‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’ Trailer Is Very Serious About Blowing Stuff Up
Any time you ask Michael Bay about his new "Transformers" film, which comes out July 1, he says two things: (1) It's going to be better than the last "Transformers" film; and (2) it's going to be an action movie equivalent to "Black Hawk Down." We were suspicious on both counts, but today Paramount unveiled the first trailer that really showed a bunch of footage from the film. We have no idea if "Dark of the Moon" will be better than "Revenge of the Fallen," but it's definitely going to be darker. Well, maybe there will just be more screaming in it.
We don't have a lot of specifics on the plot of "Dark of the Moon," but the trailer lets us know the basics. During the Space Race, the U.S. discovered ... something ... on the moon that they've kept secret. But now that something has emerged: a whole collection of evil robots bent on taking over Earth. (We assume that they're a new batch of Decepticons because the Autobots are battling them, but the point is they're big and mean.) What follows is a series of solemn-faced humans looking at the carnage around them while Optimus Prime intones important platitudes in his Optimus Prime fortune cookie way.
On the simplest level, the "Dark of the Moon" clip is Exhibit A of what a summer movie trailer looks like in 2011. It's dark and ominous and loud and fast, and the score's composer seems to have been told "We want it to sound 75% like 'Inception' and 25% like 'Terminator.'" And as we move into the warmer months, we can't deny the siren call of a movie that promises a ton of action and effects that you want to watch with a bunch of people in a big theater where the air conditioning is pumping.
But as for Bay's promises that this will be better than "Revenge of the Fallen," we remain skeptical. Honestly, its large-scale action and imperiled human stars -- apparently Shia LaBeouf is contractually obligated to yell "Optimusssssssssssss!" in each of these movies -- don't seem any different. As for Bay's "Black Hawk Down" analogies -- the Autobots are pinned down and badly outnumbered -- this might actually sorta make sense. The comparison still makes us a little queasy, but Bay's always at his best when he's not developing characters, so a lean toward more action will only help him even if it's murder on our eardrums. (True story: A film critic colleague of ours had his son wear earplugs during the "Revenge of the Fallen" screening. We wished we'd been as lucky.)
But despite all of Bay's mea culpas about the general lameness of "Revenge of the Fallen," this trailer doesn't suggest any sort of change in his approach. We weren't expecting "The Social Network," but the "Dark of the Moon" trailer mostly works to assure everybody that it'll be more of the same, with some extra self-seriousness added in about Earth being taken over by the baddies. Yes, we'll admit its pounding, bombastic energy worked on us. But this trailer's only 147 seconds long: We're not sure how we'll feel after sitting through two-plus-hours of this.
