Transformers: Dark of the Moon is the third movie in Michael Bay's original trilogy, and also contains the best ending of any live-action film in the franchise. Dark of the Moon had a difficult task ahead of it when it was initially produced, having to bring fans back to the franchise after the poor reaction to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. While the second film was a box-office success, it received negative reviews from fans and critics alike, with many considering it a step-down from 2007's Transformers.
While Dark of the Moon wasn't as well received as the first Transformers, the reception was still an improvement over its predecessor. This likely came from Bay's acknowledgment of the problems that plagued Revenge of the Fallen (considered the worst Transformers film), with Bay citing the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike as causing the main problems with the second film's script. This led Bay to change direction for the script of Dark of the Moon, with him and his team wanting to create a story that made more sense than the second film and make it a successful culmination of the trilogy.
Ultimately, this meant that the ending of Transformers: Dark of the Moon became the best in the franchise, with the third act effectively providing the best live-action Transformers to date. The Battle of Chicago takes up the last hour of Dark of the Moon and features a variety of different aspects that make it an almost perfect culmination for Bay's original trilogy. From the human characters to the action that made Michael Bay's Transformers popular to begin with, Dark of the Moon's ending is yet to be surpassed in the franchise in terms of pure spectacle.
Dark Of The Moon's Human Characters Are Genuinely Effective
Beginning with arguably the weakest aspect of all live-action Transformers installments, the human characters are actually effective in the final act of Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Usually, especially in Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the crux of the human character stories falls on Shia LaBeouf's Sam Witwicky and has too much focus as opposed to the titular Transformers. While characters like Josh Duhamel's William Lennox and Sam's various love interests (Megan Fox and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley's characters) often had small moments to shine, it was largely Shia LaBeouf's character that the Transformers trilogy chose to focus on.
However, one thing Transformers: Dark of the Moon improves on over its predecessors is in giving every human character more of a role that both have big ramifications on the story and do not overshadow Optimus Prime and the other Transformers. These moments all come within Dark of the Moon's third act. One scene features one of the more genuinely emotional moments of the entire trilogy in which Sam watches Bumblebee, his companion since the first movie, almost be executed. Sam desperately scrambles to help yet can not do anything other than watch his best friend be almost killed. The scene capitalizes on the relationship built between the two over the previous two and a half movies and features a genuinely emotionally compelling performance from Shia LaBeouf.
Another moment in which Shia LaBeouf's Sam Witwicky shines marks a departure from his heroics in previous movies. The final sequence shows him fighting Patrick Dempsey's Dylan, a human servant of the Decepticons. This scene is pivotal to the movie as Sam manages to defeat Dylan while helping to destroy the control pillar that the Decepticons are using the transport Cybertron to Earth. It is the first time in the franchise that Sam has had to come up against another human character, and the film does well at making Dylan unlikable enough to root for Sam in the fight.
The other characters also have some genuinely affecting moments that shift the spotlight away from Sam. One scene in particular, in which Lennox's NEST team wingsuit into Chicago, is one of the most viscerally shot, intense action sequences involving humans in the franchise. Another scene shows Lennox's team taking down a team of Transformers villains (the Decepticons) almost single-handedly, including Shockwave. Both scenes show the NEST team to be more competent than human characters usually look in Transformers movies and prove their value in the fight.
Each Major Transformer Gets Their Moment To Shine
One thing Transformers: Dark of the Moon's third act also gets perfectly right is the amount of Transformers action shown on screen. Despite the humans being much more effective than usual in the film, the last act takes place over the course of an hour, meaning the Autobots and Decepticons also get their moments to shine, beginning with the Autobots' leader, Optimus Prime, who has one of the film's most exciting moments. After being sidelined towards the beginning of the battle, Transformers flagship character Optimus Prime reenters the fight in a fantastic sequence in which he single-handedly defeats a slew of Decepticons, including Shockwave, before blowing up one of the pillars and stopping Cybertron's transportation to Earth. The scene is "Bayhem" at its very best, with amazingly shot and choreographed action, plenty of explosions, and showcasing Optimus Prime at his most badass.
Outside of Prime, Dark of the Moon gives some smaller Autobots, both in size and stature, their moments of heroism. The aforementioned scene in which Bumblebee is almost executed by the Decepticons ends with Wheelie and Brains sabotaging a Decepticon ship, which crashes and rains debris on the battlefield. This allows Bumblebee, a mainstay continuing with Transformers 7, to escape and have a moment of his own to fight off and kill Soundwave, avenging his friend Que. Wheelie and Brains' sabotage of the ship is what saves Bumblebee's life, and turns the tide of the battle. Bumblebee and Ratchet then go on to destroy the control pillar, disabling the Decepticon's transportation of Cybertron. This allows both to have pivotal moments in the film alongside Optimus.
Other important moments from the Transformers that stick out in memory from Dark of the Moon include a scene in which Ironhide and Sideswipe face off against the Dreads, a pair of Decepticons, and easily dispatch them. The scene features genuinely good character moments for the two Autobots and showcases their skills without others around. Another involves the villain Megatron. Despite his death in Transformers, Megatron is revived and features in Dark of the Moon. While the villain is mainly sidelined in favor of Sentinel Prime in the third movie, his time to shine comes to a head in a scene in which he kills Sentinel Prime, unintentionally saving Optimus before the latter kills him.
Dark Of The Moon's Final Act Properly Ends Bay's Trilogy
This final hour of Transformers: Dark of the Moon fittingly ends Michael Bay's trilogy in a way that wouldn't have worked Revenge of the Fallen was the final installment. While the series goes on past Dark of the Moon, it is more of a soft reboot given the change in the film's core cast members, as is the case with 2018's spin-off Bumblebee. Therefore, this film perfectly ends the story of the first three films in a way that feels emotionally and narratively satisfying. In including a central plot element that is tied to a real-life event like the moon landing of 1969, the story automatically feels higher in stakes than the second movie's plot.
This, alongside the elements explored above, and the decision to give Sam as the franchise's lead human character a natural character arc that was missing in the second film, makes Transformers: Dark of the Moon a fitting end. Everything naturally culminates in the film's final act. While the plot is fairly self-contained and does not feature an overarching plot point from other movies as usual final installments do, the long run time of the film allows the central story, cast, and action to unfold naturally in the third act, making Transformers: Dark of the Moon a perfect end to Michael Bay's original trilogy.
