Re: Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Discuss, Grading, Reviews (SPOILE
Random thoughts from here and there in this thread:
Carly, despite all appearances (literally) actually did serve a huge purpose. Were it not for her, Sam wouldn't have been so hot on going back into the danger zone. It was him getting into that zone that set a lot of events in motion and helped alert everyone to the true scope of the threat. Oh, and she was there to look hot, but this is hardly the only action movie to have the "token hot woman", yeah? And while she won't win any oscars any time soon, Rosie was competent and her scene with Megatron was super fun.
The action was absolutely brutal, but you know what? It made sense. In many ways, this action reminds me of how the Marvel Comics series was in its early days. When a character got thrashed, they generally went comatose or were "dead". The animated series really played up the ability for TFs to take a huge pounding and come back looking pristine by the next episode. This makes more sense. How could this race be almost extinct if everyone just got damaged and then yelled "Retreeeaat!" at the end of the day?
Bay seems to have learned to hold a camera steadier than usual. I could actually make out a lot of what was happening. Case in point: the scene where the Autobots fight back against Soundwave and the gang in the city. It was a wide shot and I could see "Ok, Bumblebee is fighting that guy, Sideswipe is fighting that other guy" whereas in past movies it was like "That metal thing over there is so close to the screen I can't tell who it is!"
The humor was well played this time. None of it offended me and it was all over quick enough so the gravity of the invasion wasn't completely lost. I also found Brains and Wheelie to
not be annoying this time out, which still kind of amazes me.
Related to the humor, thank the maker that the Wreckers were played straight, and competent to boot. Not hillbilly rednecks as everyone first suspected. I enjoyed their accents, which could be seen as a sort of side homage to their UK roots.
As a G1 fan, I looooved how much was borrowed from previous Transformers lore. Cybertron being brought to Earth? Megatron in Lincoln's chair? Space bridges?! And (ew) Cosmic Rust! Awesomeness.
Geek out moment: Buzz Aldrin talking to Optimus Prime. I mean...wow. Incredibly cool IMO.
I haven't composed my full review yet because I'm letting a lot of it soak in.
My one major, MAJOR gripe - where the HELL was Steeljaw?!!!
(For those who don't know, view this:
http://www.hasbro.com/transformers/en_US/discover/cybertronian-database.cfm#/characters/steeljaw)
