TF3 Thread (Spoilers allowed, no tags)

[Vympel]

If you don't want spoilers, don't read this. Preliminary list of likes and dislikes:-

Likes

The Action:- Everything that TF2 improved on in terms of the first (i.e. fight choreography), TF3 improves even further. Glorious, crystal clear slo-mo abounds, though in my case it was helped by IMAX.

The 3D:- felt right. Not a shit add-on at all.

Optimus the Badass:- Holy fuck does he do some awesome shit in this film. And his weapons kick ass - even his energon axe from G1 makes an appearance.

The Comedy:- is not nearly as goofy as the second film. Ken Jeong hams it up a bit, but its quick and doesn't overstay its welcome.

The Kills:- from Bumblebee blowing Soundwave's head off (via an upwards shot through his torso), to Optimus punching right through Shockwave, and more, the robot-on-robot violence is glorious.

Leonard Nimoy is Galvatron as Sentinel Prime:- he was great, and all the nerd shoutouts were well done - the Wrath of Khan quote:- "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" was especially amusing

No Twins:- need I say more?

More bots get things to do:- unlike TF1 and TF2, its not just Optimus and Bumblebee you get to see in action, though they still do the lion's share of the cool shit.

Soundwave:- as a Mercedes SLS he works really well. His execution of Q was just .. shockingly evil. Poor guy.

Shockwave:- Looked awesome.

Humans don't own the Decepticons single-handedly:- the Decepticons have clear superiority in Chicago, smashing human attempts to brute foce them with their ships. The humans instead fight in more clever ways (sniper rifles vs the eyes, for example), and their mild vulnerability to grenades is elaborated upon.

Of course, some cruise missiles come in at the end, but its hardly decisive.

Optimus subverts good guy cliches and kills Sentinel Prime whilst he's down:- with Megatron's shotgun-like cannon. Good, I hate it when the bad guy is left alive only to get up and try and kill the good guy at the last moment.

Dislikes

Optimus subverts good guy cliches way too fucking much and kills Megatron like a cold-blooded sneaky sadist:- Much was made in the last film of Optimus' merciless way of killing - and it never bothered me. Until the very end of this movie.

Basically, after a long, awesome fight between Sentinel and Optimus, Sentinel gains the upper hand and cuts off one of Optimus arms, then pins his other one with his blades. Carly rouses Megatron to fight Sentinel, appealing to his baser instincts and his future as Sentinel's bitch - and Megatron shoots the shit out of Sentinel, saving Optimus' life. No ifs, ands, or buts. Then, Megatron asks Optimus for a truce and says "after all, what are you, without me?" - Optimus says "lets find out" and shoves his fucking axe into Megatron's head, and tears it off. killing him.

WHAT THE FUCK. Look - I undestand why Optimus might've done so - after all the Decepticons ass-fucked Chicago and killed a lot of people, and Megatron's motives for attacking Sentinel were pure self-interest. But it simply wasn't satisfying, and it made Optimus out to be a ruthless opportunist, and not heroic in the least.

What I wanted to see (since I had been spoilered for this part of the film, but not the shocking Megatron death) was Megatron and Optimus tag-team Sentinel. Instead I got Sentinel soundly defeat Optimus and then Megatron fucked him up from behind - and Optimus just fucking basically sneak attacks him?!

No. Didn't like this at all. I didn't want Megatron dead - but if he was going to die - not that way. I wanted a rousing fight, with energon axe versus flail.

Rosie Huntington-Whitley:- is no Megan Fox. I missed her.

Flaws in editing:- some stuff was clearly left on the cutting room floor. For one thing, after Starscream dies, Bumblebee saves Sam from a fall, and then in the next scene, all of a sudden Bumblebee and some other Autobots are captured. Huh? How? What the?

