I still remember when the first “Transformers” movie came out in 2007. The idea of a regular teenage boy finding a secret map and then cooperating with alien robots to save Earth was very exciting. I watched it at least twice, and coming from someone like me who doesn’t like to watch movies multiple times, that’s saying something.

This summer, the third installment of the Transformers series, “Dark of the Moon,” was released. Unfortunately, there were not many differences in the plot between this movie and the first one. Aside from Sam Witwicky, played by Shia LeBouf, reaching adulthood, nothing else had changed. Most of the time, the actors were just yelling and running from the bad guys just like in the first movie. The storyline felt repetitive.
My aunt, who took me to watch this movie, couldn’t stop deriding Sam’s new girlfriend, Carly Spencer (played by Rosie Huntington-Whitely), whose sole purpose was to scamper about in ridiculously high heels. (Realistically, anyone running for her life would ditch such cumbersome footwear.) An actress is supposed to act, not just simply run around screaming (which even I can accomplish). Spencer is just a prop in the movie and fails to enhance the plot.
During the third movie, the race for survival is elongated, making the story seem aimless. It seemed as if the whole two- hour movie I was just watching people escape, get caught, and run and hide.
Another facet of the movie that I found to be extremely unrealistic was when Carly talked a Decepticon, enemy of the Autobots, into a state of jealousy. I don’t understand how a high tech robot could be so easily deceived.
The first “Transformers” movie about a normal teenager who discovered alien robots called Autobots and fought along with them to save the planet seemed surreal the first time around. But with the second movie, what more could be added to the story line? In the second movie, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” the plot lacked the novelty of the first movie and seemed to be just a bunch of crashing metal sounds. Adding a third movie with an equally repetitive plot was a major mistake by the producers.
The action of the movie is enthralling and the graphics are satisfactory, but the plot is substandard. This movie succeeds purely as an action film replete with effects, but will disappoint those seeking a captivating plot.