My Review of Transformers: Dark of the Moon · 10:16am Jun 19th, 2020
Rating Scale
12/10—a complete
masterpiece; flawless and outstanding
11/10—Excellent, near-perfect film
10/10—the standard rating; awesome with a couple of flaws
9/10—a wonderful film with several flaws
8/10–a great film with numerous flaws but not enough to ruin it
7/10—a fun and entertaining movie; not great but still enjoyable
6/10—a slightly above average film; might not watch it again but still happy I watched it for the first time
5/10—mediocre movie; not awful but not great either
4/10—a below average film; it could have been much better
3/10—a bad film; poorly written and poorly executed
2/10—a very bad movie; the few good things in the movie overshadowed by the bad things
1/10—a terrible movie; a total waste of time
0/10—a worthless piece of abomination; should have never been made
Hello there! Here is my review of Transformers: Dark of the Moon! I’m going to say this straight forward to you guys: this movie is the best blockbuster film I’ve ever seen in my whole life. I don’t care what anybody says because this is so satisfying to watch. Back in 2011, I had so many high hopes for this movie. There was also a lot of speculation around my middle school friends who were hardcore Transformers fans especially of the Bayverse. Back at my middle school, one of my friends was speculating that this movie would not feature any Decepticons at all.
He even said that the Autobots would die leaving only Optimus and Bumblebee which forced them to forsake earth. I refused to believe that. Thankfully, it turned out that he was wrong. Another thing we speculated was that Starscream would betray Megatron in this film. Let me guys tell you right now that I found this version of Starscream very annoying. I and my old friends even mocked and made fun of Starscream and hyped Megatron to beat him in a fight in this film.
Little did I know that this film would both satisfy me and shock me in so many ways. I went to a movie theater with my dad where the film was in 3D. Thus, we had to wear 3D glasses on. The moment the movie started, I was shaking in fear because of the obvious darker tones this movie would have. Boy, was I right. Let’s begin the pros and cons, shall we?
PROS:
1). Optimus Prime voiced by the legendary Peter Cullen and Megatron voiced by Hugo Weaving as usual (although I prefer Frank Welker as Megatron). Optimus’s fight scenes were so awesome and memorable.
2). The prologue that set the tone of this whole movie.
3). To be fair, I actually like Carly Spencer as Sam’s new girlfriend. Mikala was such a bland and boring character that really sucked hard. So, seeing Rosie Hunington-Whiteley acting in her role was rather good. Her acting is much better in my humble opinion (yes, I know why Megan Fox was not in the movie).
4). I am very happy that Skids and Mudflap were absent in this movie although we see their vehicle modes in the far distant background in one shot when the Autobots return to NEST headquarters. Thank you for listening to the fans in that matter, Michael Bay!
5). Some of the characters were actually really funny in this movie. For example, Dutch and Jerry Wang. If any of you dislike them for any reason, I respect your opinion. But seriously, they actually got a laugh out of me! Of course, Agent Simmons was still his funny self.
6). Laserbeak was very intimidating and scary. His ability to speak completely caught me off guard. I was like, “Wow! He can talk?! Awesome!” Yeah, he was mute in the G1 cartoon which was okay since he was a metal bird and all. Here, he is more like a condor. Man, he was such a killer!
7). Soundwave had an awesome earth design and Mercedes car mode. However, I don’t like the fact he has no visor and has an actual mouth unlike from the last movie. Still, he was menacing in appearance and had an awesome death scene.
8). The Driller was amazing. Too bad he only lasted for about three minutes of screen time.
9). Sideswipe was actually given slightly more screen time and had a couple moments to shine. In fact, that whole highway chase scene with the Dreads was fantastic. It was heartbreaking to realize that was the last fight scene Ironhide had. That right there leads to the next point.
10). Sentinel Prime (voiced by Leonard Nimoy RIP) was exceptionally a well-written antagonist. When I saw him on screen alongside Optimus in the wilderness, I was really touched by the moments they had. A teacher and student moment. I really wish the movie spent more time with them to develop their relationship more and establish their character. However... BOOM!! THE PLOT TWIST HAPPENED!! That was the second thing I was completely caught off guard by. Sentinel killing Ironhide was the most shocking thing I have ever seen in a Michael Bay movie. At the theater, seeing him rust to death was... disturbing. He was one of my favorite Autobots of all time, so his death really hit me hard. I never thought in my wildest imagination he would ever die. Sentinel’s betrayal actually made me so angry. I started to hate him so much to the point where I vowed to never buy a Bayverse Sentinel Prime toy. Yes, yes, that’s how pissed off I was. At least he’s a much better villain with actually reasonable motivations than The Fallen.
