By Mark HadleyMonday 4 Jul 2011MoviesReading Time: 2 minutes
Transformers 3
RATING: M
DISTRIBUTOR: Paramount
RELEASE DATE: July 1
For anyone who has seen Transformers and Transformers 2, Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon has even more of the same things that made those films so attractive to a generation who grew up with these classic toys – which is not such a good thing.
Transformers 3 picks up the storyline about three years on with Sam Witwicky (Shia Labeouf) finished college and looking for a job. The teenager who discovered the transforming alien robots is struggling to find anyone who will take him seriously as an employee. But the discovery of an ancient Cybertronian spaceship revelations of a secret weapon has the Autobots scrambling to prevent a Deceptacon plan to… well, let’s just say all the old favourites are soon back together and kicking robot butt.
Michael Bay, the master of the explosive blockbuster – Pearl Harbour, Armageddon, Bad Boys – and the unfortunate force behind a shelf full of horror films – A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning – combines all of his talents to bring to the screen a sequel that swims in barely cloaked violence and is sodden with sexuality.
There are guns, bombs, rockets and more guns, which is no surprise in this ostensibly children’s sci-fi fantasy. The first Transformers limited the amount of real death they showed, probably out of respect for the fact that the Hasbro toys they breathed life into are still being sold to children under 12. But this latest installment has no such qualms. Dozens of barely out of focus civilians are mashed, burned and disintegrated. However there are also close-ups of heads being crushed, spines torn out and limbs ripped from their screaming owners – but that’s OK because they’re robots, right? Let’s just forget the red machine lubricant that sprays out of them as it happens. And what does the sober-minded Optimus Prime think of this? Well, he finishes the film screaming, “I’m going to kill you!”
I could probably spend more words describing the distressing objectification of women, epitomized by Witwicky’s free and easy girlfriend, Carly, but anyone who’s seen the first two films will know what to expect. And let’s face it, Transformers 3 is rated M and aimed squarely at the glands of young men. But what really annoys me is that the film’s characters are still being marketed to my boys, who are all under 9. Parents should be very cautious before following Kmart’s toy aisles to their local cinema. I had to explain to my 6 year old that the film he was desperate to see would be ancient technology by the time he was old enough to see it.