Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)

Alright, number three in the Bayformers-series. You'll be relieved to know that this one isn't such a massive clusterfuck of incomprehensibleness as the previous outing. No, there's actually something resembling a story again and at certain moments, this one even has pretty gripping and brutal scenes, believe it or not.

Sure, it's a little long and there are plotholes abound, but at least the spectacle is upped. 

In essence, a Transformer-ship crash landed on the moon aeons ago. This ship holds Sentinel Prime, the precursor of Optimus and he has technology that could have changed everything. It amounts to what is known in the cartoon as a space bridge, but if you're not familiar with that: a teleportation device. However, the Decepticons are still around and have plotted and plotted, which is why humanity hasn't been back to the moon for years. They were lying in wait, for the exact time that Sentinel would betray the Autobots in order to restore Cybertron to its former glory. 

Seems a little convoluted? Sure, that's because it is. Does Sentinel's change of allegiance make sense? Absolutely not. 

Does it really matter that much? No, not really.

You see, this is Michael Bay when he gets to go for the big action scenes and the explosions. There's is less focus on the human characters, which also means that the annoying ones aren't in the picture that often. John Malkovich makes no sense, and the 'Jerry Wang'-segment is horrendous. But they aren't in the film that long or often. Simmons is back, but this time he is closer to his iteration in the first one and again: less annoying. They also dropped Skids and Mudflap, so points for that as well. 

The big setpiece is the battle in Chicago and you can't say it doesn't deliver. Sure, in the meantime, we've seen stuff like this a little too often: big spaceships, small spaceships, crashes, explosions and battles in the heart of a major city, but it is one of the main reasons to watch something like this. You'll just need to shut off your brain for a while and enjoy it.

If you want stand out scenes, there are two that do something different and cool. The first one is the soldiers' drop in the city with wingsuits. They did that stuff for real and it looks awesome. You can say a lot about Michael Bay and most of it will be true, but you can't deny that he does like his practical stuff and when he does it, he does it well. 

The other scene I found surprising, was the obliteration of people by the invading Decepticons. They blow the everlasting shit out of people and you see them evaporate. That is pretty brutal for a film like this and I honestly did not expect that. 

Is it memorable for the most part? No. They introduce a shitload of characters only to have them disappear or die or never be mentioned again and the focus can be wobbly at best. But it is once again an entertaining if brainless piece of cinema. Don't expect to much and you might enjoy it.