Transformers; Dark of the Moon (SPOILERS)

Today, I saw Transformers; Dark of the Moon with some friends.  Those who know me know I adore the previous two installments in this series.  I found this installment to be much less carefree than the previous two.  Though Bumblebee's capture in the first movie was sad, the death of Optimus Prime and subsequent Decepticon invasion easily overshadowed it in the second.  This new film features new emotional depths.  In it, Optimus' mentor, Sentinel Prime is discovered.  However, it is discovered he turned to the Decepticons since he believed Cybertron was so important, that they had to ally and rebuild their planet using human slaves.  This revelation and the subsequent reveal of Soundwave and Laserbeak as beings that brought humans to the Decepticons for their own politics was much more impactful than even the death of Optimus Prime.  The film also features a scene where it appears all the Autobots have been slaughtered by the Decepticon Starscream, further showing the darkness of this film.  Ultimately, the film is truly engaging, the characters always impressing me.  It's got a few twists at the end, especially involving the commanding trio of Optimus Prime, Sentinel Prime and Megatron.  Fans of the first two movies and Transformers should check this out.  The only major question I have for the film is the presence of Decepticon star fighters.  The fights were plenty engaging on the ground, and it just felt odd that they never used them before now.  As for the rumors of the possible Spielberg-directed sequel, well, I never saw Soundwave die.  In terms of Faith, we could talk about how some of our best heroes are willing to sell their souls to hold onto the past and strike out against a possible future.  Sentinel only cares about Cybertron, not his subordinate Optimus or the humans he cares about, and was willing to become evil for Cybertron rather than accept Earth as a possible new home.  Similarly, we are sometimes willing to surrender our souls in order to preserve that which is familiar.