[Locke]

Just rewatched Dark of The Moon.

The Battle of Chicago is not just the height of this franchise but one of the most incredible sequences ever put to film, Avengers tried with their final forty minutes but it's got absolutely nothing on this. There is some spotty CG, and some fairly weak moments of "cinema magic" when it comes to stunt doubles but these are minor niggles for a truly innovative closing act of a film. Bay is known for a ferocious, erratic style of shooting and editing but he feels fully streamlined and focused here - which is funny as by all reports he was as fatigued with the franchise as the critics were and more than ready to leave. With the emphasis on 3D really forcing Bay to think outside the box and really tuck his camera into the action, every huge sweep is finally given the space to breathe and it really feels like we're right there in the heart of it all, on the worlds most incredible rollercoaster with - FINALLY - all the clutter cleared out of our way. Hell if nothing else, the film needs props for the fact that the huge scale of all the action comes down to Optimus, a battle axe and only one arm - FUCKING AWESOME.

It isn't just visually where this film works better, either. The continuity between movies is weak at best but this is the first of the three that seems to be trying some genuine world building, and I have enjoyed seeing how far the cause and effect of each film has come. For once the narrative feels focused and thought out, no stupid comedy side stories, no chucking bits of Transformers mythos at random intervals, it's a straight mystery about the darkside of the moon, a Prime, the technology known as a Star Bridge and a whole lot of shady shit surrounding it. Shady shit, that all things considered, fits together surprisingly well by the end and never becomes so convoluted it loses you like the narrative did in the second film. Maybe if they made Ehren Kruger the head writer of Revenge of The Fallen it might not have been so awful, he's certainly wrote the best of the four.

I know I complained about the tone of Revenge of The Fallen and this is a much darker film but it's also maturer too and so the darker tone works in a way that it just didn't in the mostly goofy Revenge of The Fallen. Yes the film borders on melodrama at times but for all the pretence in the other films this is the first time Bay feels like he is genuinely trying to appeal to us on an emotional level and I love Dark of The Moon for that. Bay just feels much more comfortable with darker material and I'm amazed that such brutality still slipped through as a 12a. I'm also incredibly pleased that the majority of the comedy has been removed all together, I love comedy, just not when it's written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman and helmed by Bay. The comedy works better in the context of the material but the execution was mostly awful.

Honestly out of the four films, characterwise, the film feels the strongest. I can't tell who is having more fun with their character, Patrick Dempsey, Alan Tudyk or John Malkovich but their fun is infectious, hell I even enjoyed John Turturro enough to actually mention him for once. It is a shame Sam grows into more of an asshole with every movie but it's also pretty clear that LaBeouf really doesn't want to be here any more either - never thought I'd be glad to see someone replaced by Mark Whalberg. Still, they have a lot of fun at poking at the ridiculousness of his relationship with Carly and I had a lot of fun with that at least.

Most importantly though, finally the Transformers are an interesting part of the movie! Optimus and Bumbelee continue to steal the show but we've got some key new additions like Leonard Nimoy playing a robot Sean Connery who is both a Prime and has the mind of Einstein, the new Decepticon called Soundwave who is both visually interesting but when teamed up with Laserbeak is also probably the only Decepticon other than Lockdown who actually provides a genuine and memorable threat. And The Wreckers, oh the Wreckers! Even less memorable Transformers, characterwise, get some really cool designs that don't quite vanish into the mess like they did in previous films. Huge shoutout to Sideswipe (what a waste of James Remar!) and Dino who are the coolest Autobots this side of Bumblebee and Optimus. Megatron is also looking his absolute coolest, I was never really sold on his design in the other films but he's awesome here. At the end of the day, it's still the Autobots who steal the show and it makes a nice change for the good guys to be the coolest side in the movie.

I'm sure people will assume I'm being sensationalist for the sake of sensationalism but I'd argue that this is not only the best part of the Transformers franchise but one of the best films ever made too. I'm not saying that in terms of narrative, or characters, but I'm speaking purely on a film level. To me films that take hundreds of millions of dollars, the most modern of technology and start levelling Chicago in a computer are to me what cinema is all about. Popcorn is the future, and may Bay keep transcending boundaries of cinemas assumed limitations. Just bought the 3D verison, can't bloody wait.