Another example - Megatron is just sitting around whilst the fight between Sentinel and Optimus goes on? Why? I can't help but think that the part in the comic was cut - i.e. that Sentinel gives Megatron a beatdown and Megatron decides to sit and be resigned to his fate. There's a little of that, but not enough to explain what he's doing. Speaking of which:-

Not enough Megatron:- He was wasted. Wanted more of him.

Skyscraper scene:- was overlong. Should've just started with Shockwave & the Driller, and left it at that.

Pacing:- action is crammed in all at the end, virtually. Would've liked a more even spread.

All in all, I give it a solid 3.5/5 stars. Would've rated it higher, if not my for my biggest single dislike.

[SylasGaunt]

Eh. My only problem with the Megatron kill was that it was kinda anti-climactic, though I guess they were both wounded at that point so whoever went down was doing it fast.

Besides it's not like he stabbed him in the back or went to shake hands and shanked him. Meg's offered a truce, Optimus said no and proceeded to attack. Besides, Megatron just finished shooting his own ally in the back.. why would anyone consider him trustworthy enough to hold a truce with?


Also, laserbeak has a personality now... and he's an asshole.


I also liked that Sam's 'kooky' parents got much less screen time this time around getting maybe.. two scenes? Something like that, then they were done. I agree with your point on the editing though, there was some very abrupt shifts in there.

I also like that dead means dead in this movie. The resurrections left and right got kind of ridiculous in TF2.

Also I spotted Wash.. only he's german now.. and a little bit crazy.

[Meest]

So does the story close up as a trilogy or left some points open?

[Anguirus]

^ It slams the book as hard as possible. I doubt we'll see a direct sequel.

I'll repost my pseudo-review/post-movie thoughts from TFW2005. Warning: spoilers, and if you have any interest in the film be aware there are HUGE spoilers.

**************************

Woo, just got back.

HOLYWTFAGHCRAZYSPARKLEBLAST.

Whewwww. It was good. Damn good, as Sideswipe might say.

This movie made a real effort to rectify most of RotF's flaws. The humor was back on-point and balanced with the action. The action scenes had a clear sense of geography and both sides were using smart tactics. No more obvious character disappearances (except the Twins, but there was a DEMAND that they disappear) or searches for Plot Coupons.

It also added something: stakes. The Decepticons kill humans for fun and plot to enslave the rest. Nothing as antiseptic and abstract as "controlling Earth's machines" or "consuming the Sun." This had a side effect that may or may not be desirable for us Transformers fans...all the 'cons needed to be put down hard. But those were the stakes that were established for us. And so for the first time, we felt like we were fending off a goddamn alien invasion in this movie. Which is the way we should have felt from the start.

No time or coherence to put together a proper review, but I will be seeing it again, unlike RotF.

Random thoughts:

-The Wreckers: generally used well and were funny for a bunch of guys that don't even get name-dropped. Unfortunately, the film didn't really have time to explain the NASCAR modes. They also did disappear in the chaos of the final brawl, so IMO Shockwave should have killed them off. In battle, so it's not another Que moment.

-Shockwave: Looks awesome (and his toy is creepily accurate). Obviously, like many of you I was disappointed that he only had one line. They also didn't spare the second to explain why he's friends with a giant worm. It surprised and gratified me that he actually pwned Optimus and sidelined him for a good chunk of time, considering that Optimus seems to murder everyone in this universe.
I don't mind Shockwave being the Brawl of this movie, going down to a small army of soldiers. I also wouldn't have minded Optimus taking him out, What did happen seemed like a weird way of splitting the difference. It was missing a moment for Shockwave to rally and threaten the lives of the human team before Optimus came flying in.

Dreads: They only seem to appear in that highway sequence. So, just the opposite of the novel, where the troops on the moon seem to pretty much be the Dreads. They are freaking awesome, especially in their showdown with Ironhide and Sideswipe.

Dino: Why was he here again? If you've seen the trailers you've seen his part. He's definitely the Jolt of this movie, albeit not to the extremely laughable extent of nobodiness as Jolt himself.

