‘Transformers 3′: The Decepticons Strike Back

You might call it deja vu. Then again, you might not be surprised one iota, either. The official plot synopsis for Michael Bay’s forthcoming third 'Transformers' film, Transformers: The Dark Of The Moon, has been revealed, and as far as we can deduce there's nothing especially innovative about the story so far.

The info leaked online thanks to an Amazon product description for the official "Transformers 3 Push-Pops Board Book". Here's the description:

"The Autobots Bumblebee, Ratchet, Ironhide and Sideswipe led by Optimus Prime, are back in action, taking on the evil Decepticons, who are determined to avenge their defeat in 2009’s Transformers Revenge of the Fallen. In this new movie, the Autobots and Decepticons become involved in a perilous space race between the U.S. and Russia, and once again human Sam Witwicky has to come to the aid of his robot friends. There’s new characters too, including a new villain in the form of Shockwave, a longtime 'Transformers' character who rules Cybertron while the Autobots and Decepticons battle it out on Earth."

"Same sh*t, different pile," as we've heard some express online. On the other hand, the last pile earned $109M in its opening weekend and has grossed over $835M worldwide as of this writing, so Paramount might be quick to retort: "What the hell do they know?"

Only that nothing exceeds like excess. Still, we can't see any reason to depart from a formula that while critically savaged is earning the studio plenty of lucre. Let's face it: there's no business case for it, even though creatively we'd like to see a little more substance where the rubber hits the road.

Meanwhile, if you missed the recent footage from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which featured some of the robot vehicles from the next film, check out the footage using the player below.

Transformers: The Dark Of The Moon is set to arrive in theaters on July 1, 2011.