Michael Bay Promises Less “Dorky Comedy” in Transformers 3

You know what? I might get blasted for writing this, but I’m actually starting to get excited for Transformers 3. Although I’ll sorely miss Megan Fox, who was ousted from the third film and replaced by Victoria’s Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whitely, it seems to me like director Michael Bay is actually trying to make the third film in this franchise a lot better than its abysmal predecessor, 2009’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Granted, that could be accomplished simply by including a plot that A) makes sense and B) doesn’t overtly try to insult the audience’s intelligence at every turn, but when it comes to giant robots and explosions, I try to think positively.

According to a recent USA Today story, Bay and his team fully acknowledge that Revenge of the Fallen simply wasn’t as good as the first film, which I actually enjoyed quite a bit as a piece of light summer movie entertainment.

“I’ll take some of the criticism,” Bay said. “It was very hard to put [the sequel] together that quickly after the writers’ strike [of 2007-08].”

Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura added, “We tried to do too many things in the second movie, which didn’t give enough time in any one of them. We were constantly jumping to the next piece of information, the next place.”

One of the things Bay is intensely focused on this time around is toning down what he calls “the dorky humor” of the last film, specifically the blatantly offensive racial caricatures Mudflap and Skids, who all too often turned the film into a big-budget minstrel show. “They’re basically gone,” he said.

Bay revealed to USA Today that the main villain this time around will be Shockwave, the cycloptic, Generation 1 Decepticon tyrant who transforms into a giant laser gun, and that the film will somehow tie into the space race between the United States and the U.S.S.R.

“The movie is more of a mystery,” Bay said of his third and presumably final Transformers film. “It ties in what we know as history growing up as kids with what really happened.”

Transformers 3 hits theaters July 1, 2011.

Megan Fox Booted from Transformers 3

For many of you, this news will serve as yet another reason not to see Transformers 3.

According to Deadline.com’s Nikki Finke, Paramount will not be picking up Megan Fox’s option on Transformers 3 and, reportedly, the decision to oust her from the blockbuster flick rested with Michael Bay.

Considering the fact that Megan Fox has been trashing the director in the press over the past year or so, saying he’s “like Hitler on his sets” among other disparaging remarks, it’s not all that surprising that Bay dumped her. However, Bay did seem to confirm Fox’s involvement in the film late last year when he confirmed its release date: July 1, 2011.

“P.S. Megan Fox, welcome back,” Bay wrote in an October posting on his website. “I promise no alien robots will harm you in any way during the production of this motion picture.”

Well, I guess he was half right, since it’ll be some other hot, young starlet of questionable acting talent on the run from evil alien robots next summer when Transformers 3 hits theater.

Racist Robots Won’t Return in Transformers 3

There were plenty of problems with last summer’s inexplicably lucrative Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, but the film’s most glaring insult to American moviegovers was the inclusion of two foul-mouthed, illiterate Autobots named Mudflap and Skids, arguably the most blatant black stereotypes in recent cinematic history.

Fortunately, director Michael Bay has confirmed on his official website, Shoot for the Edit, that the racist robots known as The Twins won’t be making a return appearance in Transformers 3, which is slated for release on July 1, 2011.

“The Twins are not back in T3,” Bay wrote in a message board post on the subject. Has this notorious explosion enthusiast realized the error of his ways, or is he just focusing his energy on creating new needlessly controversial characters? I guess we’ll all find out next summer when Transformers 3 hits theaters.

Michael Bay Confirms New Cast Members, Locations and a New Autobot for Transformers 3

Director Michael Bay has confirmed on his website that pre-shooting on Transformers 3 will begin in about one month, and that locations in the film will include Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, DC, Florida, Texas, Africa, Moscow and China (wow). Bay also announced that Frances McDormand and John Malkovich will be joining the cast alongside Ken Jeong, whom audiences might recognize from Step Brothers, The Hangover and, most recently, NBC’s Community. Since Jeong is of Asian descent, and given the fact that Bay loves his broad, offensives ethnic stereotypes, I’m guessing he’ll play a Chinese delivery guy who can’t drive. Or he’ll own a nail salon. Laughing yet?

On the giant robot front, Bay wrote that one of the new Autobots in the film will be a Ferrari 458 Italia (pictured). We know nothing about the actual character, but something tells me that Bay won’t be able to resist going the Jersey Shore route with this guy. We know Autobots can probably pump their fists, but can they tan?

The film is scheduled to open on July 1, 2011.