Much like anything else in the world, sequels can work out when they're done right. What I like to see from a sequel is an expansion of the storyline that the first film in the series set up, like how Spider-Man established the responsibility that Peter Parker had to take up, and Spider-Man 2 established how that responsibility is getting in the way of his day-to-day life. It continues the story and makes the sequel seem necessary in the series. If writers could set up more story arcs like that, possibly pre-planning sequels, then Hollywood would still be able to use the franchise as a cash cow while still making plausible films. What I DON'T like to see, however, are sequels that, in one way or another, use the exact same story as the first film. Not only does this make the sequel seem predictable, but also unnecessary. It makes the very thought that the people who put the sequel together have no other interest other than making more money seem irritating. I honestly could have seen a good story arc given to the story that the first Transformers set up. There was a lot of mystery left with the All-Spark that could have been answered in sequels. Where did it come from? What was its purpose? Are there more of them out there? It would've told us many things about the Transformers that we never knew before. But instead, the sequels had to use the same story again and again, telling us things we already know, and by this point, I just don't care anymore.
So, this time around, the Autobots go exploring on the dark side of the moon and find that one of their old ships had crashed there. It turns out that the ship had been previously discovered by the Apollo 11 landers, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong, and the government had been hiding it from the Autobots all this time. (Good God, this over-the-top government could hide the Statue of Liberty if they wanted to!) The ship was piloted by Sentinal Prime, voiced by Leonard Nimoy, and he is brought down to Earth where he is revived. He reveals that the Decepticons are looking for pieces of the Space Bridge, and they plan to place those pieces all over the world so they can create a portal so big that they can bring Cybertron to Earth so they can revive it. How do they plan to revive it? I don't know. The plot's so jumbled that it left me confused about halfway through.
People complained about how the humans should not have had so much screen time in the first two movies, but at least the first one had good reasons to have such big roles. They played their parts pretty well, and I honestly could not imagine the first film without any of them. (Except Anthony Anderson!) Heck, even the second film gave vital roles to Sam and Agent Simmons. With this film, however, I could definitely see how the humans wouldn't be considered the least bit compelling. The scenes where Sam Witwickey, played again by Shia Labeouf, is working in his new job are completely unnecessary and one of two sole reasons why the film clocks in at over 2 1/2 hours. Also, there's no real emotional conflict with him or his new, not-so-hot girlfriend. In the first film, I cared for Sam because he carried the All-Spark and was willing to die to protect his home planet. That's responsibility that's hard to take up. The second film went completely overboard with over-dramatizing his emotional scenes, but at the same time, they were at least trying to give him a conflict, as he was the one who held the key to reviving Optimus. This film, on the other hand, gives Sam no conflict whatsoever. He doesn't have any goals that he himself could accomplish, and yet the film constantly acts like we're supposed to give a crap about him. He is completely unnecessary in this film, and if they cut him out and just focused on the Autobots (and perhaps the military and the government), the film wouldn't have been as long as it is.
One thing I will say is that the special effects are spectacular. The way that Michael Bay establishes the set pieces to interact with the CG animation is quite astonishing. The 3D is surprisingly stellar as well; wholly unnecessary, perhaps, but not blurry and still maintaining the colors of the robots and the explosions. But I run into the same problem with this film that I had with Revenge of the Fallen; after how long the special effects and action scenes carry on with this film, I just didn't care anymore. Also, while I still adore the designs for the robots that were in the first film and are making their re-reappearance here, the new ones are ugly. But on the bright side, at least they're not using those effects to create racist twins or robotic testicles. (In fact, there's literally only one scene I recall from the film that's as insulting as all of that.)
The action scenes attempt to be big and epic, but while they can be exhilarating, there are a few problems. First off, while the cameras aren't terribly shaky for the most part, there are a few moments where, at one point, I can't determine what's going on, and at another point, something happens where I'm just asking "HOW THE HELL DID THAT HAPPEN." Another problem I have is that the action scenes in the rising action tend to be relatively short, but the final battle (which looks suspiciously similar to the final battle in the first film) carries on for WAAAY too long (which is another reason why the film clocks in at 2 1/2 hours). Much like the majority of Revenge of the Fallen, this final battle keeps adding action scene upon action scene, piling up until we're exhausted, and then just adding more. Also, just like the first two movies, they keep over-using the slow-motion when they don't even need it. Slow-motion is meant to either show tiny pieces that you wouldn't otherwise see or represent the blood-pounding drama of an emotional scene. These films attempt to use it for the latter, but like I said before, there's no emotional conflict in this one, so it just prolongs the film even more.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon is just more of the same thing. If this were the first film, then maybe it would've been astonishing (just like the first film), but instead, it's just more overwhelming action for the already exhausted audience. The story, when it's not jumbling between unnecessary and unexplained scenes, is just reusing the formula of the other two films, the characters are not compelling in any way, and the action scenes and big special effects carry on for way too long and start to.... Dare I say it... get rusty after a while. While it's not as horrendous as Revenge of the Fallen, it's still pretty overwhelming. This was just another attempt to get a big-budget action-packed blockbuster under the name "Transformers" into theaters, and I don't know about the rest of the world, but I'm personally getting tired of it.
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