Transformers: Dark of the Moon: Difference between revisions

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{{tropelist}}

* [[3D Movie]]: [[Michael Bay]]'s first.

* [[Acrofatic]]: Leadfoot may have a beer gut, but he still packs quite a punch.

* [[Advertised Extra]]: Shockwave was promoted as the new [[Big Bad]] or at least an important enemy for the movie. He appeared as a one line character with very little screentime.

** [[Word of God]] says they advertised him as the [[Big Bad]]/an important enemy as part of a "misinformation campaign", where they would deliberately lie about certain aspects to keep information and spoilers about the film to a minimum to prevent plot twists having no impact, such as {{spoiler|Sentinel Prime being the real [[Big Bad]] and Soundwave's car alt-mode}}.

* [[Aerial Canyon Chase]]: The wing suit flyers managed to outmaneuver the Decepticon patrol ships by flying through damaged buildings. Of course due to their size they would be more than capable of fitting into places those ships would not.

* [[A God Am I]]: {{spoiler|Sentinel Prime shows this attitude after his [[Face Heel Turn]]. Bemoaning that they used to be gods on their planet, but the humans view Cybertronians as mere machines. As soon as it looks like his plan is succeeding he declares Earth to be ''their'' planet and that they were gods now}}.

* [[Ain't Too Proud to Beg]]: Wheeljack/Que, when the Autobots are captured. {{spoiler|Doesn't save him from being executed by Barricade.}}

* [[Alien Invasion]]: A common theme throughout the films, but ''DOTM'' cranks it up to to its logical extreme: massive destruction, innocents being slaughtered by Decepticons, and the US declaring a state of national emergency in the wake of the Decepticons' all-out attack on the planet.

* [[Armor-Piercing Question]]: {{spoiler|Carly uses her diplomatic skills to convince a disheartened Megatron to help defeat Sentinel Prime by pointing out he's about to become "Sentinel's bitch". He comes within a few inches of ''killing her'' before realizing she has a point.}}

* [[Beethoven Was an Alien Spy]]: Played with. Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong were astronauts, and they did explore the moon's surface. The part no one knows is that they were also simultaneously on a mission to explore the ruins of the Ark.

* [[Beware the Silly Ones]]: The Wreckers. Three foul-mouthed and irascible 'bots whose robot modes look like stereotypical [[NASCAR]] fans and are described point-blank by Mearing as "assholes". {{spoiler|They're incredibly vicious in battle, tearing a Deception mook limb from limb at one point and sporting ''lots'' of weapons on their vehicle modes. Then again, considering they're the [http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Wrecker Wreckers], this shouldn't come as a surprise.}}

* [[Big Damn Heroes]]: The film's actually been criticised for doing it a little too much. Pretty much every time any Autobot gets into battle, its by entering the fray to rescue someone else, usually followed by ''them'' being saved by someone else doing it.

* {{spoiler|[[The Big Damn Kiss]]}}

** Specifically, their accents are Scottish. Huntington-Whitley also sports an English accent.

* [[Broken Pedestal]]: Before his [[Face Heel Turn]], {{spoiler|Sentinel Prime was Optimus' mentor. Optimus credits his ''[[Catch Phrase]]'' "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings" to the guy.}}

** Soundwave mimicking Jazz's breakdancing move from the first movie when he reveals himself.

** Similarly, Simmons reverting to pronouncing Sam's name as "Witwickedy" at the start of the Chicago invasion, despite having gotten it right before now.

** Jolt, Arcee (any of them) and the Twins are simply not in the movie. Jolt at least got a comic issue that explains his absense... {{spoiler|killed by Shockwave before the movie began}}.

* [[Closer Than They Appear]]: When being pursued along the highway by the Decepticon Dreads.

* [[Contrived Coincidence]]: Subverted. {{spoiler|The company Sam gets his job at just happens to have a number of people either connected to the Moon Landing or with the Decepticons. [[Foreshadowing|This connection happens to include Dylan Gould, Carly's boss & the guy who got him the job]], before it's revealed that it's ''not'' a [[Contrived Coincidence]] - he got Sam the job so that he could spy on someone close to the Autobots.}}

* [[Conveniently Empty Building]]: {{spoiler|Hard subversion with the glass building that the Driller destroys to get to Sam, Carly, and Epps' team. You frequently see people inside before it breaks through.}}

* [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]]: All you really know about The Wreckers is that they are mechanics and are not allowed to travel because "They're assholes." Considering what happens when they later get some combat action, it's likely they aren't allowed to travel because they also don't have any sense of subtlety. They are the bruisers of the Autobots and are sent on those missions that no one else wants to take.