Que: He could have been called Wheeljack, but he didn't do anything awesome in battle so I'm kind of neutral about it. His inventions were certainly cool, and his death was heart-wrenching. In the best possible way.

Sideswipe: His Stealth Force mode actually resembles the toy Sidearm Sideswipe quite a bit. Didn't see that coming. He was pretty much a generic Autobot soldier, but that's all we need after his defining character moment in RotF. Had a great little fight with Dreads, as noted above.

Bumblebee: Holy shit! Bumblebee actually earned his extreme toyosity in this flick. After being criminally under-used in RotF, BB got to bond with Sam again and have his own moments of emotion and action. Not to mention nail-biting duels with Sentinel and Soundwave.

Sentinel Prime: Eh, I am disappoint, slightly. He spends a lot of time in the last act being a cackling evil dirtbag, which flies in the face of the dignity he showed earlier. His motivations are sadly not given the time they rate. No playground scene (from novel) was a slight shame. The Spock references had me laughing. It is also a real mistake that his scene with Optimus did not play out differently. Without seeing the emotions on their faces, and given that very shortly we learn what a bastard he really is, it doesn't actually make sense that he doesn't accept the Matrix from Optimus. It's also a wasted opportunity for Optimus to go and earn that shit BACK.

Soundwave: Looks cool, acts cool. Why the hell does he have a GIANT mouth though? I'm hoping the toy forgets that ever happened.
The scene when he threatens Carly--much better in the book.
It's also unclear why him and Laserbeak have been hanging around so long, again, without the book.
Stone cold bastard though.

Laserbeak: JESUS CHRIST.

No, seriously.

Seriously.

WHY DOES HE TURN INTO A PINK BUMBLEBEE TO MURDER? He's sick and twisted and makes G1 Buzzsaw look like a pansy. JESUS.

Megatron: Ok, I'm in love with his new design. But why, god, does he fail to kick any ass with it?
Also ambivalent about the new ending (different from novel). Killing your Big Bad while he's surrendering is a little...off. At least he could have thrown a fucking punch. And who's going to take care of the hatchlings now? My gf liked it though. I think they destroyed Chicago a little too much to let Megs "off the hook."

Starscream: Would have been too much to ask but I'm really not sure why he doesn't trounce Megatron. His scene with Sam was actually really cool. However, once they decided to kill Megatron, it would have been nice to have ONE 'con slink away undetected. He got to kick some righteous ass though.

Barricade: HE'S IN THE FUCKING MOTHERFUCKING MOVIE. He's not a simple character model use, he is clearly acting as a lieutenant to Soundwave, and later Shockwave. He even carries on his long tradition of somehow avoiding onscreen death (though he's at least horribly maimed). And he EVEN gets a little moment of manhandling Bumblebee. If only a line of Jess Harnell dialogue had slipped in...would have made us miss Ironhide less.

Ratchet: Wait, he just destroyed Cybertron! Well, Bumblebee helped. He got a good bit of screen time, but not really any more lines than in RotF. At least in RotF he repaired someone.

Wheelie and Brains: Funny, helpful, got to be heroes, and HOLY THEY DIED?
Christ. Dark movie...and it would have been decent to mourn them at the end, Sam!

Human 'con Allies: these guys were creepy as hell. Well done.

Sam and Carly: no complaints. I think they nailed them just fine. Made the movie work. Nice to see Sam's new arc and see him get his hands dirty.

The Masquerade: Has fallen, thank heavens. I'm glad there is fallout from the 'cons outing themselves and stalking Sam in movie 2.

The Aerospace and History motifs: Well enjoyed by me. That's something Bay really does bring to the table. Makes me want to watch some documentaries now.

Pet Peeves: Ok, the movie was packed as it was, but I really did miss the sense of Megatron trying to secure a future for the hatchlings. It was incredibly bittersweet that Cybertron was destroyed, but I don't feel like Optimus really took a moment to feel that.

