The third entry from Michael Bay's bombastic Transformers series is a significant improvement over its predecessor, but ultimately isn't quite as captivating as the original 2007 film. Transformers: Dark of the Moon is a highly entertaining summer popcorn "flick" at its finest. It's full of explosive action, some light witty moments, and gripping enough drama to keep things interesting. There is nothing to genuninely dislike about this movie - it's fun to watch and it gets the job done. It may be a little lengthy with its running time (2 hours and 37 minutes), but generally things flow pretty well.

     Dark of the Moon has a fairly intriguing storyline involving the 1969 Moon landing and that how a good part of it contained what is now revealed as a major cover up - the government found a Autobot ship that had jettisonned from Cybertron (the Autobot's home planet) just before its destruction on the Earth's Moon. It all links back to reviving Sentinel Prime, the creator of much of the Autobot technology (and Optimus Primes' mentor). Meanwhile, Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBouf) is with a new girlfriend (played a bit stiffly by Victoria Secret supermodel Rosie Huntington-Whiteley) struggling to find a job in the ailing economic climate. The story works well enough even though it seems to labor before it gets its point across, but the end result is satisfying. Sam's character simply says, "I want to feel like I matter", and anyone in his age group, myself included, I'm sure feel the same way. His motivation seems to be real enough to propel him throughout.

     The visual effects are top notch as expected. The action sequences are sweeping and grandiose - sometimes preposterous when involving the human characters, but can never be too over the top for the robots. Speaking of which, gone are the borderline offensive stereotypes from the second movie and here we have a finely assembled group of robot characters. Anyway, the action is high octane, and the quieter parts of the movie are just as entertaining. Sam's silly parents are comical, John Tuturro returns in fine form as well. John Malkovich has an humorous role as well.

     Prior to Dark of the Moon's release, I had a good vibe about it. It just conveyed an image of a better put together movie that Revenge of the Fallen, and it certainly succeeds on that front. Dark of the Moon retains the charm of the original movie and is probably a close second when ranking the three.

     The only odd choice made by this movie is in its conclusion. It took 2 hours and 36 minutes to tell and elaborate its story, which can be considered long. And in the final minute, once the dust settles, the ending is so abrupt, it was jarring. You would have assumed a movie like this, that relished all of its big moments, just ends, and credits roll. Will there be a Transformers 4? I have no idea, I suppose I would not be surprised - and I would welcome it, since they are still fun to watch - because the trilogy did not end on a definitively conclusive note.

     Overall, if you are looking for a solid summer movie to watch, or now rent since it is recently out on DVD, then I would recommend it.

-Kurt L.

_______________________________________________

     From an artistic and historical standpoint, this film is rich in aesthetic and cultural content. All of the famous "wipe" transitions used on the daytime beach sequence with Scheider's character (Chief Brody) looking out at the water - has got to be one of the most famous movie scenes in the latter half of the 20th century. It seemed to be something out of Alfred Hitchcock's playbook, but ultimately Spielsberg makes it his own. There are also tons of famous lines in this film, including: "You're gonna need a bigger boat", and the humourous line "That's some bad hat, Harry." Some of other famous sequences is when the grizzled Quinn (expertly portrayed by Robert Shaw) makes his unique entrance by scratching his nails across a chalkboard.

     Jaws was a film that blended terrific thrills, with great acting and dialogue, and the implications of greedy business practices. In addition to that, the great Man Vs. Beast paradigm is at play full force here. What also makes it such a stunningly horrifying film is that the fear feels so real - as apparently this film scared audiences so much back in the day, that people were shying away from the water that summer. Fear can envelop in any way, whether it is Quinn describing his previous flirtations with death, or Brody trying to tackle his own phobia with water, or by seeing the intense fear in the eyes of Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) when his analytical brain gets a more vivid real life hands on exposure with this dangerous shark.

