The summer blockbuster everyone has been
waiting for. Well, at least for me it is. Just by looking at my avatar profile
picture, you could tell I am a big fan of the popular toy and cartoon franchise
Transformers. It has been 3 years since the giant transforming robots appeared
on cinema screens. They have now returned in a fourth film in the franchise
with a new group of cast members and redesigned robots. I won’t be bias in this
review. The only thing I would be bias is including more movie stills than my
other movie review postings.
 |
| Autobots (L-R): Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, Drift, Crosshairs, and Hound |
The title for the new film is Transformers:
Age of Extinction. The director from the previous three films, Michael Bay,
returns in the hot seat. Ehren Kruger, who previously wrote the second and
third film, also returns to write the script. The cast of newcomers consists of
superstar Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Kelsey
Grammer, Titus Welliver, Sophia Myles, Li Bingbing, T.J. Miller, and Peter
Cullen as the voice of Optimus Prime. Lorenzo DiBonaventura and Ian Bryce
return as producers.
 |
| Autobots (L-R): Hound, Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, Drift, and Crosshairs with their human counterparts. |
How will this fourth installment fair up to
previous films? Do read on…
 |
| Mark Wahlberg takes over the lead role from Shia LaBeouf |
SYNOPSIS:
Several years after the events of the last
film, the good faction known as the Autobots are currently in hiding. Despite
saving the planet from annihilation, the Autobots are blamed for all
destruction caused in the city of Chicago. A covert branch of the C.I.A. led by
Harold Attinger (Kelsey Grammer) is hunting down all Transformers both the good
faction and also the bad faction known as Decepticons, Attinger’s primary
target is capturing Autobot leader Optimus Prime who is now in hiding under the
roof of inventor Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) and his teenage daughter Tessa
(Nicola Peltz). Cade and Tessa form a partnership with Optimus Prime and a few
surviving Autobots to battle Attinger who has form an alliance with a quirky
scientist (Stanley Tucci) and a mysterious villain.
 |
| Cade Yeager (Wahlberg) discovers a beaten-up Optimus Prime in a design which is a tribute to his cartoon look |
SCRIPT:
Disoriented and messy. As much as it is a
science fiction film and logic is thrown out the window, the writer’s attempt
at giving it some sort of ‘believability’ failed. The scientific references
were not established firmly thus making it difficult to follow. The script was
bombarded with too much scientific jargon that even a fan-boy like me was
questioning what the hell are they trying to explain. There were too many story
motifs which made for difficulty to follow. Characterization was mediocre with
the exception of Wahlberg’s lead character. Speaking of characters, there were
too many of them and some roles felt unnecessary to the movie. After the
negative feedback from the 2nd film (Transformers: Revenge of the
Fallen) and mediocre feedback from the 3rd film (Transformers:
Dark of the Moon), I find it surprising that the studio and producers are
still hiring Ehren Kruger to write this installment. There were too many main
villains in this movie. Having too many main villains in a movie has ruined
films such as Spider-Man 3 (2007) and The Amazing Spider-man 2
(2014).
 |
| Cade Yeager (Wahlberg) and Shane Dyson (Jack Reynor) with the Autobots |
ACTING:
The film does not showcase much of the acting
despite having quality and established actors in Wahlberg, Tucci, and Grammer.
Peltz and Reynor didn’t do much to excite me too. The only positive point when
it comes to acting performances is I would rather have Wahlberg’s lead
character than Shia LaBeouf’s annoying Sam Witwicky from the previous films.
For Transformers fans, it was nice to see legendary voice actor Frank Welker in
the role of Galvatron battling Optimus Prime. This echoes those many fights
they have encountered and even sweeter when you here the original voices being
used. Though I won’t equate acting to the performance of the robots, the main
villain Lockdown (voiced by Mark Ryan, Jetfire from the second film) was really
bad-ass and menacing.
 |
| Tessa Yeager (Nicola Peltz) screaming for help while... |
 |
| ...while Optimus Prime protects her from Galvatron |
FILMING:
The only plus point in the movie is the
visual effects. Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) has improved tremendously
and upped the stakes from film to film. I like the newly redesigned robots and
their movements have more ‘fluidity’ compared to previous films. More
‘fluidity’ meaning the action scenes felt more like motion-capture but in
reality it is not. There were more scenes created totally from scratch rather
than using natural settings as background. However, I sincerely symphatize with
all the creative animators and graphic artists at ILM for their efforts are
over-shadowed by bad scripting and bad editing. The music had different feel to
it which is nice and as with most Transformers films, the sound designs and
sound effects are top notch. Again, the horrible storyline over-shadowed these
achievements.
 |
| Director Michael Bay filming in China |
PACING:
This is the longest film in terms of duration of all
Transformers films which runs at 2 hours and 45 minutes including credits.
Director Michael Bay is known for making films of long duration and rarely does
the pacing feel draggy. For this film, it was draggy. It had a slow start,
picked up a little bit in the middle, and mellowed down towards the end. As the
film reached its end, I lost my interest as the horrible storyline took a toll
on me.
 |
| Stanley Tucci and Li Bingbing sharing a scene |
TONE (MOOD):
A group of rejected robotic alien heroes
together with their unlikely human partners must band together to decide
whether to fight the authority figures or save Earth from another potential
annihilation.
 |
| Peltz, Wahlberg, Reynor, and Tucci on the run with an item I would not reveal for it is a spoiler |
DOWNSIDE:
Very very bad script and draggy almost throughout.
 |
| Father and daughter exiting Bumblebee |
UPSIDE:
Stunning visual effects, stunts, and fight
scenes in the usual Michael Bay style.
 |
| Irish actor Jack Reynor, a relative newcomer to the acting world. |
OVERALL:
I admit, I was disappointed in this film. Going into this
film, or any summer popcorn film for that matter, I would care less about the
story and focus on the fun. It is still a family fun film as Michael Bay has
cut down a little on his crude adult themed humour. Somehow, the script
insulted my intelligence as a movie-goer. Watch it only, and ONLY if you are a
die-hard Transformers fan.
 |
| Michael Bay at work |
RATING:
5.5 out of 10
