Transformers: Dark of the Moon

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After the incessant tin-clashing of the last film, director Michael Bay attempts to ground himself a bit more with the third installment in a franchise that is barely four years old. In Bay language, that means that there's a script this time - which doesn't necessarily guarantee improvement. The action is typically grandiose and equally impressive, but at a needless 154 minutes long, it's staggeringly bloated stuff.

We find Shia LaBeouf's Sam now inexplicably unemployed, despite saving the world twice in a couple of years. But not to worry; he has a chick on his arm who looks like she fell out of a Victoria's Secret catalogue (Huntington-Whiteley... Who actually did fall out of a Victoria's Secret catalogue), and his Transformer friends haven't forgotten him. Good thing too, because it's about to kick off again on an epic scale as the Decepticons are planning something so downright dastardly it makes the throw-downs in the last two flicks look a couple of chihuahuas humping in a wet cardboard box.

Needless the say, the fact that Megan Fox has departed the franchise matters little to the plot. She's been replaced with an even more attractive young lady who doesn't exactly get a chance to prove if she has acting chops or not. But, like the majority of the characters on show, she's there purely as a device - only she gets more 'Blue Steel- infused, heroic slow motion close-ups. LaBeouf has the intense 'everyman' thing down pat now, and goes a bit nuts. He's relishing the chance to actually do some acting here and shows a surprising knack for physical comedy.

There are also a concoction of recognisable heavyweights (Turturro, McDormand, Malkovich), who only serve to bloat the running time in showy, pointless roles. The lesser known Alan Tudyk is someone we could happily have done with more of, though; he manages to siphon laughs where others fail horribly (note to Ken Jeong: lay off the Red Bull).

Regardless of the players involved, there is no doubting that this is Bay's show and his frantic, swooping style is as prominent as ever. He's still the best second unit director in the business; his action is visceral, his visual style still inherently slick, but the handling of almost any other type of scene lacks anything resembling cohesion. LaBeouf manages to squeeze some resemblance of character out of Sam, but he knows how Bay works, after three films under his steerage.

It's indulgent, overstuffed and nonsensical in parts, but the action is spectacular enough to keep fans of this series from leaving the cinema disappointed.