     It's a fine film to behold and to watch - if you've never seen it before, you owe it to yourself to see it as you'll be wholeheartedly entertained. It did indeed take me a while to see it, but I was totally swept up in it, and even though so much of Jaws has penetrated our mainstream culture (and deservedly so), the original film with all of its famous scenes and lines, will seem fresh and genuine. Once you hear that famous John Williams score, you'll be in for one wild ride. And then once you see the great shark for the first time, you'll definitely jump out of your seat.

-Kurt L.

_______________________________________________________

     The environment in Salvation is a pretty fascinating one when juxtaposed to the previous Terminator films. If you happen to like post-apocolyptic fare, then this movie is for you. The settings are baron, the buildings reduced to rubble, and the lands cast with gray ash and dust everywhere. The presentation is fantastic and has a true sense of grit. Another fascinating part of this film is the sheer amount of Terminators you get to see. Previous films in the series generally focused on one single Terminator, and while there is still a focus on character here, you will see a flurry of different machines that will surely dazzle the eye. From the notorious HK's (Hunter-Killers), to T-600 Terminators (the ones that look old and very unhuman in skeletal structure), to the iconic T-800 models (which have been in all the movies so far). Plus, you'll see some other nice surprises, that I probably shouldn't mention here.

     Already, there is a lot to like about Terminator Salvation. I also like the homages paid to previous films. Some may consider these spoilers, so if you haven't seen the movie yet, then just skip this section and continue reading at the next paragraph. Salvation features the trademark lines of the franchise that everyone knows and loves, and they are inserted at the best of times. Lines like, "What day is it? What year?", "Come with me if you want to live", and "No fate but what we make." Also, when Sam Worthington's character Marcus Wright gets punched in the face, the camera closes up on his face and he does that sly turn back into the camera just like Arnold and T-1000 did back in the day. Plus, there are video tape voice recordings of Linda Hamilton (Sarah Connor), which is pretty neat. It's awesome stuff.

     The performances in this movie are pretty solid I would say. Christian Bale must be the luckiest actor on Earth, he not only gets to play Batman in The Dark Knight (2008), but the following year he gets to play John Connor in 2009. Either role could be considered a role of a lifetime, but Bale, with his amazing talents, gets to play both. Bale's Connor is definitely a war-torn, world weary one, but still maintains a glimmer of his past youth - most notably when he blasts Guns N Roses from a boombox to attract the attention of a Terminator-like motorcycle in one scene - just like the young Connor would have done so in T2. Bale's voice is pretty gravelly throughout the film, which may remind people of his portrayal of Batman, but regardless he is still very, very effective and a superb choice for the role.

     As for Sam Worthington, who plays the other central character of Marcus Wright, he is also carving himself out quite a career. In 2010, he starred in the mega-blockbuster Avatar, and most recently in Clash of the Titans in the same year. All this following Salvation, and Worthington already has a tremendous career. Worthington is quite convincing as the mysterious character of Marcus and plays it with genuine emotion. I also must note that Anton Yelchin (of Star Trek [2009] fame) plays the role of Kyle Reese very well. He seems to channel some of Michael Beihn's original fire from the first Terminator film while also being able to make the character his own - it's well done. So with a trio of fine actors, the performances are quite strong here.

     One thing I just have to point out real quick is that John Connor gets thrown about by Terminators a lot in this film. If the Terminators sole mission is to kill Connor, then why throw him around so much? Why not just kill him with one swift blow? I suppose this notion speaks to two things - 1) The fact that Connor can survive an onslaught of Terminator attacks is a testament to the strength of his character. And 2) The audience must have a suspension of disbelief, so that there can be some nice action set pieces as Connor scrambles to survive. I just thought I'd point that out. Regardless, it's fun to watch because this is a good movie.

     Terminator Salvation is a fine action movie. It is often explosive, and very entertaining from beginning to end. It is easily the third best of the four films in the franchise. It certainly is much better than its predecessor, Terminator 3. At the same time though, it just can't live up to the original Terminator and T2 - then again, not many movies can. Nevertheless, I certainly recommend this film. It has some memorable moments, some interesting characters, and some awesome scenes involving the Terminators. All in all, it is indeed worth watching.

-Kurt L.

____________________________________________