Movie Review: Transformers: Dark of the Moon

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Paramount Pictures is trying to get a jump on the Fourth of July long weekend by releasing Transformers: Dark of the Moon early. One of the reasons is that the movie is long, close to three hours, two hours and thirty-seven minutes to be exact meaning that theaters will lose one to three showings per day depending on when they start their day. If they released on Friday, Paramount would lose the equivalent of a day’s showings over a regular weekend. For those three hours, the pace kept me engrossed so that the time flew by although, I would suggest avoiding any big drinks before the show begins!

Just a few weeks ago we found out via the X-Men the real reason for the Cuban Missile Crisis and this week we found out what really drove the space race of the 1960’s. A ship from Cybertron crash landed on the dark side of the moon. It was a battle between the USSR and USA to see who could get there first. That was the reason, not attempting to push the boundaries of man’s knowledge and give them inspiration. Buzz Aldrin was sworn to secrecy until now! Ahhh, what little we know about our true US history and its motivations!

It’s been about a year since the last Autobot and Decepticon battle back on Earth. Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) has a new girlfriend Carly (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley) and they live together in an old theater. He helped save the world not once, but twice and he can’t find a job and it’s wearing on him heavily. Maybe he’s not meant to be a 9 to 5 person, but the savior of the human race many times over so he should just hang back and chill until the next opportunity arises.

Abraham Lincoln once asked “At what point shall we expect the approach of danger?” to which his answer was “if it ever reach us, it must spring from amongst us. It cannot come from abroad.” This played true on different levels within the movie. Eventually with the discovery by the Autobots of what was on the dark side of the moon, another battle breaks out between humans, the Autobots and the Decepticons. This time, Chicago becomes the battlefield for the invading forces rather than Los Angeles.

There is something for just about everyone in the film. You have the science fiction aspect, conspiracy theories, over the top humor and situations, eye candy and wildly enormous battle sequences which are a good portion of the movie. The PG-13 rating for intense prolonged sequences of sci-fi action violence, mayhem and destruction, and for language, some sexuality and innuendo are very appropriate descriptions of the contents. But you have to wonder at times, why is it that the Autobots are just wheeled vehicles and they don’t innately fly or dig or as one character pointed out “get all the good stuff”? The movie lacked in creating any emotional connection to the characters, but did a great job with fights and blowing up stuff. Don’t expect a lot of touchy feely moments to connect emotionally with the characters. Do expect lots of anarchy, explosions and the drama leading to the massive amounts of damage! You know, the typical Michael Bay film.

The Movie Monkey

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Movie Review: Cars 2

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The animation continues to flow from Pixar. Cars 2 is their 12th animated feature. When the movie started they flashed a title card showing that they were celebrating their 25th anniversary. One lady in front of me said "No, that can't be" and another said "Must be...look it's right there" as she pointed to the screen. It started with Luxo Jr. in 1986 so, it would be 25 years. Funny that it started with a Jr and the current movie is a two!

Cars is not considered one of Pixar's best films, in fact many rank it towards the bottom of the list, if not the bottom. While not gathering the most critical acclaim, it has been very popular for Pixar and its parent company Disney because of the money they have made from the merchandising bonanza that the characters have been. Approximately $10 billion has been made in sales and the movie only came out in 2006. Hence one of the driving forces for the sequel. Maybe this is one that should have gone directly to blu-ray.


Before the main event like all Pixar films, we were treated to a short. The Toy Story ohana showed up for a Hawaiian Vacation. Taking place at their new residence, the toys are excited for a break because their new owner, Bonnie, is going with her family to Hawaii.

When Ken and Barbie didn't successfully manage to sneak into Bonnie's luggage, the whole gang including new characters like Buttercup and Mr Prinklepants manages to treat Ken and Barbie to a Hawaiian vacation right there in the bedroom. Speaking of Mr Prinklepants, when I reviewed Toy Story 3 last year I mentioned about a Mr Prinklepants plush. It took the Disney store a while, but they finally got a plush and he now sits on my desk shelf overlooking me as I write and work on my computer. For the short, as a resident of Hawaii I found the jokes and stereotypes very funny. They only thing I think they missed was dropping a plug for the new Aulani, a Disney Resort and Spa as the destination for Bonnie and her family which opens later this summer.

Into the meat and potatoes; Cars 2 reunites us with the gang in Radiator Springs. Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) is just waiting for Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) to come back from the Piston Cup circuit. The producers pay a little homage to Doc Hudson who was voiced by Paul Newman and passed away back in 2008. McQueen is ready to stay put until Mater unwittingly gets him entwined in a global race series to prove the worthiness of an alternative fuel. So Lightning plans to take Mater with him on the road to the countries of Japan, Italy and Great Britain for the World Grand Prix.

This is where the usual tight stories of Pixar started to unravel a bit. The movie instead of focusing on relationships got caught up in a spy story focusing on Mater. In Tokyo, blunder and mistake after lack of exposure to life outside of Radiator Springs results in a wrong place at the wrong time confusion with Finn McMissle (Michael Caine) and Holly Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer) of British Intelligence thinking Mater is actually an American Spy. So much for "British Intelligence."

So you have the master villain, the evil scientist, the big henchmen,the grandiose plan, the suave spy, the novice spy and the clueless just being himself bystander. All the components are there for a great story, but they fall short for a feature Pixar story. After the total emotional sequences from Toy Story 3 in its rites of passage ending, Carl and Ellie's love story at the beginning of Up and the connection between the robots of Wall-E and Eve on a scorched Earth in Wall-E, there weren't any highly emotional moments that would make a man suddenly develop allergies...if you know what I mean. Pixar is known for drawing out the emotion and it just wasn't there for this go around.