** Of the [[Hard Cut]] variety. Wheelie and Brains {{spoiler|find themselves trapped aboard a Decepticon cruiser.}}

** When Sam's parents find out about Carly (temporarily, it ends up) dumping him, Judy calls a "family meeting". As she continues with increasingly outlandish reprisals and "advice" at same ("It's called 'She Comes First'. There's some killer shit in this book", etc), Sam at one point yells "What the f- MOM!!!!"

* [[Cyber Cyclops]]: Shockwave. He's got one eye. It glows. It's red. And he's giant mecha to boot. Nails this trope in every way imaginable.

* [[Darker and Edgier]]: In the first few films, while there were obvious casualties, they were barely shown. In this film, you not only get to see Laserbeak murder people ({{spoiler|as well as a ''family''}}), you also get to see {{spoiler|Chicago destroyed and people practically ''vaporized''}}. The [[Family-Unfriendly Death]] quotient even seems a bit darker.

* [[Darkest Hour]]: {{spoiler|The Autobots are seemingly dead, Chicago (and, presumably, other major world cities) are taken over by Decepticons, and surviving civilians are being organized into a labor force to rebuild Cybertron. Sam even drives through the devastated Chicago, seeing civilians running in fear, or dropping to the ground without hope, while Decepticon ships float ominously over the city.}}

* [[Deleted Scene]]: The Twins from ''[[Revenge of the Fallen]]'' were intended to be in this movie but were removed in the final cut. If you look carefully you might be able to see their vehicle modes in a distant line-up shot.

* [[Department of Redundancy Department]]: {{spoiler|Dylan}}: "I am simply a liaison. I liaise."

* [[Elites Are More Glamorous]]: The Special-Ops NEST has returned, Navy SEALs show up in Chicago, and Carly's brother is shown to have been a member of the British SAS. Another military group, possibly the National Guard, join the group as well.

* [[Elite Mooks]]: The three nasty Decepticon warriors that engage in the highway battle, called the Dreads in other material.

* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: {{spoiler|Sentinel turns on Megatron upon realizing the latter's true intentions... right before executing his own plan the way he intended to.}}

* [[Evil Cannot Comprehend Good]]: {{spoiler|During Optimus's final fight with Sentinel:}}

{{spoiler|'''Optimus''': (''Draws out Energon Axe'') You were the one who taught me that freedom was everyone's right.}} }}

** One way to interpret {{spoiler|Megatron's and Optimus' final confrontation. Megatron didn't think Optimus would kill him, as Optimus needs his archenemy to fight against.}}

* [[Evil Counterpart]]: {{spoiler|In a way, Dylan is this to Sam. Both of them were dragged into the Cybertronian war because of something a relative of theirs did (Sam's Great Great Grandfather found Megatron, while Dylan's father took Soundwave and Laserbeak in as "clients"), and both having a Cybertronian as their partner (Bumblebee for Sam, and, in Dylan's case, Soundwave).}}

* [[Expy]]: Dylan is essentially a younger version of ''Generations One's'' {{spoiler|Shawn Berger}}.

* [[Foe-Tossing Charge]]: Optimus cuts down about a dozen Decepticons before going up against Shockwave in Chicago.

* [[Foreshadowing]]: Lots of it to {{spoiler|Sentinel Prime being a villain}}, some quite subtle:

** Sentinel accidentally attacks Optimus in a fit of hysteria immediately after he's jarred out of the coma he had likely been in for thousands of years. {{spoiler|Then he starts attacking Autobots ''intentionally.''}}

** {{spoiler|Mearing turns out to be right about Sentinel's pillars being used to bring through an invasion army.}}

* [[Funny Background Event]]: Roadbuster loudly ranting and cursing out the NASA workers as the other Autobots {{spoiler|prepare to leave Earth aboard the ''Xantium''.}}

* [[Girlfriend in Canada]]: Crosses into [[Actor Allusion]] with Dutch when he claims to have a girlfriend called "India" - [[Dollhouse|as befits the NATO Alphabet]] [[Theme Naming]].

* [[Grand Finale]]: {{spoiler|By the end of it all, the Decepticons and Sentinel Prime are dead, and Cybertron implied to be destroyed}}.

* [[Gunship Rescue]]: Single pilot attack vehicles feature prominently in the climatic battle, some of which are stolen by the good guys. Optimus Prime makes use of a Jetpack with BFG weapons to be his own gunship coming to the rescue several times.

