Transformers Dark of The Moon Film and Score Review

By: Arlene R. Weiss

Transformers Dark of the Moon

This third installment in the multi-billion dollar Transformers franchise is definitely the charm. Leaving behind the convoluted storyline that derailed the series’ second film, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Director Michael Bay and Executive Producer Steven Spielberg are once again at the helm of this third film. Only now, they pull out all the stops with a mind-blowing, thrill-ride of a film. Steeped in science-fiction lore, and combining a phenomenal mix of special effects and action-driven, escapist fare, this is perhaps the most impressive installment in the series.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon offers an enthralling story arc, immersed in red herrings, unlikely alliances, and conspiracies shrouded in cloaks of betrayal. The storyline is a revisionist take on NASA’s® Apollo Eleven lunar landing in 1969. Interspersing actual news footage from the event, we learn that the 1960’s U.S. and Russian space programs, and our own landmark first trip to the moon, were a government cover up. Covert missions, sent to investigate the 1961 crash landing of a spacecraft on the moon’s dark surface, which itself was originally sent on a doomed rescue mission of its own from the war ravaged planet Cybertron, home of the Transformers alien robot race.

On board that spacecraft, The Ark were Autobot Sage, Sentinel Prime, and countless “Pillars,” a new teleportation technology of his own design which had the ability to help the peaceful Autobots win the war. However, should it ever fall into the wrong hands, it could spell disaster. Fast forward to the present, as the valiant Autobots led by Optimus Prime, their friend Sam Witwicky, (Shia LaBeouf), and a bevy of earth’s compatriots race against time to thwart the evil Megatron and his Decepticons from using that technology to create an apocalypse against mankind.

The original cast from the two previous Transformers motion pictures return to reprise their roles, sans Megan Fox, now replaced by Britannia’s bodacious Rosie Huntington-Whiteley as Sam’s new love interest Carly. The live acting ensemble then joins with their Autobot allies to take down the Decepticons and their evil plan before it’s too late. There’s just one problem. An Autobot traitor in the ranks is standing in their way.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon boasts some of the most breathtaking, dazzling visual effects ever put to cinema, crafted by the wizardry of Industrial Light & Magic®. That’s a good thing with the Transformers film series, as it’s the actors who are window dressing used to help drive the action forward, furthering the character development surrounding the continued battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons.

Yes! I did say character development with a straight face. Just as The Lion King helped to usher in a new era of emotional depth and expressiveness in animated films, Transformers: Dark of the Moon can lay claim to groundbreaking visuals that aspire to the same heights for special-effects driven films. The multi-layered expressiveness of the robots, in particular Optimus Prime and Bumblebee whenever they interact with Sam by way of their soulful eyes, facial expressions and mannerisms, often convey the film’s most tender, emotional depths.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon is a hybrid of two parts, one that works magic and one that is downright abysmal. Nearly every time the story and action centers on the live actors, the film loses momentum. Its plot and dialogue veer off the tracks in a train wreck of vacuous, guffaw comic relief. Waylaid at its worst by the horrendously devoid of talent LaBeouf, and inane newcomer Ken Jeong as Jerry Wang, criminally aided and abetted by the great John Malkovich and Academy Award® winning actress Frances McDormand, who are wasted in drivel laden, minor roles. Amazingly though, the screen comes alive every time the Transformers are at the fore. The colorful ensemble of the Autobots is the very soul, light, and beating emotional heart of the film.

Then again, LaBeouf, Huntington-Whiteley, and Josh Duhamel are no match for the sophisticated talents of actors Peter Cullen, (who voices Optimus Prime), Hugo Weaving, (who voices Megatron), and Leonard Nimoy, (who voices Sentinel Prime).

Bay and story writer Ehren Kruger also give the best lines to the Transformers, who often speak with conviction and in eloquent, thought provoking prose, as if they were players in a Shakespearean tragedy. While the live actors’ dialogue abounds in clipped comedy, catch phrased with references to Facebook® and Twitter®.

What a stroke of genius it was voice casting iconic hero “Star Trek’s” Spock himself, Nimoy as Sentinel Prime, who isn’t all that he appears to be. Bringing a dark irony to Spock’s signature heroic line, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”

Cullen, in his third performance voicing Optimus, speaks his lines with a commanding presence and gravitas emboldened to the benevolent Autobot leader and friend of mankind, who rises to the occasion whenever he imparts his wisdom, significantly with his profound, resolute words which sublimely close the film.

Kudos to Bay and Kruger for their own transformation of Huntington-Whiteley’s character Carly, into a brave, smart, and strong woman who steps up with the men of earth and the Autobots in the fight to save the planet and its people. Introduced as mere eye candy for the testosterone fueled members of the audience, Carly becomes one of the most courageous heroes essential to the film, and a key to victory for the Autobots and mankind.

Daring to walk right up to evil incarnate himself, Megatron, and all but spit in his eye, Carly also proves to be not necessarily all that she appears to be on the surface. Instead, she proves to be so much more. She fearlessly uses her intelligence as the ultimate weapon, outwitting Megatron as she plays upon his own insecurities and thirst for power, turning him against his own co-conspirator and showing that in times of war, wits and intelligence often prove more powerful than force.

The film’s anthemic score, composed by Steve Jablonsky, is hallmarked by epic orchestral fanfares, majestic symphonic flourishes and sweeping choral arrangements, heralding the final battle between the Autobots aligned with humankind and the Decepticons. Jablonsky’s pageantry-filled score, triumphant and a call to glory, touches the very core of the soul. Beautifully and powerfully conveying all that is at stake in the hour at hand for the central characters, where friendship and humanity go forth in the hearts of man and robots alike.

The audience in attendance where I screened the film responded to Transformers: Dark of the Moon, with their resounding approval and enthusiastic applause primarily directed at the heroism of Optimus and the incomparable Autobots. This feel good, blockbuster-popcorn movie, is one that ultimately, exhibits its most endearing qualities and humanity by virtue of the compassionate Autobot heart that it wears on its sleeve.

© Copyright July 6, 2011 By Arlene R. Weiss-All Rights Reserved