Transformer: Dark of the Moon, the third sci-fi blockbuster inspired by the shape-changing toys, is here and it’s everything you’d expect – and more. The explosions are bigger, the special effects more spectacular – and Shia LaBeouf is even more irritating as a leading man.
Somehow, though, since we last saw him, LaBeouf’s whiny Sam Witwicky has acquired an even hotter girlfriend than before. With Megan Fox having been dumped from the franchise after likening director Michael Bay to Hitler, Sam’s new love interest takes the shape of English actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.
The camera certainly loves the long-legged, pouty-lipped Victoria’s Secret model, but from the moment she makes her skimpily dressed entrance in the film, tracked by Bay’s ogling lens, you can tell she wasn’t chosen for her acting talents.
In supporting roles, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich and John Turturro provide classier turns, but they’re relegated to bystander roles as soon as the robot smackdowns kick off.
Once again, the Earth’s fate hangs in the balance as the Autobots (good alien robots) and Decepticons (nasty alien robots) slug it out, reducing most of Chicago to rubble. This time, the story hinges on an alien spacecraft discovered on the Moon by the Apollo 11 astronauts and kept secret ever since.
The plot doesn’t even begin to make sense, but who cares when the concrete and glass starts flying and you get to see a toppling skyscraper fold itself in half? The Transformers threequel may be overlong, overloud and overly dumb, but the action – rendered in the most eye-popping, gob-smacking, jaw-dropping 3D since Avatar - is truly awesome.
On general release from 29th June.
