Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)

This past week, I went to go see Transformers: Dark of the Moon with my boyfriend, brother and a few of my boyfriend’s co-workers/friends. I have been a fan of the Transformers movies, I love the Transformers (have since I was a kid), love action movies and LOVE explosions….so when I first saw this preview…I knew it was going to be on the MUST SEE list J

This movie starts off showing something none of the others have before, the final days of the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons on the planet Cybertron. Is tells the story of how the Autobots knew that they had only one chance to win the war and that was by sending a ship holding special “weapons” to escape. The ship, also known as The Ark, was piloted by the Leader of the Autobots Sentinel Prime (voiced by Leonard Nimoy…which is totally awesome BTW…or maybe I am just a total dork – which I am…!!! ANYWAY). While Sentinel Prime (awesome) is in the mist of escaping, his ship is hit by a TON of missiles. The ship goes whack and crashes on the dark side of OUR moon.  The crash sends up flares (or whatever it is that NASA monitors) and President J.F.K pushes NASA to land some men on the moon before the Russians (hell this is during the cold war kids….we can’t let the Russians have whatever it may be up there). So in 1969 Apollo 11 lands on the moon. Televised around the world and a day that many will never forget (until they die and how come I haven’t seen a man walk on the moon in my lifetime, or mars, or any other planet, we could do it in the 60’s but we can’t manage it in 2011!! I wanna see a man on Mars damn it!!). 

But the 1969 moon landing was just a cover-up and while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin are making leaps for man kinds, they go into a dark zone. Quickly they investigate the crash landing, finding the face of Sentinel Prime. They take pictures and samples and head back to the ship.

We LEAP forward to present day. The Autobots have adjusted well into life working with the US Government and the NEST Team. They track down Decepticons (and other terrorist) on the planet. While investigating an abandoned nuclear power plant, Major Lennox (Played by the cuttie Josh Duhamel) learns about a disaster that occurred in the Ukranian. Leading the team, Major Lennox, Optimus Prime (played by Peter Cullan) and Ratchet enter the distasted plant. Inside the plane, Optimus Prime finds fuel cells from The Ark and the evil, deadly Shockwave. Optimus and Shockwake go at it. Shockwake controls these crazy drilling robots that cut through anything and everything. The sap that lead the NEST Team and Autobots to the layer of Shockwake makes a break for it, but is justifiable killed (even if it was by a Decepticon). Narrowly defeating Shockwake, Optimus and Ratchet return to NEST HQ. Optimus is infuriated; he demands to know how the fuel cell from The Ark, lost to the Autobots long ago has come to rest on Earth. Secretary of Defense Charlotte Mearing steps, she informs Optimus that the cells were recovered during the 60’s mission to the moon. Pissed, that the “humans” had kept this from him, Optimus and the other Autobots take a ship to the moon to search the remains of the Ark. While there, they find a weakened Sentinel Prime and 5 metal pillars.

While all this is going on, Sam (played again by Shia LaBeouf) is dating and living with this hotty, Carly Spencer (Played by Rosie Huntington-Whitley) who he meet while receiving the Medal of Honor at the White House.

**Side Note – I don’t see why all the girls think he is hot, So not my type at all…and how does he keep getting these hot 10’s when he is seriously only a 6 maybe 6.5??**

Sam is struggling to land a job, while Carly works for a rich, hot car collector named Dylan Gould (played by Patrick Dempsey).  Sam finally get a job interview at this technology firm, which is run by this half crazy man named Bruce (played by John Malkovich). Realizing he has no other options, Sam accepts the job with the mad man and starts working in the companies mailroom (now let’s just face it, you save the world, graduate from college and end up working in a mailroom for a crazy man…that is definitely not the dream life).  Sam goes to tell Carly the good news, but not only does he find out just how close Carly is to her boss, but also just how hot and rich and hot he is.  To pour salt on an already open wound, Sam finds out that Dylan was the one who recommended him to the technology company.

Sam, completely threatened by Dylan, manages to embarrass himself even more while leaving, because his crappy little yellow car (that he is driving while Bumblebee is off saving the world) won’t start.  

**Side Note – sometimes girls like it when a guy is a little jealous or feels a little threatened, it makes them feel like the boyfriend still wants them, but over the top crazy jealous dragging you out of work and yelling at you to get into the car while you kick it because it won’t start is another thing**

Sam begins his mind numbing job, day in and day out. Not much happens, except Dylan proceeds to drive Sam crazy by giving Carly a brand new Mercedes costing $200k…making the poor boy even more jealous and threatened.

