OPTIMUS!!!  Shia LeBeouf's screaming of the Autobot's leader's name is enough to get your attention in the action-packed, thrill ride Transformers: Dark of the Moon. It seems there are some humans in cahoots with the big, bad Decepticons and it all began 50 years ago when man first landed on the moon.  The history-making astronauts discover an Autobot ship that had crash landed after escaping from war-torn Cybertron.  On the ship was the leader of the Autobots - Sentinel Prime.  Sentinel, Optimus' former teacher and mentor, was carrying a load of pods that was a final weapon to use against the Decepticons - or so we are led to believe.

Back on present day Earth, Sam (LeBeouf) has graduated from college, received a medal from the President, and is unemployed.  He's shacking up with his new girlfriend who is footing the bill working at a high-end auto museum.
Sam goes on a variety of interviews, but what he really wants to do is work with the Autobots and team up with his car buddy Bubblebee.  Sam wants "to matter" despite the insistence from his girlfriend that he does. It's doesn't help that his girlfriend's boss is Mr. McDreamy himself - Patrick Dempsey.

Meanwhile, the Autobots learn about the humans' first contact with their race and are none too pleased by the deception.  They go to the moon, recover Sentinel Prime, and acquire the remaining pods.  At first, Optimus is overjoyed to be reunited with his former leader and quickly brings Sentinel into the fold.  Sentinel tells everyone that the pods he was carrying are a part of a teleportation device and the plan is to use it against the Decepticons. But, of course, Megatron has other ideas.

The third installment in the Transformers series is a far superior sequel than the previous installment.  The movie keeps moving right along with pulse-pounding excitement.  We're also treated to some good, old fashioned double cross and trickery.  I enjoyed this movie and hope the Autobots can transform one more time.

I give the Transformers 4.5 out of 5 stars.  The movie was a bit long and the non-action sequences could have been deleted from the final version.