* [[Heel Face Turn]]: {{spoiler|Megatron at the end of the novelization, when he helps Optimus defeat Sentinel once and for all and then announces his intention to sue for peace.}}

** {{spoiler|Sam has one when the ''Xantium'' is destroyed, presumably killing the Autobots with it. Fortunately, they survived.}}

** {{spoiler|Various citizens in Chicago are shown standing speechless, or sitting dejectedly in the aftermath of the Decepticons' takeover of the city.}}

* [[Hidden in Plain Sight]]: Of course a natural part of Transformers, but with the world aware of their existence the Autobots at least are less careful about showing their true colors, specifically the Wreckers (sporting weaponized NASCAR vehicles as their natural alternate mode). The highway battle has them cutting loose between their "stealth force" weaponized vehicle form and robot modes as necessary. This does come into play with {{spoiler|Soundwave as Carly's car}}.

** In the novelization, {{spoiler|Sentinel's acid rust gun is used against him by Optimus.}}

* [[Hypocritical Humor]]: [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]] with this exchange:

'''Simmons''': (''Disgusted'') Rich bastards! I used to hate 'em, but now... }}

** To clarify: Simmons is now a millionaire with a mansion, having made money writing a tell-all book in the wake of the Autobots' rise as a political hot topic.

* [[It's All My Fault]]: Optimus blames himself ''entirely'' for {{spoiler|Sentinel's betrayal, the Decepticon invasion (or more specifically, that he was unable to prevent either one) and the destruction that resulted from each}}.

* [[It's Raining Men]]: How Lennox's NEST forces insert into Chicago. It doesn't go exactly as planned, since they jump from Ospreys as they're damaged and out of control. And after seeing them on TV, Michael Bay wanted to go one better than just parachutes: they fly around the city in wingsuits.

** Charlotte Mearing may give the Autobots (and Sam) a hard time, but unlike Galloway she clearly does have some respect for them, apologizes to Sam for dismissing his claims and is ultimately there to assist them during the final battle.

** The Wreckers are described as "assholes," and don't get along well with humans. However, they ultimately stay behind to help the Autobots fight off the Decepticons; Leadfoot even tells Sam "We ain't going anywhere."

** {{spoiler|Dylan reactivates the Control Pillar to bring Cybertron near Earth, under the pretense that the Decepticons would spare him once they win the war. Sam later whacks him with a metal bar, causing him to lose his balance, and eventually collide with the Pillar's energy beam, electrocuting him to death.}}

** {{spoiler|Sentinel Prime boasts of his superiority over humanity, and how his status as a Cybertronian ''and'' a Prime practically make him a god. His final moments have him kneeling on the ground, heavily damaged, and begging for Optimus to understand why he sided with Megatron.}}

* [[Lampshade Hanging]]: Done by Epps when, upon seeing the Driller, he asks, "Why do the Decepticons always get the good shit?!" In most incarnations, the Decepticons often have the largest and most brutal weaponry and robots on their side, while the Autobots for the most part just have themselves.

* [[Last Second Chance]]: {{spoiler|Optimus keeps trying to reawaken some of the old Sentinel Prime in his mentor, but fails, forcing Optimus to execute him. Sam also tries to reason with Dylan during their final fight and convince him to stop helping the Decepticons. Dylan likewise doesn't listen and is ultimately electrocuted for it.}}

* [[Le Parkour]]: If you pay close attention towards the end, {{spoiler|Sam seems to have learned how to do standard freerunning vaults, rolls, and slides at some point.}}

** {{spoiler|[[Fridge Brilliance]]: he's [[Genre Savvy]]. He's noticed that the only thing he can do against Decepticons is run his squishy human ass off. With this in mind, increased mobility is a smart thing to take a level in.}}

* [[MacGuffin Girl|MacGuffin Bot]]: {{spoiler|Sentinel Prime. The Decepticons' whole plan was for Optimus to reactivate him, since Sentinel is the only one who can work the teleporter. They aren't going to kidnap him, however; he's actually a traitor.}}

* [[Macross Missile Massacre]]: An unusually long-ranged version launched by the humans in the climax, using cruise missiles from naval vessels once they were able to acquire targets inside {{spoiler|the ruins of Chicago}}.

* [[Mexican Standoff]]: Explicitly named as such by Sideswipe when two Dreads confront him and Ironhide. They attempt a peaceful cease-fire, which lasts a whole 5 seconds.

* [[Mighty Roar]]: The Decepticons roar victoriously when {{spoiler|the Pillars begin to bring Cybertron near Earth}}.

** The trailers for the third movie reveal that the Autobots get a ''substantial'' weapons upgrade. The gimmick of the third movie toy line, Mech Tech, is devoted to this trope, as the new figures have huge gimmicky weapons and attachment points for weapon accessories of other figures.

