Movie review: Transformers 3: Dark of the moon

It's loud, it's big, it's cliched... it's Michael Bay!

Ever since the first Transformers movie was released in 2007, the franchise has achieved amazing box office sales despite its cheesy storyline..

Don't get me wrong, I really liked the first Transformers movie. However, the 2nd Transformers movie had probably one of the worst storyline I've ever seen, equally as cheesy as Twilight..

Nevertheless, Transformers 2 made big bucks, and 2 years later. Director Michael Bay is back with "Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon". This is to be the last installment to the Transformers movie franchise (well, at least for a while apparently).

This time, Transformers 3 comes wrapped with modern cinematic technology. Yep, it is in 3D. It seems now days, all block busters must be made in 3D.

Since I foresaw the storyline was going to be... well mediocre at best, I decided to see Transformers 3 in all its visual glory to make up for the negativity in the story line. Therefore, I went to IMAX to see it. So let me talk about Bay's latest "explosive" media production.

Story:

In the 60's, NASA landed on the moon, on the surface people believed it was all part of the space race against USSR. While in truth, NASA landed on the moon to investigate a "strange impact' on the moon. The astronauts (Neil Armstrong included) found a giant alien spacecraft, and some dead mechanical beings inside the spacecraft. NASA took some samples, brand it top secret and case closed...

At present day, the Autobots are working with human governments to detect traces of Decpticons on earth, and also help human to keep peace on earth. The main protagonist Sam Witwicky, is now a university graduate, he has a new girlfriend (goodbye Megan Fox) and he is looking for his first job out of university, and having troubles getting a job (I know how hard this can be). Sam is no longer doing anything with the Autobots, and he is only concerned with starting a new life.

Meanwhile, on a mission to Russia, the Autobots discovered traces of Decepticons, and they found out that their former leader "Sentinel Prime" is in a dormant status on the spacecraft on the moon. As Sentinel Prime along has the knowledge on how to end the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons. Optimus Prime set out to the moon to revive Sentinel Prime, to discover the secrets before the Decepticons do.

After Sentinel Prime is revived, a series of unexpected events took place that would change the face of the earth forever...

So here is the brief description of the story. What do I think about the story? Well.. I have to say, although the story in Transformers 3 is better than the previous one, but it is still not a very good story, and I could smell cheese everywhere. But there are some good things about the story.

For example, I don't know if it is just me, but in every Transformers movie I always picture Optimus Prime as a Jesus like character. Why? Because in every movie, Optimus Prime is always fighting for freedom, for the weak, in a self sacrificial way. Or, could it be that even the secular world recognizes that a good leader, is someone who cares,fights for the weak, for freedom and in a self sacrificial way?

Or, if I may be as bold as saying that all the "good guys" in movies have these traits because they are all modelled after Jesus?

What a good question, if you are reading this and doesn't believe a word about the Bible, do you want to ponder upon this question?

Optimus Prime fights for freedom, in the first movie, he said "freedom is the right for all the sentient beings". And in Transformers 3, Optimus once again said "freedom is the right to all". In the movie, the bad guys think human are weak and derserves to be ruled over as slaves. However, Optimus Prime fights for human, because he thinks "freedom is the right for all sentient beings", he defends the freedom for human, a race that is both physically and less technologically advanced than him, even if it means his own potential death.

In this movie, some human are traitors and are willing to sell themselves off to Decepticons and become their slaves, as long as they get to live a good live after the bad guys take over the earth. Despite the fact that Optimus Prime and his Autobots have promised to fight for the freedom of humanity.

To be honest, when I finished watching this movie, the Bible passage that jumped into my head was Galatians 5:1.

Anyway, it seems that now days, "freedom" has become a noble concept, that is universally recognized as "good" in our society. Everyone likes freedom, in Braveheart, before William Wallace died, he shouted "for freedom". What a tear wrenching moment in the cinema!

However, I wonder if many people really know what "freedom" is. Is it freedom to do whatever we want? Sexual freedom? Or freedom to drink, or live anyway you want? The freedom to live a life that pleases us? I suspect these would be the most common answer on what people think freedom is all about. The problem is, if you look at these answers, they all point to one thing, "selfish desire and gratification". See, I think people have equated "freedom" with "self pleasure". We live in a society where people abuse freedom to do whatever we want, without caring for others.

And if people think having freedom equates to do whatever we want, then we cannot be more wrong. See, the more you gratify yourself with something, the more you become attached/addicted to it. So in a way, using freedom for self gratification actually make you a slave, loosing your freedom to the thing that you are attached to. Whether it be career, sex, alcohol, or whatever. If you think having freedom means you have the right to indulge these things as much as you want, you will become a slave to these things. How ironic is that?

So what is this freedom? How can you have true freedom? Well, the Bible says Jesus died for us, so we can have true freedom, and are no longer slaves to sin (see Galatians). This means that the this freedom is not independence from God, but actually this is a freedom that is dependence on God. At this point, if you wonder what this freedoms is, why don't you open up a Bible and start to read the story of Jesus? Or visit your local church? Take the first step, and this might just well be your first step into the true freedom that Jesus has given you , and me.

Cinamatography and visuals:

I saw Transformers 3 at IMAX, as I said before, the story of this movie is medicore at best. However, the multi-million dollar special effect came to save the day. At IMAX, the 3D effects were stunning. As an improvement over Transformers 2, Bay has used a lot of slow motion shots, so now the fights can be seen clearly. Unlike in the 2nd movie where all the fight scenes are blurry and too fast for human eyes.

Sound:

It's a Michael Bay movie, if it isn't explosive, loud with lots of noises, it's not Michael Bay.. enough said.

Final verdict:

Story 4/10: Unlike Transformers 2, where the story reminded me of some teenage romance drama. Transformers 3 has a story that is passable, however cheesy it may be. This is a movie with a medicore plot and some stupid moments. But after all, I like Optimus Prime, because he reminds me of Jesus, and that is good.

Visuals 9/10: The special effects are really good, you don't go see Transformers for a dramatic, Academy award winning storyline.. you see Transformers for the special effects, and the cool robotic, transformation scenes.

Sounds 9/10: Boom boom boom! Michael Bay comes to play..

Final score: 6/10: To be honest, Transformers 3 is a mindless, explosive action movie for holiday season. For a movie in this category, a running time of 157 minutes is a bit tedious. It's the kind of movie that you watch and go.. "wow, the special effects were good", and that's about it. Time to switch off your brain, and enjoy some robotic mayhem!