[jcamaro]

I saw it an hour before the midnight launch! It seems that our theater moved all the 3D screenings to the night before, 9pm, 10pm, and 11pm on the 28th! We were at the Return of the Kings extended edition re-release so we had to change our tickets for the 11pm or we would have been there at 9pm.

Now for the movie. HOLY FREAKING CRAP was that amazing! I'm a Transformers fan boy. I didn't grow up with the G1 series per se (I was born the same year it started). But my older brothers were and I was inundated with things Transformers as I grew up. I was a child of the Beast Wars era, though. So maybe my review is a little skewed from the fact that I love the genre.

The story line is a huge step up from the previous movie. While it is not 100% informative on everything that's going on and there are a few minor plot holes here and there, the story felt like it was well planned out. According to Michael Bay, the second movie's script was written in a few short months due to the writers strike that happened that year. And then with rewrites and changes, that was the reason the story felt clunky and stupid at times (even though I still enjoyed it). This movie makes up for that. We don't get in depth detail about each of the new autobots like most people wanted. That is all explained in novels/comics if you really want to know. But the main plot of this movie has a lot more detail and is very engaging. It gets the "hunt down the Decepticons" rush of scenes like the second movie and things start happening pretty fast from there on. But in general, it has a nice pace that has lots of twists and turns, leading up for an awesome climactic ending.

Rosie was definitely better than I thought she was going to be. Being the new eye candy for the movie, I wasn't expecting much but she did well in her role. Like it was said before, the movie would have been fine without her character but she didn't detract from the story at all. I also would have preferred Megan's character to remain because I like continuity of characters (which is why I hated Jazz dying in the first movie).

On to the viewing experience. GO SEE IT IN 3D! If you don't like 3D at all, then don't. But if you weren't sure if you wanted to or not, DO IT! This movie was filmed in 3D from the start. Michael Bay's 3D prowess is on par with James Cameron (Avatar). The special effects are simply amazing for the 3D experience. If it is available, I would suggest RealD/Digital 3D over IMAX 3D. The IMAX 3D effect is more taxing on your eyes and this movie is long. Also, IMAX 3D does not use the full IMAX screen anyway and is not any better.

Optimus Prime is again a bad ass. Everything you saw in the trailers doesn't do justice to how much he kicks ass in this movie. But he gets just as good as he gives. Really incredible fight scenes, lots of other Autobot vs Decepticon action as well.

And my final thought: GO SEE IT IN 3D!