Movie Touchdown!

Just a few nights ago I had the pleasure of going to see one of the most anticipated films of the year, Transformers: Dark of the Moon. I was extremely excited for this film more so than I have been for any other film in awhile (since “The Dark Knight” actually) so this one was going to be a real treat for me. I grew up with a “Beast Wars: Transformers” so I was already and fan of Transformers from an early age. I loved the first “Transformers” movie and even enjoyed “Revenge of the Fallen” even though it had major issues but more on that later. After watching numerous trailers and tv spots I went in with very high expectations and boy I wasn’t disappointed!

The movie starts off with a recap of the moon landing back in the 60’s with American astronauts discovering a long lost Autobot shuttle crashed on the moon but only a few know of it and it is kept a secret from everyone else. We cut to present day where the Autobots are continuing to work with the US military but also act on themselves to protect mankind from destroying itself, such as destroying illegal nuclear plants in the middle east, and we also Sam Whitwicky now out of college and struggling to find work despite all of his accomplishments from events in the first 2 films. Sam is dating a new girl named Carly as him and Mikaela split after the 2nd film.

Events soon begin to pick up with the Decepticons making their return, along with the appearance of Shockwave, and the discovery by the Autobots of Sentinal Prime who was long thought to be dead. With this discovery the Autobots now believe they have everything in place to finally defeat the Decepticons. All is not as it seems however after a brief highway chase, where Ironhide and Sideswipe fight and kill 3 Decepticons known as The Dreads, Sentinal Prime reveals that he has betrayed the Autobots and made a deal with the Decepticons. Sentinal then kills Ironhide and destroys a military base before meeting up with Megatron and the other Decepticons in Washington D.C. where they transport other Decepticons and weapons to Earth and head for Chicago where the humans and Autobots soon follow and after a long war in which there are deaths on all sides Optimus Prime kills Shockwave, Megatron and Sentinal Prime allowing the Autobots victory and peace on their new home planet Earth.

All I can say is wow! I was expecting lots of action with a good story and I wasn’t let down at all! Sh*t does get blown up in this movie and by the end Chicago is a smoking ruin. The humor was really well done this time around the characters were really enjoyable. The way they tied this movie into real life events was done excellently and could not have been done any better I think. This movie, especially the final battle, really felt more like a war movie than an action movie and I think that really adds to the feel of it.

The CGI and special effects in the movie were superb and some of the best I have ever seen. The details on the robots were spot on and realistic. It really makes you appreciate how much time and work they did into creating every little detail on the robots.

The only complaints I have are that at times I felt the human story kind of dragged on at times and it cut out from the action battles between the robots. Also the continuing black cut screens got annoying at times and last I felt Shockwave should’ve had a lot more screen time than he did I mean when you saw Shockwave come out of the ground and pump his gun you knew crazy sh*t was going down! Aside from those things I felt everything else was great.

All in all I would say this is my favorite film of the year and probably the best film of the year but we still have “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” and “Captain America: The First Avenger” so we will see what happens. This film is a big improvement over “Revenge of the Fallen” and a big action packed thrill ride that will be sure to keep you on your seat! Over the course of the film you could tell the audience was really enjoying it and there were even kids there who had Transformers toys lined up on the floor. I will now go see the movie in IMAX 3D to really get the feel for it.  This is an excellent movie and a must see right now!

*P.S.* Watch and listen closely toward the Chicago battle scene where one of the main characters mentions Grissom Air Force Base!

9.5/10