Also, two repeated moments of violence got really old: the "rip out their face" thing (I'M SICK OF IT), and the "execution style murder taking two or three shots." It's rightly horrifying against Ironhide and Que, but then Optimus starts doing it too. That's not really what you want.

Oh yeah, and "Igor." Did nothing, added nothing, was a distraction and a waste of good ILM budget.

[Vympel]

^*Nods*:- A more considered view (I was writing mine last night at 1.30am) indeed

I just picked up Leader-class Ironhide for $65.00, down from the RRP of $89.99. Thanks, K-Mart half yearly toy sale!

Unfortunately, its not clear whether the Voyager toys are on sale. I'll go back and check - wanna pick up Crankcase, Ratchet, Bumblebee, and Sideswipe.

[SylasGaunt]

-The Wreckers: generally used well and were funny for a bunch of guys that don't even get name-dropped. Unfortunately, the film didn't really have time to explain the NASCAR modes. They also did disappear in the chaos of the final brawl, so IMO Shockwave should have killed them off. In battle, so it's not another Que moment.

You can actually spot a pair of them in the final battle climbing on and blasting away at that big quad-legged 'con that was trying to cross the bridge.

Bumblebee: Holy shit! Bumblebee actually earned his extreme toyosity in this flick. After being criminally under-used in RotF, BB got to bond with Sam again and have his own moments of emotion and action. Not to mention nail-biting duels with Sentinel and Soundwave.

The crowd in my theater burst into cheers and applause when he took out Soundwave.

Laserbeak: JESUS CHRIST.

No, seriously.

Seriously.

WHY DOES HE TURN INTO A PINK BUMBLEBEE TO MURDER? He's sick and twisted and makes G1 Buzzsaw look like a pansy. JESUS.

Laserbeak is the stuff of nightmares. He is a seriously evil bastard, and manages to be one of the most menacing of the 'cons if only because he seems to love disguising himself as common objects right before he murders the hell out of someone... or sometimes he turns into something cute and pink to trick a little girl into having a tea party with him right before he brutally murders her father.

Barricade: HE'S IN THE FUCKING MOTHERFUCKING MOVIE. He's not a simple character model use, he is clearly acting as a lieutenant to Soundwave, and later Shockwave. He even carries on his long tradition of somehow avoiding onscreen death (though he's at least horribly maimed). And he EVEN gets a little moment of manhandling Bumblebee. If only a line of Jess Harnell dialogue had slipped in...would have made us miss Ironhide less.

Heh so I'm not the only one who noticed the slippery bastard.

Christ. Dark movie...and it would have been decent to mourn them at the end, Sam!

I don't know if he even knows where they got off to.. but yeah Wheelie was a lot less annoying and the little gremlins were useful.

And it's almost like Bay decided to make up for the lack of 'real deaths' in the last film with this one.

Pet Peeves: Ok, the movie was packed as it was, but I really did miss the sense of Megatron trying to secure a future for the hatchlings. It was incredibly bittersweet that Cybertron was destroyed, but I don't feel like Optimus really took a moment to feel that.

To be fair to the film Optimus has held to the idea that Cybertron is essentially dead and since the allspark was destroyed back in the first movie.

[neoolong]

Didn't the ship just crash in the river? Wheelie and the other bot could have survived.

[wautd]

So, as someone who loved TF1 (8/10) but hated TF2 (3/10), will I like TF3?

[Anguirus]

^ Hard to say. TF1 remains the best film because it captures that sense of Spielbergian wonder. In the movie, it's like, ok, aliens are here, we all accept it, moving on, why should we give you a job just cause you ran around in the desert with some aliens?

The tone is one of a political thriller till the last hour and a half, when it is straight, brutal, horrifying combat. This is about the ratio of mayhem to rest-of-movie that I thought was ideal from about the ages of 6-14.

