Now, Bay is back with “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,’’ which opens in IMAX 3-D on Tuesday night and goes wide at midnight Wednesday. When asked to describe the new movie, Bay said, “it’s a lot better than No. 2.’’
“This one is much more of a mystery,’’ he said, sitting at a shady outdoor table on the Paramount lot. “It’s really epic in scope, it’s got more heart. It’s kind of back down to basics. Movie two, we kind of went off on a tangent.’’
That tangent brought Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) and his giant robot friends and foes to Egypt, where he and the noble Autobots fought to save humankind — and the Earth and the sun — from the evil Decepticons. LaBeouf said the second film was “just far too complicated,’’ but volume three is “simple enough to be able to enjoy. … It’s without a doubt our best film.’’
Besides a more straightforward plot, “Transformers: Dark of the Moon’’ introduces new cast members Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Patrick Dempsey, Ken Jeong and Victoria’s Secret model Rosie Hungtington-Whiteley, who replaces Megan Fox as Sam’s love interest. (Bay told GQ magazine that executive producer Steven Spielberg demanded he fire Fox after she compared Bay to Hitler.)
“Dark of the Moon’’ also introduces a whole new dimension as Bay’s first 3-D film. Though he didn’t initially embrace the technology, the film lent itself to 3-D “because just the size differential between robots and humans,’’ the director said. “You can really feel it.’’
Shooting in 3-D affected his filming style, requiring longer shots and wider frames. It’s more expensive and more time consuming, but ultimately Bay found he enjoyed “sculpting with space’’ and pushing the boundaries of the technology.
He shot more than half the footage with 3-D cameras, including soaring images captured by wing-suited stuntmen flying off of high-rise buildings. “We were able to strap that camera on things that it’s never been on before,’’ he said. “You look at it and you just know it’s real. You can’t fake that stuff.’’
