Story problems aside, Jay Snook says the latest entry in the ‘Transformers’ franchise is worth a look.
Transformers: Age of Extinction is not a terrible film. It was directed by Michael Bay, and it is the fourth film in the live action Transformers series. It is rated PG-13, it was distributed by Paramount Pictures and has a running time of 165 minutes.
I was a bit hesitant about yet another film in this franchise: Would it be as good as Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon, or would it be as bad as Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which is the worst film in this series so far?
This film is also a bit different because instead of Shia LaBeouf, this time Mark Wahlberg is in the lead role, as someone who is not only older but is an entirely different character. He is a father and a robotics inventor, but doesn’t have much money. I cannot say this is a wonderful film, but I will say if you liked the last movie it is a good idea to check this one out.
The film begins four years after the battle in Chicago, and since that time the government has started an elite CIA unit called Cemetery Wind to wipe out any remaining Autobots, and any ties the government had with them have been severed. This CIA agency is also getting help from Lockdown, who is a Transformer bounty hunter. This is being done so that the annihilation that happened before never happens again. Any remaining Autobots have gone into hiding, including Optimus Prime.
The film then takes the viewer to rural Texas, where a man named Cade Yeager lives in a small farm where he likes to repair peoples old things for money and in his spare time is trying to build something that will make him rich and help get his daughter Tessa to college. One day Yeager and his friend Lucas Flannery go to an old abandoned theater in town to see what they can salvage to fix and maybe make some money. Yeager sees an old beat up semi-truck that he buys in hopes of stripping down for parts, but when he takes a closer look he notices something. It isn’t a truck at all, it may be a Transformer.
Soon the agency Cemetery Wind and Lockdown show up at Yeager’s farm to threaten him and find out where Optimus Prime is. Optimus Prime comes out of hiding to protect them, and a lengthy car getaway scene ensues. The driver that gets them out is Shane Dyson, the secret boyfriend of Tessa, Yeager’s daughter. Yeager is mad Tessa has been keeping this a secret, but glad he was there to help get them to safety.
There is also company out there that is called Kinetic Solutions Incorporated that is run by Joshua Joyce, a business tycoon. It turns out they are using the parts of destroyed Transformers, which helps them discover transformium, the metal that all Transformers are made of, it is pretty much their lifeblood. This company is also working to build their own Transformer army to protect the Earth from any future attacks.
It turns out that KSI and Cemetery Wind are working together, and that not only the Autobots but the entire planet could be in danger. The pride and joy of KSI is the Transformers Stinger, made from data of Bumblebee, and Galvatron, made to be like Optimus Prime and made from data from the severed head of Megatron. What are their plans? Does Lockdown have his own agenda? And how can Cade Yeager not only protect his daughter, but do anything to help in this time of crisis?
Mark Wahlberg plays Cade Yeager, Stanley Tucci plays Joshua Joyce the head of KSI, Kelsey Grammer plays Harold Attinger who is the head of Cemetery Wind, Nicola Peltz plays Tessa Yeager the teen daughter of Cade Yeager, Jack Reynor plays Shane Dyson who is the boyfriend to Tessa, and T.J. Miller plays Lucas Flannery who is Cade’s best friend.
Optimus Prime is voiced by Peter Cullen, Hound is voiced by John Goodman, Crosshairs is voiced by John Dimaggio, Drift is voiced by Ken Watanabe, Ratchet is voiced by Robert Foxworth, Galvatron is voiced by Frank Welker, and Lockdown is voiced by Mark Ryan.
There are some good things about this film. It has a good soundtrack and very well done special effects. Mark Wahlberg does a good job in the lead role, and his character is easy to relate to. Most of the cast work well together, and the plot is definitely different from what has been seen before in this universe. The new Autobots were likable and were fun to watch interact and fight alongside each other. Kelsey Grammer also does a good job as a villain in this movie, he is easy to hate and there is no part where you want to feel sorry for him.
So what could be bad about this film. Well let’s start with the biggest thing, the film is way too long. There were part when I was watching it where I wished it would end sooner. There are also parts where you think it is over, but really the film has only just begun. There were also parts of this movie where it was obvious what was going to happen next, which didn’t make it that much fun to watch. It was cool to see the Dinobots show up finally, but even their part was small and was felt rushed to me. If the film had been cut down a bit, it would definitely have been a much better film.
The ending is not bad, most everything seems to be taken care of, but there is a small cliffhanger letting the viewer know that not every battle is over yet.
Surprisingly, this film not only got #1 this past weekend, but it made $100 million. This is the first film so far in this year to make that much on its opening weekend. Even though it didn’t get the best reviews, people still went out in droves to see it, showing this franchise is most likely going to be around a bit longer.
If you are a fan of the last movies, chances are you will like this one. If you want to see a film with a lot of action and great special effects, check this movie out. I doubt you will regret it.
Whenever a movie has a scene where a character pulls out a laminated card to explain why he can have sex with an underage girl…you have a fail