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2011, 07-01:
Review of film: “TRANSFORMERS [3] = DARK OF THE MOON” + SHOOTOUT At the SHOPPING MALL
“TRANSFORMERS [3] = DARK OF THE MOON”
Before, during & after the filming of this sequel (mainly in the Chicago area -- with some photos shot by spectator LIZZETTE K., as shown below), it’s been involved in “controversy” & strong disagreements over its “QUALITY”...
... The 1st film in the series came out in 2007... The 2nd (“REVENGE OF THE FALLEN”) came out in 2009, &, tho it was roundly “panned” by critics, it brought in another huge level of gross earnings...
... This latest instalment gives us some “historical” background into how the fight started on CYBERTRON between the Autobots & the “evil” Decepticons...
... It tells how a major Autobot leader, Sentinel Prime (eventually voiced by LEONARD NIMOY), escaped in a spaceship with a powerful new revolutionary military device on board... But, his ship CRASHED on Earth’s moon (in 1961)...
... With a “revisionist” account, it tells how America’s space program actually went to the moon with a secret plan to try to RETRIEVE items from the crash during the 1st landing there in 1969... And, some items were found & HIDDEN away back on Earth...
... In time, we’re soon re-introduced to the hero of the 1st two films in the series, Sam Witwicky (SHIA LaBOEUF)... Altho he was “decorated” for his service to the U.S., he’s found it very hard to find a “suitable” JOB since his last escapades with the Autobots...
... As has been widely-publicized, Shia’s “love” interest in the 1st two films, Megan Fox, was in-effect FIRED from the series for her “attitude” (towards the director)...
... She’s been replaced, for “TECH” purposes (= “Transformers” Eye-Candy – Human) by a character named Carly (played by English “Victoria Secrets” model ROSIE HUNTINGTON-WHITELEY)...
... Rosie is very pretty, “curvy”, & with unnatural-looking “puffy” lips... Sadly, she also exhibits the same general “STIFFNESS” Megan brought to the acting “position” of Shia’s G.F....
... In any case, Rosie’s seen living with Shia & trying to “encourage” him in his job-hunting. He’s especially upset because his PARENTS are soon to arrive in town, & he’d prefer they not know of his job “situation”...
... Keeping things “quiet” about his non-employment is especially important to Shia-- since he’s “peeved” at how Rosie herself has recently gotten a high-paying “plum” position (so-to-speak) with a rich car collector named Dylan (played by PATRICK DEMPSEY)...
... Always “on-edge” Shia is doubly upset when his dad Ron (KEVIN DUNN) & mom Judy (JULIE WHITE) arrive a week EARLY, in a motor home they park near his apartment...
... Shia soon goes on a previously-arranged job interview, at a high-tech company run by Bruce Brazos (JOHN MALKOVICH). He’s a “flake” & control-freak, wanting people dismissed because they keep the “wrong” color MUGS on their desk, etc....
... Shia is not eager to accept the lowly MAILROOM position he’s offered by John-- but, “desperate” to have something work-wise that he can “report” to his folks, he reluctantly ACCEPTS the job...
... Soon, we’re introduced to even-flakier Tech guy at John’s company named Jerry Wang (KEN JEONG, from the “HANGOVER” movies)...
... In his usual scatter-brained & “jumpy” way, after some superficially “gay” actions, Ken TELLS Shia how the RUSSIANS had arrived on the moon BEFORE the Americans & had taken away some of the “PILLAR” weapons brought by Sentinel’s crashed ship...
... After Ken is soon killed by DECEPTICONS, Shia investigates what he was told & finds out it’s TRUE... After himself being threatened by those evildoers (led by bad old Megatron), Shia goes to REPORT what he’s learned to the U.S. government...
... Shia visits an “undercover” building & (with his typical brash lack of tact) demands to speak to people in charge... We soon have him talking to military man Lennox (JOSH DUHAMEL) & a tough female government official named Mearing (FRANCES McDORMAND) who’s in charge of dealing with the remaining Autobots...
