Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Coming July 1, 2011 (Canada)

Director - Michael Bay
Lead Actors
Sam Witwicky - Shia LaBouf
Hugo Weaving - voice of Megatron
Rosie Huntington-Whitely - Carly
Major William Lennox - Josh Duhamel
Robert Epps - Tyrese Gibson
Simmons - John Turturro

I am super excited for the next installment of the Transfromers franchise from one of my favourite directors, Michael Bay.

I remember seeing the first one in theaters opening weekend, and just marveling at how real the robots looked against natural backdrops. If you didn't know better, a movie like that could make you think that there really could be alien lifeforms living among us, disguised as cars!

Besides the promise of another action packed story line for the Autobots, and the revealing of more secrets about human's past knowledge of our alien friends, a huge plus for me in this movie is the fact that Megan Fox will not be in it! Oh yeah, I am thrilled! Okay so she's hot, fine, whatever, but is it too much to ask to have a hot chick in a movie that can actually act as well? I think not!

Besides, if you're gonna go around dissing your Director publicly, isn't it kinda a given that you run the risk of getting canned? I mean, do you dis your boss in any way or place where it might get back to him or her? I didn't think so, the rest of us are smarter than that. But then, I never gave Megan Fox a ton of credit for brains. How dumb do you have to be to get fired from the only movie in your career that's guaranteed to do amazingly well, before a script is written, or a name even given?

No, I will not be missing Megan Fox in this installment of Transformers. So lets move on to Sam's (Shia LaBouf) new love interest Carly. Carly is played by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. What a sweet name! I like her better already. So she's a Victoria's Secret model, I'd say that at least ties with Fox in the 'I'm super-duper hot' competition. But, I'm having the same concerns about acting chops that I had with Megan, Transformers being after all her first acting gig. You would think that with a director like Michael Bay and executive producer like Steven Spielberg, you wouldn't have to worry that all the actors would be top notch, but then again Megan Fox did appear in the first two installments.

I remember watching the special features from the first movie, and someone talking about casting for the roles of Mikaela and Maggie (the student who detected the Decepticons hacking Air Force One). I have a very clear memory of the woman on the screen saying that their whole mission in casting these two women was to find the most beautiful 18-year-olds possible, and that they had done just that. Conspicuously, no mention of acting ability, so I would say my concern about the performance of Huntington is well founded.

The other key players of the franchise will be reprising their roles, including John Turturro, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, and Hugo Weaving as the voice of Megatron. Also returning are my favourite ever big screen parents, Kevin Dunn and Julie White as the Witwickys.

A few newcomers to the Transformers universe to be noted are Patrick Dempsey and John Malkovich. Patrick Dempsey? Really? I guess I'll just have to see how that goes. Also Leonard Nimoy is rumored to be the voice of Sentinel Prime.

Again, I have high expectations for Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and have no doubt that it will again be the blockbuster of the summer, even without Megan Fox!