I think most people rate it in-between the two movies. Or, it's their favorite if they mostly care about robot action. I think it's more similar to RotF than it is to TF1, but important to note: WITHOUT the crippling structural and tonal flaws. Dialogue and plotting is much more thoughtful. It retains the broad, unsubtle humor of the previous two films, but it doesn't feel like it's bludgeoning you in the face with it as in movie 2.

Vympel, let me know how you like Leader Ironhide. I'm still deciding whether to pick it up.

Oh, and someone pointed out to me that if you watch the scene closely, Barricade kills Que. He and Soundwave are both taking shots but Barry's is the final one.

Oh, and a fun bit of trivia: Hasbro and Bay apparently had some disagreement over names of certain characters that made it all the way into the credits. The transformers' names in the VA credits include "Que/Wheeljack" and "Dino/Mirage." According to Bay's webmaster, Ferrari actually demanded the right to name the character that was considered Mirage at first, while Que was more of a Bay decision. I think Que is pretty obviously supposed to be Wheeljack, though he's a bit innocent and timid for the part. Dino/Mirage, I really wanted it to be Mirage at first but it hardly matters as he does little, and certainly no "Mirage" type things.

[Questor]

I'd put it between 1 and 2, closer to 1.

Although I have to admit that unlike 1, which I came to like later, I didn't leave the theater hating this movie.

As for the girl? I liked her better than Megan Fox, but I still wasn't that much of a fan. I'm not sure how much of that was the character and how much was the actress though.

The character irritated me in some parts. In the future, in case anyone here is wondering, if your boss gives you a quarter million dollar car your significant other has a reason to be a little concerned - whether the car in question is a Decepticon or not. Also, the IRS is going to be a little interested.

[xerex]

Just came back from seeing it. First thought- that movie was a MESS with no sense of pacing .

Did we really need an entire half hour in that falling building? I got bored in that whole scene except for the end when Shockwave's snake wrecks it.

speaking of Shockwave he wasnt really in the movie that much was he?

the Africa scene could have been expanded showing how desperate Megatron was to secure a furure for his hatchlings.

if you want us to grieve the death of Que you should spend some time making us like him first.

too much human fighting too little robot on robot action.

what on earth is up with the new girl's lips ?


I didnt mind how Optimus killed Megs in the end. Megatron sounded like his truce meant Optimus lets him still screw over Earth.

[Moby Halcyon]

You've got to be shit out of your mind if you think there wasn't enough robot on robot action.

EDIT: Where did all this hatchlings stuff come from, anyway? I realize he's got bots crawling all over him in this movie, but like in ROTF, I never got anything more than the impression that they were just means to an end - galactic domination, etc, etc.

[xerex]

well we gotta disagree then about robaot action.


meanwhile something which is confusing me. the time line

Megatron crashed and froze sometime prior to the 1930's when the Hoover Dam was constructed.

Yet Sentinel was on his way to meet Megatron and crashed in 1961 ?

and some unnamed Decepticons emptied the Ark in 1963-64 ?

and then the Starscream/Barricade/Brawl/Frenzyl start looking for Megatron in the 2000s and free him .

and why were those 200 Decepticon troops buried on the moon ? and when ?.

[Moby Halcyon]

Again, you're flat wrong on the 'robaot' action. The movie has Optimus running in and single-handedly saving Lennox's crew from Soundwave's worm in Chernobyl, Bumblebee and Dino dueling the Dreads deceptimooks on the highway, Optimus trashing mooks left and right, up to stealing the kill on Soundwave from the military, Bumblebee shoryuken-cannoning Soundwave and manhandling Barricade, the Wreckers and Ratchet dueling constantly with four-legged robots, and the multiple Sentinel Prime and Optimus duels. Much like ROTF, Optimus manhandles both of the final villains whereas in the first film he gets his ass kicked and Megatron is only taken down by F-22s (with Starscream among them) and the MacGuffin Allspark.