... Naturally, we also meet the remaining AUTOBOTS once again, such as their leader, OPTIMUS Prime & his assistant “BUMBLEBEE” (who became Shia’s personal car / protector)...
... Per actions by OPTIMUS & Shia, the U.S. government works to return to the moon, where they find & bring back SENTINEL Prime (who OPTIMUS re-animates, or, you might say “TRANSFORMS” into becoming “alive” once more)...
... Things (of course) do not go as “PLANNED” by OPTIMUS & Shia, because it appears SENTINEL has a “private AGENDA” involving cooperating with the DECEPTICONS...
... We also see that Rosie’s boss, Patrick, is ALSO mixed up in working with the deceitful “DECEPTICONS”, & all that bodes badly for Shia, Rosie & their AUTOBOT friends (who say they’re there to help “protect” the Earth because of Shia’s past efforts on their behalf)...
... The scene soon switches to CHICAGO, where SENTINEL has decided to “base” his efforts to use a “master” Pillar in a cupola of the Jeweler’s Building (at 35 E. Wacker Drive, as shown below) to try to bring CYBERTRON back to “EXISTENCE” again...
... Will Shia be able to convince the U.S. government of the danger?... Will he be able to successfully recruit ex-agent Simmons (JOHN TURTURRO) to HELP in his efforts to stop the plans of the DECEPTICONS?...
... Will Shia be able to find Rosie, who’s been spirited away to Chicago’s Trump Tower (shown below) by turncoat PATRICK?...
... What AUTOBOTS & DECEPTICONS will remain “ALIVE” in the fight to CONTROL the Earth & its resources?... What will become of SHIA?...
... Altho I always work to avoid reading or listening to any detailed “reviews” of a film before I write my OWN opinions), one couldn’t help but be aware of “snippets” of what some OTHERS have stated in “general”, since it’s been eagerly reported on TV & the like...
... There have been numerous complaints & “BAD” words about what director MICHAEL BAY has achieved with this movie (that once again cost like $ 200 million to make). Critics have grumbled that the film isn’t “realistic” & has numerous “SILLY” elements re its “plotting” & the like...
... Hey, Folks-- this film is in-essence a live-action “CARTOON”, based on characters which are TOYS. What kind of “REALISM” or plot “logic” should you EXPECT from such a situation?!...
... Director Bay has stated he worked especially hard (designing special “portable” type cameras & the like) to make a really effective use of the 3-D format for this film. I was very impressed at how he SUCCEEDED in that...
... I’ve seen the film twice, in both “regular” (REAL-D) & IMAX 3-D, & it’s a wonderful use of 3-D, with added “depth” & improved “combat” in the numerous ACTION scenes...
... Partly because of the fact I saw the film in Chicago (where most of it was shot), the battle scenes in Chicago brought APPLAUSE from the large audience viewing it at an “advance” screening at 9 pm on June 28th...
... This is not in any way a “perfect” film. It’s got a bunch of “CHEESY” moments & “ineffective” acting (by Rosie, etc.). To me, the character played by Ken Jeong seemed massively “over-the-top” in its unnecessary / pointless sexual innuendos & actions...
... But, although I personally did not find him especially “funny”, people tended to consistently LAUGH at the things he did in both screenings I attended (so his role seemingly “worked” for most, low-level tho it was)...
... I thought the special effects & ACTION were EXCELLENTLY done. And, in my opinion, that’s really what the movie is “ABOUT”:
... It’s a non-stop “roller-coaster” ride of battles & DESTRUCTIVENESS, wrapped “inside” a bunch of sci-fi-based enigmas & with a shall-we-call-it “LOVE” story between the “hero” (Shia) & his “damsel-in-distress” who he’s trying to “save” in the midst of all the warfare...
... In other words, it’s a comparatively “old” concept being used with some “NEW” twists of sci-fi & “GAME”-like elements (with the Transformers toys & all)...
... I found some of the twists (like about “why” we really made a moon-landing) to be fairly CLEVER in how they were handled...
... Yes, it’s loud, it’s silly, it’s excessive-- but, to me, it was lots of FUN, with some finely-done ACTION scenes (of crumbling buildings, fights between the various protagonists including with military men JOSH & TYRESE GIBSON as “Epps”, etc.)...
