Third time a 'Transformers' charm?

Some conspiracy theorists say the 1969 moon landing was staged on one of Walt Disney's movie sets. And even if it really happened, other doubters say, the climactic moment of the space race was intended to 1) score Cold War propaganda points, 2) maintain funding for NASA or 3) distract from the Vietnam War.

But they couldn't possibly have known the real motive behind the flight of Apollo 11: that Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins and Buzz Aldrin were actually sent to investigate the 1961 moon crash of a Cybertronian spaceship that was carrying technology crucial to the survival of the Autobots, who were then on the verge of losing their war against the Decepticons.

Not the worst idea

The whole thing will no doubt become crystal clear when "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" opens this week (Tuesday in 3-D and IMAX; opening wide Wednesday at midnight). Given that the "Transformers" series so far has been close to a parody of what makes summer movies so silly -- noisy, violent, based on a toy, and with machines that have had more pizzazz than the people -- the idea of putting a faux-historical spin on the narrative isn't the worst idea. Or, at least, the most absurd idea.

Despite the cold clang of the robots -- which has meant the warm sound of ka-ching! for Paramount (unless something goes horribly wrong, "Dark of the Moon" will take the franchise well across the billion-dollar mark) -- the project has offered no shortage of human drama. Shia LaBeouf, who's played Sam Witwicky since the series premiered in 2007, says he won't be back for a fourth go-round. Neither will director Michael Bay. And Megan Fox, who played LaBeouf's love interest, Mikaela, in 1 and 2, didn't even make it to No. 3: Her public comments about Bay acting like "Hitler" on the set of 2009's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" prompted executive producer Steven Spielberg to have her promptly fired.

Replacing Megan Fox

Which would seem to put no end of pressure on Fox's replacement, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, the English-born Victoria's Secret model, who's never made a movie and will be under the microscope of media scrutiny.

Nervous? "Yeah!" she said, with a tone appropriate to a ridiculous question. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel under scrutiny or under pressure. But I think it comes when you accept something like this. I think everybody's waiting to see who the new girl on the block is, and 'Are you going to like me?' Some people will and some people won't, and there's really not much you can do about that. I've spent the last year trying to get my head around things, but as long as the people involved are happy with it, and I'm happy with it, that's good."

It's daunting for a 24-year-old newcomer like Huntington-Whiteley to step into an ongoing phenomenon like "Transformers" ("I had no idea how they made these movies," she said). But it isn't all that much easier for a hardened vet like John Turturro, who returns for his third "Trannie" as the alien expert Agent Simmons, and who had a short explanation for his presence in the new film: "I did the other two."

"It's probably the last one I'll do," he added. "But I got to work with Fran and John] Malkovich, who are friends, so that was good. I had a bigger role in the second one. Now it's become something a little bit more than I thought it would be."

Meaning the cultural impact of Autobots and Decepticons? "Meaning it's like a whole other kind of movie," said Turturro, who is far better known for his own and others' independent films. "You almost have to learn how to do it. It's a whole different skill -- if you have kids, it's helpful, because maybe you played with them with robot figures and stuff like that. I just imagine, when I have to do the stuff with robots, that I'm playing with my kids.

"Other times," he said with a laugh, "I'm thinking about the adults who have to watch it, and try to put in a little something for them."

More personal projects

Just as Huntington- Whiteley will no doubt use "Dark of the Moon" as a launchpad for an acting career, "T3" enables Turturro to pursue more personal projects -- i.e., "Passione," his cinematic love letter to the city, and the music, of Naples. "It's something I was invited to do because 'Romance & Cigarettes' did very well there," he said, referring to his 2005 musical melodrama. "They wanted to do a sort of 'Buena Vista Social Club' type of thing, but I said, 'Well, maybe you'd be interested in something that tells a little bit about the city, but is really about the music -- you know, so instead of having talk, they'd sing.' So we did that. And basically, we did the whole thing in 21 days."

Which is a far cry from the estimated $200 million- budgeted "Dark of the Moon," which began preproduction in fall 2009 and shooting in May of last year. The success of "Avatar" (released in December 2009) certainly was a factor in Bay's decision to make "Dark of the Moon" in 3-D, while intending to make a film with deeper, darker and more human elements. Huntington- Whiteley, although she's obviously partial, says he succeeded.

"I think people will be surprised by it," she said. "It's got a lot of heart and intensity and it's a bit darker. We're really led to believe this is the end of the world."

The doctor (Ken Jeong) is in the film

Ken Jeong is not naked in "Transformers: Dark of the Moon." This may sadden fans of "The Hangover" and "The Hangover Part II," in which he plays the comical gangster Mr. Chow. But nothing can dampen Jeong's spirits.

"I can't believe I'm in this movie. I'm still in awe," he says. "Four years ago, I was still practicing medicine, working in an HMO near where I live, and if you told me then I'd be in a 'Transformers' movie with Michael Bay and Shia LaBeouf, well, I certainly wouldn't have believed it."

Jeong really is a doctor, but even while practicing never quite quit his college hobby of standup comedy. He gradually segued into movies and TV, where he now finds himself in a kind of blissed-out moment of career satisfaction: one blockbuster, one blockbuster-to-be and a successful TV show ("Community").

What the heck is he doing in "Transformers 3"? "I play a co-worker of Shia LaBeouf who's a big conspiracy buff and that's all I can say, really. I think everything's well guarded for a reason." Like John Turturro, he is a bit amazed by the process and requirements of making 3-D robot movies.

"I really felt like I was getting a chance to watch the big boys play," he said. "You get an appreciation of how difficult doing all this is, even as an actor. If I'm doing a scene with Zack Galafianakis , it's very easy to react off of that. But if I'm acting with CGI (computer generate images) without any actors, it's a whole other ballgame."

Jeong has taken some heat for what some have seen as the perpetuation of Asian stereotypes via Mr. Chow, but he doesn't let that bother him. "I'm just very grateful for the roles," he said. "For me, it's all a dream come true." -- JOHN ANDERSON