The animation was top notch as always, although at times it was over stimulating to the senses. I could appreciate all the details for the locations. The bright neon signs in Tokyo, the Odaiba Ferris Wheel, the rainbow bridge, all icons of the location. One of the really fun parts of the Cars universe is how they took items that are found in our real world in real cities and modified them to exist in theirs. Cars going through airport security, finding a capsule hotel and using a Japanese style bathroom are a few examples of the anthromorphization of the mobile pieces of metal be it ship, crane, plane, train or automobile. But I found myself overwhelmed by all these details and trying to pay attention for any easter eggs that may have been placed with the nooks and crannies of the movie knowing that there were over 60 hidden in Toy Story 3.

The visuals are complex, the story is a bit weak for a feature release; this is probably the first Pixar release that will only hit a single and not go beyond a double. The short ran for five minutes and 113 minutes for the main feature. There is no easter egg at the end of the movie but the credits are fun to watch. Kids will love the movie for the action of the spy genre and humor of Mater. Adults will go ho hum without the strong emotional hook. I have a feeling that Pixar in order to boost the numbers for the film will do like they did with A Bug's Life and release another version of the film in a few weeks that will contain bonus scenes, maybe scrapbook photos of our heroes in the different locations. Oh, the movie is rated G for general audiences.

The Movie Monkey
To subscribe to the audio podcast of the reviews via iTunes click here. Audio versions are released the following Wednesday.

Movie Review: Green Lantern

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Of the summer super hero movies released to date, this is the weakest of the group so far. Not saying that it's bad, it just didn't live up to the expectations that has been set by Thor and the X-Men. Those other movies set the bar high for this block buster season and while it wasn't the brightest day or the blackest night, Green Lantern didn't land in the extremes, it was just fair to middling.

Like so many of our modern day protagonists, our hero-to-be Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) has daddy issues. His dad was a great pilot who died in the call of duty while little Hal was watching. Little Hal grew up and also became a great pilot as demonstrated in a sequence taking cues from Top Gun with Maverick and Goose but in this rendition, the secondary pilot is nicknamed Sapphire and she just happens to be the bosses daughter, real name Carol Ferris (a brunette Blake Lively). Not only is she Jordan's flight team partner, but they used to be an item complicating the team dynamics. During a training sequence Jordan breaks the rules and ends up with severe consequences, although not as dire as what happened to Goose.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Lost Sector of the universe there is an evil force that has gotten loose, is traveling and now gaining strength. When it arrives in sector 2814 which is protected by a green lantern Abin Sur (an unrecognizable Temura Morrison) just one of 3600 green lanterns set up to protect the universe; the evil force fights and injures Abin Sur who escapes to the nearest inhabited planet which happens to be Earth. The power of the green lantern seems to have its own intelligence and is sent forth by Abin Sur to find a replacement for himself since he knows that he's dying. Who better to replace him but Earthling Hal Jordan.

Like any good super hero origin story the appointed hero-to-be has moments of doubt. Jordan ends up putting on the ring and is transported to the planet Oa where the Guardians who created the ring's power and the legion of green lanterns who use the ring's power is headquartered. The head lantern Sinestro (Mark Strong) feels that Jordan is pathetic as a replacement for Abin Sur who is revered among the lanterns. Jordan meets Tomar-Re and Kilowog (voiced by Geoffrey Rush and Michael Clarke Duncan respectively) who give him the background of the green lantern corps and training on how to use the power of the ring. Jordan doesn't believe he can do it and goes home to Earth. You could say that had an uh Oa moment.

Back on Earth, Abin Sur's body is found by the government and examined by a crypto zoologist Hector Hammond (Peter Sarsgaard) who ends up getting infected by the evil force which was responsible for Abin Sur's death. Within Hammond the evil force grows and eventually causes a transformation of Hammond's body and attracts the larger evil force to Earth. Eventually Jordan has to make a decision if he's good enough and believes in himself enough to battle the evil force and win with the fate of the Earth and the girl hanging in the balance.

The pacing of the story was awkward with the segregation between planet Oa in the set up, then Earth and finally to the big show down. Sarsgaard as the infected guy just didn't seem right. He's a regular guy while having his own daddy issues manifested to bring out this part of him that just didn't seem to be there before in the short set up. The conflicts between Jordan, Hammond and Ferris seemed contrived and forced. When the big battles which gave the PG-13 rating for intense sequences of sci-fi action violence happened there was action of a milder type that didn't leave you hanging on the edge of your seat at any time wondering if the good guy was going to pull through. You know in the long run the good guy will pull through, but what will they have to go through in order to cross the finish line. Were there enough challenges that they overcame that made you want to cheer for them?

The effects laden moments of the film leave you with the ohhh and ahhh factor. Reynolds gets to show off his body both directly and indirectly as the lantern costume instead of being cloth is created by the force of the ring. The movements ebb and flow under the power of the lantern's will and constitutes the green light which constructs the suit and mask. With the intelligence of the ring it determines if the mask is needed or not. Couldn't we all use a mind reading ring! The acting is based on the script and so with the issues already mentioned the actors live up to what was given to them.

At the end of the movie, hang around until the middle of the credits. There is an extra scene that will set up for a sequel if the numbers and responses are good enough. When all 95 minutes were done, I wasn't left wanting to rush out of my seat to get out of there, but I also did think, is this all? So Green Lantern, welcome to the the land of fair to middling.

The Movie Monkey

To subscribe to the audio podcast of the reviews via iTunes click here. Audio versions are released the following Wednesday.