... The film came across as BETTER sound-wise & visually in IMAX-- but the “regular” version is quite impressive & “good enough” on its own...
... The acting by Shia, John, Patrick, Josh, Frances, & Leonard all “WORKED” for me (especially given the “cartoonish” underpinnings of the story), & the SPECIAL EFFECTS were exceptional...
... So, since I didn’t come “expecting” any “masterpiece” & it kept me interested in what was going on, I was “FINE” with the overall film-making effort. Thus, I’m rating it at 8.5 out of 10 stars (for those who LIKE sci-fi type stories & “fantasy” action efforts)...
(o_
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SHOOTOUT At the SHOPPING MALL...
To see the “TRANSFORMERS” movie in IMAX, I went with my friend ED B. to a theater at a shopping mall in Country Club Hills, IL (at 167th & Pulaski)...
... Ed was especially eager to see the film, since he’d worked as an “EXTRA” in it, as a driver on the divided-highway scene (lasting like 5 minutes) wherein some Decepticons chase SHIA & others to try to attack them (& you see an “Aurora” traffic sign destroyed in the action segment)...
... When we got out of the theater around 4 PM & walked to his car, we were surprised to see a bunch of POLICE & County SHERIFF cars in the same parking lot, with yellow “CAUTION” tape blocking off a goodly portion of the mall east and northeast of us...
... Plus, there were a bunch of TV news crews there, with vans from NBC Channel 5 / Telemundo & ABC, a news HELICOPTER overhead (which shot footage akin to what's seen below), etc....
... And, (as you can see by some PHOTOS I shot below), on the “access” road east of where we were parked, there was an SUV truck completely FLIPPED-OVER onto its ROOF!...
... We talked to some other people in the parking lot, & learned there were at least 2 vehicles involved in a crash (around 2 hours before, in the mall)...
... When we got to Ed’s place, we watched ABC NEWS on TV... From the program, we learned that some police (in the flipped-over van) had seemingly been watching some DRUG DEAL going down, & there had been SHOTS exchanged (seemingly between them & drug dealers in the mall)...
... Various vehicles had raced thru the parking lot, some BUMPED each other, & a CRASH occurred wherein the police SUV was rammed, spun-around & FLIPPED-OVER...
... The Police (per a report) seemingly shot-out the TIRES on the car of a suspect (who was the subject of the investigation), & he died in the battle after apparently trying to HIT one of the police officers with his car...
... There were 3 other suspects (from the suspect’s car) who were now in custody, & all the (4 or so) Police officers who were in the flipped-over SUV seemingly had injuries that were NON-life-threatening...
... A nighttime segment on WGN TV reported that the suspect was a “known drug-dealer” [38-year-old Nyarko Johnson] living in a multi-million-dollar house in a suburb [Markham], & that guy was scheduled to be arrested the NEXT week for a PREVIOUS offense...
... When the officers attempted to arrest some suspects in a silver Cadillac (shown below) in a McDonald’s lot, the suspects took off in their car, followed by 2 undercover police vehicles which were CHASING them....
... There was some ramming going on in the chase, SHOTS were fired, & the Cadillac at one point hit the police’s Chevy SUV, causing it to FLIP over... There were several OTHER cars in the parking lot which were damaged by the pursuit...
... The main suspect in the Cadillac at one point threw a gun & a kilo of COCAINE out of a window in the car... The driver was SHOT “multiple times” & taken to a hospital (where he later died) after the confrontation...
... The Police defended their actions regarding the altercation, pointing out that innocent BYSTANDERS were NOT injured in the battle... A worker at the mall commented that, “This is generally a SAFE area...”
... And, (typically) the mayor of the town said (per Sun-Times Media) that, “This area has NEVER been a problem area...”
... So, here we’d just watched a movie whose “main” action involved BATTLES in CHICAGO, & we came out to see the “aftermath” of some REAL battle that had been going on in that area!...
... Ah, the “excitement” NEVER stops!...
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(o_
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