11). Thank God Sam’s parents were not involved in the final battle unlike the last movie. Because putting them there really dragged the climax down.
12). Ratchet and Bumblebee were cool in this movie as usual. It was actually good to see Ratchet actually kill Decepticons on screen unlike the last two movies. You might be wondering where I saw that. Well, if you look close enough in the background when Optimus depends on the ground to slaughter Decepticons and the scene where the Autobots are running to help Optimus defeat Sentinel, you see him kill a few Decepticons.
13). While the first half of the film is somewhat dull, the last half is one cinematic, climatic battle between good and evil. I LOVE that. Because we payed to see the robots fighting, not the humans!
14). Dylan Gould was the second interesting twist villain. Seeing him collaborate with the Decepticons actually made sense for me. Sadly, I saw neither of the twists coming because I easily overlooked the hints that led to the twists in the movie theater. I was younger at the time, so there’s that. Patrick Dempsey was amazing; he is also one of my favorite actors.
15). The repetitive sex humor and the toilet humor is completely absent in this movie as well. Bonus points for that, Mr. Bay!
16). I really love that there are fewer main Decepticons in this movie. It focused on Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, Shockwave, and Laserbeak. Yeah, you have the Dreads, who were also awesome by the way, but it still has the main four iconic Decepticons (Okay, five including Laserbeak lol). The last movie had too many main Decepticons.
17). The best part of the whole movie is... (drums beating dramatically)... Starscream’s death. I kid you not... his death was the best damn part of the whole movie... no... the WHOLE TRILOGY!! Seeing Sam kill his ass off was so satisfying. Also, it actually makes sense that Sam is the one who kills him at the end. Think about it. Starscream and Sam crossed paths so many times throughout the trilogy. In the first movie, Starscream almost landed on him prior to him fighting Ironhide and Ratchet. He also destroyed a helicopter which Sam was going to that nearly killed him. In the second movie, Starscream spat at him after Grindor dropped him, Mikala, and Leo at the warehouse where both Megatron and Starscream were waiting for them. Later in the forest, he literally said, “Come here, boy!” before chasing him. Later, he chases after him again once he spots him and his friends riding on Bumblebee in Egypt. And again once he searches for him and Mikala in the final battle right before shooting at them with his missiles. So, Sam killing Starscream really feels justified.
18). Sentinel got what he rightfully deserved at the end. Although, I at first thought he was going to be reformed by Optimus at the end, but his execution was much better than I expected.
20). Both Autobots and NEST soldiers contributed to the battle. The military are not doing all the damage. You actually see the Autobots gaining kills. All that the military did was blind a few Decepticons, including Barricade, stick boom sticks on their feet, distract some fighter ships to a half-demolished building, shoot down some more fighter ships, and help the Autobots weaken Shockwave enough for Optimus to kill him. That’s it.
21). There’s something I keep forgetting to address in my two previous reviews. The soundtrack in this first trilogy is fantastic, well-composed, and nostalgic. Linkin Park did wonderful with these soundtracks. Unforgettable. My favorite ones are “It’s Our Fight” and “I’m just a Messenger”.
22). Carly having the boldness to stand up to Megatron and convince him through reverse psychology to help Optimus defeat Sentinel. That makes sense for Megatron considering the fact that Sentinel slapped him and mistreated him earlier without any repercussions whatsoever. He should’ve done that to The Fallen because “there is no command but” his.
23). Megatron kicking Sentinel’s tailpipe was shocking and amazing. When I saw that in the theater, I was like, “WHAT THE HECK?!” The third thing that caught me off guard. Man, that was satisfying.
24). The part where Buzz Aldrin (the actual him) was talking to Optimus Prime. That was an awesome moment right there. I’ve heard that was one of Peter Cullen’s favorite moments of this film.
CONS:
The things I hated in this movie are very few but here we go.
1). Sam and his annoying parents. The scene where he berated Bumblebee for not seeing him in a while made me want to punch him in the face whenever he appeared on screen. He always creates new ways for the audience to hate him, doesn’t he? 😑
2). Sentinel, if I am understanding you correctly, you said that your technology defies “our” laws of physics to transport matter through time and space. Firstly, it’s not just our laws of physics; it applies to the whole universe. Secondly, when you said that, does that mean your pillars were immune to physics that would explain nothing happening when you transported Cybertron to earth’s atmosphere, or is it because the writers don’t understand physics that much? I’m confused. Either way, that doesn’t really explain much. 