The military manages to take down deceptimooks, but that with ambushes, directed fire at the eyes, and taking care of weak foot armor. When they do start doing well, it's with the support of the Autobots and tomahawks covering air support. Even with all their help they still needed Optimus to come in and rip Shockwave's eye out. The military/robot balance is clearly skewed to the robots compared to the first movie, where the robot clashes during the final fight are twenty seconds at a time before cutting away.

I can see complaints about the length of the skyscraper set piece, but given the size of the overall second half it's ultimately small potatoes considering it's well done and actually quite entertaining in how you can piece together an action sequence without any direct fighting whatsoever.

On another note, I heard somewhere that Soundwave (and possibly the worm) had crashed back in Tunguska a century ago and had been experiment on by the Soviets for decades. If so, that's pretty neat, if it unfortunately isn't followed up in the Chernobyl scenes.

[Moby Halcyon]

To expand on what I said earlier, I work at a local theater, and timed the skyscraper scene - it isn't even five minutes long.

EDIT: On closer inspection, during the scene in which Wheelie and that other 'bot hijack the Decepticon ship and start raining fighters from the sky, Bumblebee actually manages to kill Barricade - he climbs onto his back and blows off his head with his cannon before moving on to brawl with Soundwave for about ten seconds before shoryuken-ing him to death.

[Darth Fanboy]

I'm going to repost my opinions as posted on another board.

I give it six out of ten with the sixth point a bonus point for the plot being an homage to my favorite episodes of the cartoon. Shia LaDoof once again shows why he needs to stay the heck out of movies. His character was horrible and the female lead was pointless. More should have been made of the Sentinel Prime/Megatron dynamic, the setup to the main plot was horrifically executed and did not mesh with the first two films. The first thirty minutes of the movie or so could have been cut down into five minutes with no detriment. Bay's claim of improved writing was not on the mark. Optimus Prime and the main robotic characters once again carry the film. The Optimus moments were all epic and bumblebee managed to finally convince me he isn't the twerp he had always been before.

Starscream's death was the low point of the film. Whoever the little laptop autobot was he was worse than skids and mudflap. The homage to Q from James Bond was weakly executed, literally and figuratively. The final part of the battle though definitely delivered just as in the first two films. Loved how Ironhide and Soundwave went out. Really was hoping for more characters to be offed.

[Stofsk]

Ok saw it tonight.

What I liked: the carnage and mayhem. It's about time the Decepticons came out of the woods and went 'OH HAI GUISE WE'RE EVIL' and just started massacring people left right and centre. The action was awesome, but it also felt desperate this time around.

What I didn't like: the plot was convoluted even more so than the previous two films. They were really struggling to justify Shia's presence in this film, at least in the first film he has a reason to exist for the plot to work. Most of the other characters were meh to be honest.

Really what I didn't like the most though was the Stupid Humans (TM) plot which has become a fucking staple for this franchise. And it has really gotten tiresome this time around. Now Leonard Nimoy comes in and tells the UN and America to exile the autobots because the Decepticons are taking over. And they're like 'Yeah ok, we'll be your bitches forever cool'. It's not like the autobots haven't sacrificed and bled for humanity now, right? Oh wait.

That's my chief complaint with the film. I enjoyed it for the most part and would probably watch it again in a cinema like iMax to experience the 3D, because the sfx were brilliant. But holy fuck, I am super sick of the 'people in charge being stupid dicks' theme that's running through all three of these films, with this one being the worst in that regard.

(if it turns out that the US was just playing along with them to participate in Optimus Prime's Big Fake Out Which Was Totally Unexpected, well then they could have made that clearer at some point; if they did and I missed it, well maybe that's something I can pick up on in a second viewing)

Ken Jeong hams it up a bit, but its quick and doesn't overstay its welcome.

He was the funniest thing about this film. I was hoping to see more of him.

