The third film in Michael Bay’s version of Transformers is being released to Blu-Ray and DVD today, so I knew from experience that if I was going to catch it in the second run theatre, it was probably going to be last night or never. Fortunately, they still had it available in 3D as well. I went in not knowing what to expect in terms of the movie’s quality; Bay’s Transformers movies have toyed with my expectations throughout. Being a fairly typical boy growing up in the 1980s, I was a big fan of the original cartoon (and the comics when I could get them). Also being a fairly typical 80s kid, I still have a good number of Transformers. So when a Transformers movie was first announced, I was eagerly anticipating it. Then it was announced it would be directed by Michael Bay, whose filmography was less-than-impressive to me, and they started revealing what the robots would look like. I wasn’t a fan of the style; I’m still not, in truth, though it has grown on me a bit. But it’s too busy and it makes it harder to distinguish between them in robot form, especially the Decepticons.
The more I heard and saw about the movie, the more I expected to dislike it. But when I went and saw it, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself watching a movie that I’d happily give four stars to. So I was back to eager anticipation for the second movie… which turned out to be awful. Maybe it was because of the writer’s strike causing it to be rushed, I don’t know, but the cringe comedy that had been a minor element of the first one dominated the second, especially for the first hour or so. I’d give it two stars, and that’s entirely on the strength of the second half of the movie, and even that never completely let up on the stupidity.
So with the third movie, I was again uncertain. Would it be as good as the first? Or would it be more like #2? Continue reading