** During the climax of the film, {{spoiler|humanity's contribution to the fight is concentrated, precision application of More Dakka. It works very well.}}

* [[Never a Self-Made Woman]]: Carly's position with Dylan's company. Though she was formerly a part of the British Diplomacy, but that originates from the highly military filled family.

* [[Never Trust a Trailer]]: {{spoiler|The trailer's have Optimus telling Sam "From here, that fight will be your own," before cutting to the final battle with Epps and co. running from the Driller, implying that the Autobots leave the humans to fend off the Decepticons on their own. In the actual film, Optimus does indeed say this, but it's all part of a ruse to convince the 'Cons that they actually are leaving, in order to spring a surprise attack later on.}}

* [[Nice Job Fixing It, Villain]]: {{spoiler|Megatron wounding Sentinel Prime, which gave Optimus the chance to take them both out.}}

* [[No Endor Holocaust]]: {{spoiler|A portion of the skeleton left of Cybertron is teleported into Earth's orbit. While it is eventually destroyed, countless humans should have been killed from the tidal waves and earthquakes caused by Cybertron's enormous mass so close to Earth. The Decepticons wanted to use humans as slaves to rebuild Cybertron. Such effects are never seen or mentioned.}}

* [[No Name Given]]: Igor is never named onscreen.

* [[Noodle Incident]]: {{spoiler|Obviously, ''something'' went down in Quantico.}}

'''{{spoiler|Simmons}}:''' You already did. }}

* [[No Ontological Inertia]]: When the controller pillar is destroyed, the {{spoiler|half-transported Cybertron collapses on itself.}}

** When the pillars are stalled/stopped, it is shown that {{spoiler|Cybertron is fine and stable, albeit with a bit of a non-damaging [[Portal Cut]]. This could be atributed to the fact that the first time it was just turned off, the second time it was actually destroyed.}}

* [[Ominous Floating Spaceship]]: Decepticon cruisers patrol Chicago after its destroyed, deploying small fighter jets to shoot down any human aircraft that flies nearby.

* [[Ominous Latin Chanting]]: {{spoiler|While the Decepticons takeover Chicago.}}

* [[The Other Darrin]]: Sideswipe has a different voice actor than he did in the second film.

* [[Power Fist]]: Optimus has a set of retractable knuckledusters.

* [[Precision F-Strike]]: Happens twice. When Sam receives his medal, he whisper-yells "What the fuuuuuck!". When his boss notices Bumblebee in the apartment, he says "Fucking awesome!!"

* [[Rasputinian Death]]: {{spoiler|1=Shockwave. He takes concentrated fire from NEST and all the Autobots, badly damaging him and leaving his eye hanging out. He still has the power to fight, even when Optimus then punches half of his side off. It takes Optimus ripping his head apart and tearing out his eye to finally kill him.}}

* [[Real Life Writes the Plot]]: In the movie, Mikaela's absence is explained by her dumping Sam for unspecified reasons. In real life, it's because her actress, Megan Fox, was fired during production due to some combination of: Steven Spielberg feeling she didn't have the acting chops for the more emotional role this time round, and; Fox herself having personality clashes with staff and crew. Whatever the case, Carly ''does'' go through a lot more than Mikaela and is much more emotionally driven.

* [[Retcon]]: Of a sort. When Cybertron was shown in the first film, it was a mountainous world with metal spires and molten lava/Energon flowing across the landscape. In this film, Cybertron is given a more mechanical design, with towers poking between bridges and roads, making it more like its cartoon interpretation. {{spoiler|When Cybertron is brought near Earth, its appearance invokes the original cartoon, sans [http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Scale#Planets_and_planetbots scale problems].}}

** There's also Megatron's overall plan to win the war: The first two films stated that he arrived on Earth chasing after the AllSpark, which crashed on the planet during the Ice Age. ''DOTM'' retcons it to that he had always ''intended'' to come to Earth, which was where {{spoiler|he would meet up with Sentinel, who had fled Cybertron during the war's final days.}} However, as the Matrix of Leadership was needed for that plan to work, its possible that he needed the AllSpark woulde have been needed {{spoiler|to wake Sentinel up}} for the plan to work. Though, turning Earth's machines into an army (as stated in the first film) would have provided the needed man power {{spoiler|to rebuild Cybertron}}. With all this inmind, its an acceptable retcon.

