticons attacked Chicago.
Effects: much better.
Sound effects: well there's no mixing the original sound effects for Transformers actually transforming..right until the very end. so almost there on not doing that. and there was one sound effect that sounded like metal hitting metal when Sentinel's ship was hit by a cannon at one point when it was chased at the beginning. plus there's the part where the sound made it seem like Bubleebee was going to blow up Gould, but instead they used a machine gun which just trashed his place...really? all around it was good but those parts were just a total fail.
Action: like the film...eh. I wanted it to be much bigger. that when I saw the trailers, I was expecting Pelennor Fields with robots. And while the action was still good, I didn't get that big of a battle. so...eh.
Editing: Well what makes it really good is that you got to understand things better. better shots and less as quick. But i hated the middle. because then there's those sudden black-outs and instantly it's night time and Decepticon ships and raising hell against Chicago. that ruined that part for me.
Screenplay: well some the jokes were okay. I liked it when Epps said "how come the Decepticons always get the good stuff?" not only was that funny, it was a pretty good point. plus I really loved that Sam didn't tell Carly that he's follow her to the end of time. because after they had a fight, sam's parents told him were his dad said that in order to make up with his mom. I had a feeling that because of that, he would say the same thing as part of the happy ending for the couple. But it ended with them just saying that they love each other. I mean yes, he did at least say i'd find you anywhere, but at least it wasn't the whole 10 yards to what his dad said to his mom. I mean that's not the most romantic thing, but compared to what i thought was going to happen, I was pretty good with that. I thought it was stupid that Optimus' narrating in the beginning was saying almost the exact same thing he said in the first film.
Star Trek References: there was a whole bunch of them. I mean there was Nimoy being the voice of Sentinel. but the there was Brains and Wheelie was watching an episode of the original series. then Sentinel did say "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." then when Bumblebee said goodbye, he use part of it with another part of Star Trek when Spock said "I will always be your friend." And I don't think this is really a reference, but I for one argue that the whole separation between anything yellow or red things where Sam works could be a reference to the shirts in Star Trek. I mean they were being all patriotic in being in the Yellow level and made a thing over anything being RED.
Final verdict about The Transformers: Well seeing this film completes my research in terms of knowing about this franchise. And my verdict is that Transformers is a nice franchise with a very creative concept and some lovable characters. The main problem with it is that it can be so much more to me. I mean it seems like they're a little bit more with some of the things Bay made the Transformers to be with their life and culture and how they are with action or just with transforming. Plus they really need to use other really good characters that have been very underused throughout the series such as the original Soundwave from the original series and the original Shockwave from the original comics. as far as being entertained all around, it's best to stick to the video games and the comics. because with the games you have just action, and with the comics, you have action too as long as you use your imagination, but also, the comics, even the ones based on the movies, have the best plot and the most character development. as far as my part in Transformers, I'll continue to read those comics and play the games at least, I may see a series or two as far as the future series goes, and when it comes to the films, I'll see them around from time to time and i might make a big video review of all movies including the animated one. who knows? But for now, I'm just going to be content with most of the result of what came out of those 10 months, by watching this film.
And that is my review for Transformers:Dark of the Moon, it was not a good movie, but it was better than ROTF and all around decently satisfying.My personal favorite out of all the movies.
No comments:
Post a Comment