Leonard Nimoy is Galvatron as Sentinel Prime:- he was great, and all the nerd shoutouts were well done - the Wrath of Khan quote:- "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" was especially amusing

I chuckled at it, but I didn't especially like it. It seems really out of place for someone who cold-bloodedly murdered an autobot and whose motives just weren't made that distinctly clear. It feels like a blatant meta comment. Like 'holy shit we've got Nimoy in this let's throw in a Spock quote that'll make the nerds cream their pants'.

I mean he wakes up and seems alright, then he turns traitor, and he starts talking shit to humanity calling us slaves etc. Then when Optimus has the drop on him he's barely comprehensible when he's justifying himself. Thank christ Optimus blew his fucking head away.

I don't know what to feel about Optimus at the end. Him killing Megatron makes sense to me. Was he ruthless? Sneaky? Maybe. But I think the decepticons earned no mercy from anyone, and I'd rather the film subverted those cliches than give us another long drawn out fight where the end is a foregone conclusion. For example, we know the bad guys are going to lose and the good guys will win. Optimus saying screw your truce does make sense at least in the context of the rest of the film.

Rosie Huntington-Whitley:- is no Megan Fox. I missed her.

I didn't. I could have stood to see both of them dropped to be perfectly honest. Neither one ever brought anything to these films.

I could stand to lose about three quarters of the human cast as well for that matter. Most of the humans in this film are complete fuckwits. Like Frances McDormand's character. Wtf? I would have told that bitch right away what I think about her and her bullshit. EDIT If I was Sam I mean.

Flaws in editing:- some stuff was clearly left on the cutting room floor. For one thing, after Starscream dies, Bumblebee saves Sam from a fall, and then in the next scene, all of a sudden Bumblebee and some other Autobots are captured. Huh? How? What the?

Another example - Megatron is just sitting around whilst the fight between Sentinel and Optimus goes on? Why? I can't help but think that the part in the comic was cut - i.e. that Sentinel gives Megatron a beatdown and Megatron decides to sit and be resigned to his fate. There's a little of that, but not enough to explain what he's doing.

Yeah, both of those elicited a wtf from me.

[Kojiro]

A question that has been bugging me. Sentinel Prime is the Autobot leader. He makes a deal with Megatron for peace- why is this not honoured as a cease fire? More so, if SP is running off to Earth to enact his and Megatron's plan, who the fuck shot him down?

[Stofsk]

The movie's plot was pretty convoluted, like I said. They obviously meant Sentinel to become a villain, hence the traitorous turn of events. But if he was like, 'I had to deal with him because we were facing extinction' then it could have been salvaged. But they turned Sentinel in I guess a Galvatron Mk.2 character. He was going on and on about enslaving humanity and shit.

[NecronLord]

A question that has been bugging me. Sentinel Prime is the Autobot leader. He makes a deal with Megatron for peace- why is this not honoured as a cease fire? More so, if SP is running off to Earth to enact his and Megatron's plan, who the fuck shot him down?

Presumably pre-Decepticon Cybertron and/or the Autobots are not a dictatorship, and merely being the Leader does not give you the authority to order a ceasefire (surrender) to evil transforming robot space nazis.

[NecronLord]

As someone not terribly familiar with the Transformers mythos, I've gotta say I liked the deaths of Megatron and Sentinel Prime, both of whom deserved it thoroughly, and found it refreshing (again) to see Optimus Prime both a superior warrior and ruthless in dispatching his enemies.

I don't really get the worry about Megatron's hatchlings, that could be because as a fairly casual viewer I can't for the life of me remember anything about RotF except the gangsta-bots (I wish I could forget this) the old-guy SR-71 bot, and the Necron-Lord-like Fallen teleporting around with a spear and clambering on pyramids. I remember literally nothing else, now. Certainly don't get anything about Megatron having children (?; aren't transformers created by the cube? And at least when created by the cube as used by Megatron, born evil?)

I'm really not sure what possible reason Sentinel could have had for refusing the Matrix of Leadership though.

