It's obvious going by public reactions that the Transformers films are a gateway series to the sci-fi genre. However, the elements of sci-fi are too simplified and are used too blatantly as ways of promoting merchandise.
Before dipping into the criticism, I must first commend the acting. It wasn't as forced and strained as the first two films, and the actors seem to take the role very loosely, but not in a bad way. The acting is fun, and even if the jokes won't make you laugh, the acting will.
The film also suffers less of Random Robot Fighting (Trademarked by Michael Bay) syndrome, although it doesn't mean the action scenes are any less fast-pace and dirty. The use of slow-motion also causes less a strain to your eyes, if any one of you suffered through the 3D effects of the first two films like I did.
However, the largest criticism I have on the film is the one staring at your face: the Tranformers are treated not as alien lifeforms, but as talking magical cars. It wouldn't be as bad if it weren't for the fact the government damn well knows who the Autobots and Decepticons are. Not a single human being besides Witwicky show legitimate interest in the alien life forms themselves. There's absolutely no non-political relationships established between the Autbots and the humans besides Bumblebee and Witwicky, which is rather odd considering this is a civil war between aliens which the humans unwittingly got caught up in. You'd think you'd see more humanity in a film trying to reason that humans aren't dicks. There is literally only one scene of willing non-political interaction between the humans and the Tranformers discounting BB and Witwicky. The scene where Carly basically tells Megatron he's Sentinel Prime's bitch. And that is all.
A minor criticism would be Optimus Prime's portrayal. He's still the epic and inspirational leader, and he still kicks a lot of ass. How he handled the main antagonists were a bit... cold for him. Megatron just helped saved his life, but Optimus Prime does not even acknowledge this and just rips his face off, and immediately afterwards he looks at Sentinel Prime with a "You're next." look. They fully deserve it yes, but Prime's gestures and actions just seemed dissonant to his position as the protagonist.
It's worth a watch. But if you enjoy good writing, it's not.
SPOILERS: Dark of the Moon - Worth a watch, if you're not a fan of sci-fi.
It's obvious going by public reactions that the Transformers films are a gateway series to the sci-fi genre. However, the elements of sci-fi are too simplified and are used too blatantly as ways of promoting merchandise.
Before dipping into the criticism, I must first commend the acting. It wasn't as forced and strained as the first two films, and the actors seem to take the role very loosely, but not in a bad way. The acting is fun, and even if the jokes won't make you laugh, the acting will.
The film also suffers less of Random Robot Fighting (Trademarked by Michael Bay) syndrome, although it doesn't mean the action scenes are any less fast-pace and dirty. The use of slow-motion also causes less a strain to your eyes, if any one of you suffered through the 3D effects of the first two films like I did.
However, the largest criticism I have on the film is the one staring at your face: the Tranformers are treated not as alien lifeforms, but as talking magical cars. It wouldn't be as bad if it weren't for the fact the government damn well knows who the Autobots and Decepticons are. Not a single human being besides Witwicky show legitimate interest in the alien life forms themselves. There's absolutely no non-political relationships established between the Autbots and the humans besides Bumblebee and Witwicky, which is rather odd considering this is a civil war between aliens which the humans unwittingly got caught up in. You'd think you'd see more humanity in a film trying to reason that humans aren't dicks. There is literally only one scene of willing non-political interaction between the humans and the Tranformers discounting BB and Witwicky. The scene where Carly basically tells Megatron he's Sentinel Prime's bitch. And that is all.
A minor criticism would be Optimus Prime's portrayal. He's still the epic and inspirational leader, and he still kicks a lot of ass. How he handled the main antagonists were a bit... cold for him. Megatron just helped saved his life, but Optimus Prime does not even acknowledge this and just rips his face off, and immediately afterwards he looks at Sentinel Prime with a "You're next." look. They fully deserve it yes, but Prime's gestures and actions just seemed dissonant to his position as the protagonist.
It's worth a watch. But if you enjoy good writing, it's not.