One day at work, Sam is cornered by a crazy looking co-worker named Jerry Wang (played by Ken Jeong)

**Side note – LOVE this part BTW**

Jerry follows Sam around the office and finally corners him in a bathroom stall. Jerry tells Sam that he knows who Sam really is, and he pulls out of his pants a bunch of papers, news clippings etc about the Dark Side of the Moon. He tells Sam that the Autobots are in danger. Jerry runs out of the bathroom. Sam goes back to his little death cubby and looks through the paperwork, deciding to go talk to Jerry more, he tracks down his office, but the Decepticon, Laserbeak is already there. Jerry, unable to speak with Laserbeak holding a death grip on his hand, Sam gives up. Just after closing the door, Laserbeak turns on Jerry and tosses him out the window, sending him plunging to his death. The office is up in chaos. After the half crazy boss gets things calmed down again, Sam goes over to photocopy the papers he was given. BUT the photocopier isn’t a copier, it is Laserbeak, he turns onto Sam and tries to kill him. Running for his life, Sam leaves the building.  He heads home and picks up Carly and they head to NEST HQ.

Pulling up Sam is already on the edge of a nervous breakdown, He just witnessed Jerry die, got told the Autobots are in danger and almost got cut in two by Laserbeak. Pulling up at the “Department of Health and Human Services” Sam is turned away. Sam, close to losing it goes off on the security guards. They drag him yelling from his car. Sam, calls out for Bumblebee who comes to Sam’s rescue. Sam and Carly are allowed into the facility thanks to the Autobots and Lennox, but Mearing is not happy about it. The more Sam tries to tell her something is wrong and the Autobots are in danger, the more she belittles him and sends him away. Frustrated and furious with the incompetence and close mindedness of Mearing Sam stalks out of her office.

Outside Mearing’s office, Optimus and the other Autobots have returned from their trip to the Moon.

**Side Note – they can get to the moon and back within 24 hours…shouldn’t they be sharing this technology with us? They are our friends…our alias and all. Did no one else notice this?**

Optimus lays Sentinel Prime down and using the technology, the Matrix of Leadership, Optimus brings Sentinel back from the cusp of death. Confused at first Sentinel attacks Optimus, demanding to know what happened and where the pillars are at. Mearing, fearless, steps forward and informs Sentinel that they only retrieved 5 pillars and that they have been locked up in a secure area. Sentinel is enraged; he explains to the stuck-up Mearing that the pillars can be used as a bridge between space and time. Although stuck-up, Mearing sees the danger in returning them and declines Sentinel’s request.

Knowing that danger is now afoot (awesome…I have been trying to figure out where I could use that word!) Bumblebee joins Sam and Carly. Sam, trapped in his own home and feeling useless, puts in a call to the one man he knows can help, Seymour Simmons (Played wonderfully by John Turturro). Sam and Seymour by using the information they got from Jerry, begin to see a pattern. They uncover that all the people that were involved in covering up The Ark in the 60’s are dying left and right.

Carly comes home to a house full of Autobots and strange men and freaks out on Sam. Furious that he is getting back involved with the dangerous life of the Autobots, she storms off to a party with her boss.

Upset that Carly left, but knowing they are almost at the root of the conspiracy, Sam, Simmons and Dutch (played by Alan Tudyk) meet up with some Russians, where they learn that the Russians made their own trip to the moon. While reviewing the photos, they notice that several stacks of pillars were removed from the wreckage of the ship.  Realizing that Jerry, in his mad way, was right and that the Decepticons need Sentinel to activate the pillars. Because they needed the Autobots to revive him, the Decepticons were forced to wait, patiently on earth until the Autobots discovered and revived him.

Rushing to the aid of Sentinel, Bumblebee and the other Autobots manage to save Sentinel from a Decepticon attach. Once back at the NEST, Sentinel drops the boom

**SPOILER ALERT***

Sentinel reveals that during the Great War, he realized that the Autobots would be defeated. So in order to save Cybertron, he made a deal with the devil. He sided with Megatron and the Decepticons. He turns on the Autobots and kills one of them while destroying the NEST to reclaim the five pillars and escaping.

Optimus, returns, having missed the whole betrayal. Mearing, frustrated with the situation, turns her anger to Optimus.  Optimus goes to find Sentinel, he pleads with him to stop and return to NEST with him. But Sentinel turns on him, pushes him away and activates the spacebrige bringing hundreds of Decepticons and battle fleets to earth. As each arrives they disguise themselves as cars and vanish into the night.

Sam worried about Carly’s life, same goes to Dylan’s mansion. Demanding that Carly comes with him, Dylan drops another major boom! He revels that his father was part of the NASA moon landing and had long ago sided with the Decepticons. Sam pushes Carly into her car to protect her, but it is not her car, it is Shockwave. Carly trapped inside being tortured by the vile Decepticon, Sam has no option but to agree to Dylan’s demands. Dylan gives same a watch (Decepticon in disguise) and demands that Sam find out what the Autobots plan to do.