[RogueIce]

I really enjoyed this movie. Better than the second (though for the record, I do not loath RotF the way many do) and right up there with the first.

I did miss Megan Fox though, character-wise. I mean, those two have been to Hell and back with each other, twice, and she breaks up with him off screen? Eh... Granted the clear time jump of four years or whatever (Sam was starting college in RotF, and had finished three months ago by the start of DotM) kinda helps in that regard; who knows what went on between them during that time?

I did feel that Carly not wanting Sam to go off and fight made sense, given her family history and the fact she knew about Sam. I mean, the kid's gone up against giant evil robots with no military training twice; what are his odds of surviving a third time? Hell, he actually died the second time, though he Got Better.

In that respect, I do kinda get where the DNI was coming from, though a little common sense would tell her that the Autobots like the kid, so shutting him out completely probably isn't the best idea. Still, it did lead to some goodness...

...like John Turtorro's character! Sure he was still kinda goofy and over the top, but when he got serious he got serious and this is probably the most useful he's ever been. It helps that the stakes were higher in this one, as well.

I was a little disappointed when Epps wussed out upon reaching Chicago, though. If anyone should have done the 'If there's a breath in my body, I'll fight' it should be him. I mean heck, the whole NEST unit put it all on the line for Sam last movie, surely he could have done the same this time? It wouldn't really lessen the impact of Optimus showing up to ruin some Decepticon's shit when they got jumped by the gunship, I don't think.

But those niggles aside, overall I enjoyed it, and the action was awesome. And for those who are all butthurt about the "puny humans" being able to hurt the robots, oh well. I actually prefer it in these movies where the "puny humans" can fight back effectively, though they do need the support of the Autobots. I personally think they strike a decent balance in the movies along those lines.

The emotion was excellent. I was genuinely shocked to see Ironhide go down, and I felt bad for Ben Franklin Bot. Hell, the whole "Only Trophies" scene was excellently done. I really, really was afraid for Bumblebee there. And the score...brilliant.

I loved the score to this movie. I can't say enough for Steve Jablonsky and the awesome work he did in this film. As soon as the score album is released, I'll be picking it up. No question.

Overall: 4/5

[DPDarkPrimus]

Optimus' bloodlust really got to me. "You DIE" to Shockwave just felt uncharacteristic. The "Let's find out" with Megatron at least had a cool action movie feel to it, but all the violence leading up to it and right after made me feel like Prime was turning into the very thing he hates.

And what was with the lamprey tentacles that Shockwave rode around on? Yeah, thanks for not explaining any of that.

It was a much better film than Revenge of the Fallen, thankfully, and hell I'd have loved for this to have been the second film instead. But I don't know how they can keep the franchise going on this same continuity when they've killed off all the big-name Decepticons in one blow.

I guess Barricade will become the Herald of Unicron in the the fourth film.

[DarkSilver]

.....It was a better film than Revenge of the Fallen

But I liked it better when it was "The Ultimate Doom" three-parter..

At least then the Decepticons managed to bring Cybertron to Earth without destroying the planet not once..but twice, and they managed to obtain the goal of enslaving a good portion of humanity.


I'm with DPDP, I'm not sure how much I like Optimus' blood thirstiness in this movie...he's becoming more and more like a Decepticon to me..

Shockwave was wasted...Laserbeak was a sociopath and a little scarey. Why the fuck did Megatron have cyber-lice scrawling all over him and when did he become so much of a little bitch?

Still...it was better than ROTF.

[xerex]

It was a much better film than Revenge of the Fallen, thankfully, and hell I'd have loved for this to have been the second film instead. But I don't know how they can keep the franchise going on this same continuity when they've killed off all the big-name Decepticons in one blow.

I guess Barricade will become the Herald of Unicron in the the fourth film.

well Bay said that this was intended to be the final film there will be no fourth.

Of course if they wanted a fourth they could always have Galvatron be completely new character who arrives a takes over the Decepticons