** Dutch, Simmons' assistant. He can hack into any system {{spoiler|and disarm a crazy Russian gangster pointing a shotgun at him without looking, but when Simmons orders him to stand down, he almost sobs and says that "I'm sorry, that was the old me!" The implications range from a simple lifestyle change to total [[Split Personality]]. Basically, Simmons has an insane version of [[The Bourne Series|Jason Bourne]] as his assistant.}}

*** If it is multiple personality disorder, it could also double as an [[Actor Allusion]] to Alan Tudyk's role on ''[[Dollhouse]]'', where he played a serial killer with roughly [[Up to Eleven|fifty personalities]].

* [[Ship Sinking]]: Sam and Mikaela have broken off (exact reasons unknown, but Wheelie states that Mikaela was the one that dumped Sam), and Sam is certain that Carly is the right girl for him. {{spoiler|The final scenes of the film heavily hint at the possibility of the two someday getting married.}}

* [[Shoo Out the Clowns]]: Sam tells his parents to get as far away from Washington as they can before {{spoiler|Sentinel Prime}} opens the Space Bridge to allow the Decepticons to teleport to Earth. We don't see them for the remainder of the film, but it can be assumed that they're alive.

** Optimus Prime's trailer is a dead ringer for G1!Optimus' trailer, right down to the Autobot symbol on the trim line.

** Sentinel Prime can be heard saying this in the end, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." Again remember his voice actor is [[Leonard Nimoy]].

** [[Predator|One Decepticon has dreadlocks and blasters that unfold from his back. Another one makes distinct clicking noises when creeping through a building to hunt down some humans.]]

** That one Latino co-worker dressed as a "hoochie mama" and going through a "Latino meltdown" may remind some of [[Modern Family|Sofia Vergara.]]

** Laserbeak's design may have been inspired by ''[[The Giant Claw]]'', explicitly so for the head on the toy.

* [[Slave Race]]: {{spoiler|The Decepticons' plans for humanity involve turning the entire human population of Earth into this, in order to have workers to harvest Earth's resources, which can be used to rebuild Cybertron.}}

** Also {{spoiler|Wheelie and Brains.}}

* [[Storming the Castle]]: The final battle in Chicago becomes this trope, as the Decepticons had converted it into a makeshift fort.

* [[Suicidal Gotcha]]: Invoked when Laserbeak hurls Sam out of a building, only for him to land on a hijacked Decepticon fighter. Which raises the question of how Laserbeak missed something that size...

* [[Super Window Jump]]: Pulled off when the human heroes have to jump out of a partly destroyed skyscraper ''hundreds of stories up'' to avoid the Driller. {{spoiler|They survive by sliding along the building till they're forced to shoot glass in front of them and dropping to a lower floor lest they go off the building and fall to their deaths. Except as the building is slanted they are now falling on the inside of the building, and have to grab onto something to not fall out the other window.}}

* [[There Can Be Only One]]: In the worst way possible:

* [[The Unmasqued World]]: Cybertronians are public knowledge to the point that news reporters can casually refer to the factions by name, and the UN is well aware. It's also referenced that there is some resentment of the Autobots being on Earth; Bill O'Reilly alludes to poll results saying that half the world would feel safer if the Autobots left Earth and consider them to be "Alien Mercenaries." NEST has also placed Energon Detectors across the globe, in order to track down Decepticons. Optimus Prime isn't exactly the Grand Marshall of any parades, though.

* [[Those Two Guys]]: Wheelie and Brains fill this role for the film.

** {{spoiler|In the novelization, Megatron considers the question with regards to the war, and ultimately decides that he's tired of the war, and genuinely offers Optimus a truce.}}

* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: {{spoiler|Sentinel Prime, who is willing to join the Decepticons in order to preserve Cybertron.}}

* [[Wham! Line]]:

* [[The Windy City]]: Used as the location for the final battle, and is thoroughly turned into a war zone due to it.

* [[Worth It]]: Simmons declares this when he kisses Mearing and she orders him to be arrested for it.

* [[World of Cardboard Speech]]:

* [[Worm Sign]]: The Driller, a MASSIVE Cybertronian [[Sand Worm]] tamed/piloted by Shockwave. How large is it? Well, for one thing, it can level an ENTIRE CHICAGO STREET!

* [[You Can't Go Home Again]]: {{spoiler|The ending heavily implies that Cybertron was destroyed when the Space Bridge collapsed, stranding the Autobots on Earth for the foreseeable future.}}

* [[You Shall Not Pass]]: Ironhide faces down two Decepticons in a game of chicken at the same time. All three collide at the same time and Transform, with Ironhide no worse for wear while the two 'Cons are thrown to the side.

* [[You Will Be Spared]]: {{spoiler|Dylan's whole motivation for working with the Decepticons is so that he will be free when the rest of Earth is enslaved/decimated.}}

 

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[[Category:Film]]