Seeing he has no choice, Sam returns to the Autobots, where he learns that the Autobots are being sent away. Sam, arriving at the launching site, runs into his longtime friend Chief Epps (played by Tyrese Gibson).  The Autobots and Optimus appear defeated. Optimus tells Sam that they have no plans to fight back, and that they must leave. On the verge of tears, Sam says goodbye to Bumblebee.  Sam looks on as the shuttle launches into space. Looking on, Sam and the bystanders watch helplessly as the Decepticons launch missiles at the shuttle and it explodes on the edges of space.

Realizing that the Decepticons had planned this all along, Sam realizes that he must find Carly. Working with Simmons and Dutch, they track Carly to the Trump Tower in Chicago. Determined to save her, Sam heads to Chicago, along with Epps and a few retired NEST teammates.

However, Sam is not the only one heading to Chicago. Sentinel and Megatron are already there, putting the pillars into place preparing to open a time space warp and bring Cybertron to earth and turning all the humans into slave.  Having to wait for a specific time (maybe it is the location or the sun or something) Sentinel sits back to wait while the Decepticons descend upon Chicago, destroying the city and killing the citizens in a mad frenzy.

Sam, Epps and the rest of the team arrive on the outskirts of Chicago. Seeing the devastation, they realize they do not stand a chance. Suddenly the Autobots appear at the side and take down the watcher drones. Optimus reveals to Sam that they secretly hid in a rocket booster that detached from the ship before the missiles hit it, tricking the Decepticons into thinking they had destroyed them.  Sam is overwhelmed with joy.

Bumblebee and Sam join up and rescue Carly from Dylan while the rest of the Autobots and NEST ex-teammates are left to fight the Decepticons. Realizing what is going on Dylan rushes off to warn Sentinel and Megatron.  The Autobots seeing only so many hands to play begin to fight for their lives. While a war is going on, Sam, Epps, Carly and the others climb into a building to take down the main pillar. Seeing what the humans have planned, Shockwave descends upon the building cutting it in half with his drills, destroying it under the human’s feet.  

The Pillars activate…

While hell is falling down around Chicago, Lennox and the NEST team have pulled themselves together and begin the dangerous mission of hang-gliding in Squirrel suites into the city. Catching up with the humans already in the mist of things, they re-evaluate their options. Bumblebee and some of the other Autobots have been captured; and Shockwave, kills Que. Realizing they have to act fast and manages to distract the Decepticons long enough for the Autobots to get free

**Side Note: Not really sure how, or when those Autobots got captured…**

Time is running out as Cybertron begins to push its way into Earth’s atmosphere. Optimus, acting fast comes in and blows up on of the pillars causing the bridge to be temporality disabled. Sentinel, infuriated that Optimus cannot see that his is for the greater good, attacks him. Optimus and Sentinel break into a violent battle.

Looking around for something to do (besides just screaming and crying Sam every 5 seconds…remember we are not watching this movie for the wonderful script) Carly finds Megatron. She convinces Megatron that after Sentinel destroys Optimus and saves Cybertron, all the Decepticons will answer to him instead of Megatron. Megatron is filled with jealously and rushes off to find Sentinel to put him in his place.

Sam, trying to destroy the pillar is meet with Dylan’s weasel face. Dylan gets to the pillar first and reactivates it (why he wants to be a human slave I will never know, because he has to realize that the Decepticons are only using him…idiot). Cybertron once again appears in the atmosphere pulling closer and closer to Earth. Acting fast, Sam does what he should have done from day one and knocks the crap out of Dylan and pulls the pillar.

While the world is being saved by a scrawny boy, Optimus and Sentinel are still at blows. Sentinel, stronger and more powerful then Optimus cuts his arm off. Optimus falls to the ground, standing over him ready to finish him off Sentinel steps forward, but is attacked by Megatron. Megatron wants to be the savor and goes to finish Optimus, Optimus pulls his strength and rips Megatron’s head and spine right out of his body (it was pretty wicked cool). Taking no mercy, Optimus turns on a dying Sentinel and destroys him.

And life goes back to normal…lalalalal.

  

Overall, I liked it. Dialog sucked, but that is not what we went for, we went for the action and violence! YAH!! I really enjoyed the movie. So far the Transformers have not let me down yet! Not as good as Thor, but still very nice. I love the fact that all the cartoons and shows that we watched as kids are becoming movies. I guess that is what happens as our generation grows up, we have the power to turn our favorite shows into amazing, action packed movies…like the x-man! If you haven’t seen Transformers yet, take the time, go see it. Yes IT IS LONG, but it is worth it. It has it slow moments, but the action packed scenes are action packed. Next on my list is Captain America!