EDIT: My mistake... space bridge technology defies physics in Transformers lore, not just in Dark of the Moon. However, I noticed how nothing catastrophic happened when Cybertron was being brought to earth’s atmosphere. Yeah, the writers clearly didn’t understand how physics worked when two planets were being brought that close that would spark tsunamis, earthquakes, and every other natural disaster. So it’s a movie mistake.
3). Megatron did almost nothing throughout the whole movie. He only had six minutes of screen time. Plus, his earth design was decent. Still, nice callback to G1 when he sat on Lincoln’s memorial throne... except he blew the statue of Lincoln up. I guess that fits his character.
4). Shockwave was hyped to be the main villain of the movie. Instead, he has only two minutes of screen time and did almost nothing throughout the movie. He didn’t even transform in the film! The only thing he did was blast Optimus into a construction site. That’s it. Also, those are his lines of dialogue:
“Optimus!” (His first appearance)
“How?!” (When the Wreckers shoot him)
“Driller bot is thirsty.” (When he looks up at the falling building)
“Commence.” (His command to Driller before he drills through the skyscraper)
Still, an epic death scene. And no, a parachute didn’t destroy him 🙄. It only served to blind him so that the Autobots and military troopers can shoot at his weak spots. Get your facts right, people!
5). How is it that Optimus was tangled that easily by mere chains? He could’ve just used his energon blades to cut through them. But no, the Wreckers had to help him like he couldn’t do it himself. So stupid...
6). The Wreckers have little to no personality and character. I don’t see how anyone can like them except for their Scottish accents. The same can be said for Dino/Mirage (voiced by Francesco Quinn RIP)
7). Of course, I hate the sexist/misogynistic jokes that were spoken here and there.
8). The part where Wang was pulling his pants down in the bathroom stall was so cringeworthy. Seriously, why the fuck would he pull that piece of paper from his strapped leg and put it on Sam’s face??? My God, that was disgusting...
9). IRONHIDE WAS NOT MENTIONED EVER AGAIN AFTER HIS DEATH!!! Why?! How could Optimus and any of the humans just forget about Ironhide’s death especially Sideswipe?! He was your mentor, man!! Shouldn’t you and Optimus be the most hurt by his death?! Come on! It’s like no one even cared about his death.
10). Que/Wheeljack (voiced by George Coe RIP) had a weird design. He looked like Einstein on his face. Yeah, he almost did nothing in the movie except give his allies the weapons he invented. That’s the only contribution he made in the whole movie. Still, I was actually sad to see him get executed by Barricade.
11). During the highway scene and the Mexican stand off scene, the Autobots had no regard for human life or their safety. Dino threw Hatchet against a moving car (which was a reused scene from Michael Bay’s The Island btw), and Ironhide kicked Crankcase as he was lying dead on a red car (where a man was running to earlier for some reason) and kicked him against a repair shop. I’m worried about those humans running around when Ironhide said, “Class dismissed.” That’s just hilarious and messed up. Still, a cool scene.
So yeah, this film has flaws, but this was a very satisfying conclusion to the trilogy although the ending was a bit abrupt. I give this movie a solid 9/10. This is a much better sequel than the last movie ever was. Watching this in the theater with my dad was honestly the best movie experience I’ve had in my whole life. Thank you, Michael Bay, for creating the Bayverse Transformers. So sad that it’s all over................
NO, of course the next two films exist 🙄. Jeez, I wish they never existed. I will have SO much to talk about in my next two reviews; and listen... I have nothing good to say about them. Well, I do have a few good things to say about Age of Extinction but that’s it. So be prepared. Any thoughts on this film?
Peace.
P.S. STILL keeping my word of not buying a Sentinel Prime toy. Sorry Studio Series.
Here's what I think of the movie:
+ Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime
+ Leonard Nimoy as Sentinel Prime
+ Action and fight scenes (when you can see what's going on)
+ Musical score by Steve Jablonsky
+ All the robot designs (except for Que and Soundwave)
+ Side characters (Lennox, Epps, Simmons, Dutch)
- Sam and Carly's relationship drama
- Excessive running time
- Michael Bay's usual tropes and clichés
- Sentinel's nonsensical plan
- More retcons to the timeline
- Megatron dying without dignity
Final Verdict: 5/10 (Average)
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I respect your opinion, bro.
5288366
Thanks. I respect yours, as well.
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Thanks!
I HATE SENTINEL PRIME!
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ME TOO!
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Ever since Animated.