Review: Transformers:Age of Extinction

Review: Transformers:Age of Extinction
 *Mild Spoilers Alert
  Do NOT forger to rate this post when you finish.

Official 'Transformers: Age of Extinction' Poster.

      "Michael Bay" delivers what a 'Transformers' movie should deliver: loads of action, an acceptable story and open new opportunities for the director helming the planned fifth installment.

"Mark Wahlberg".

"Jack Reynor" and "Nicola Peltz".

      Five years after the events of 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon', humans turned their backs on all Autobots and are hunting them down. Special Forces called 'Cemetery Wind', lead by paranoid CIA agent 'Harold Attinger'(Kelsey Grammer) and field leader 'James Savoy'(Titus Welliver), ambush 'Optimus Prime'(Peter Cullen), who barely escapes severely injured and sends a message for all Autobots to hide. Struggling inventor 'Cade Yeager'(Mark Wahlberg) is trying to find various ways to raise money in order send his daughter 'Tessa'(Nicola Peltz). One day, he and his friend 'Lucas Flannery'(T.J. Miller) find an older truck, who later turns out to be injured 'Optimus'. But when 'Cemetery Wind' locates them, the Autobot Leader must team up with the humans, the remaining Autobots including Bumblebee and a new group of Cybertronian robots to save Earth from an upcoming threat lead by intergalactic bounty hunter 'Lockdown'(Mark Ryan). Other main characters include 'Shane Deyson'(Jack Reynor) 'Tessa''s boyfriend and Irish race driver, 'Joshua Joyce'(Stanley Tucci) head of KSI who wants to build his own Transformers, 'Darcy Tyril'(Sophia Myles) 'Joshua''s geologist assistant, 'Su Yueming'(Li Bingbing) owner of Chinese factory used by KSI, Autobot commando 'Hound'(John Goodman), Autobot tactician 'Drift'(Ken Watanabe), Autobot paratrooper 'Crosshairs'(John DiMaggio), and human-made Transformers 'Glavatron'(Frank Wekler).

'Optimus Prime'.

'Bumblebee'.

      One cannot deny the amount of criticism 'Paramount Studios' and "Michael Bay" has gotten since the inception of the series. Back in 2007, 'Transformers' was a surprise summer hit both critically and the box office. Since then both 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' and 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon' were both panned by critics and in spite of that they were huge box office hits with 'Dark of the Moon' crossing the 1 billion dollar mark. What astonishes me with this series is that many critics and people expect some huge story that will blow our minds and spectacular acting. And here is where personally think these people get it all wrong. The 'Transformers' film series is purely a popcorn action movie with huge action sequences, each sequel trying to out-do what the previous movie has done. It's meant for and targeting audiences wanting to simply enjoy an action packed movie with big robots fighting each other. And the continuous box office success that this series is enjoying is proof that people are demanding these kinds of movies, and most importantly watching them over and over again. The enhancements that "Michael Bay" and his team attempt to do with the story and the character is commendable, but usually fails to be fruitful. With 'Age of Extinction', "Michael" attempted to semi-reboot the series with new characters and a story that respects what previously happened while still moving in a new direction, and ultimately within the context of the movie's genre he succeeds to a certain extent.

"Stanley Tucci" and "Lin Bingbing". 

"Mark Wahlberg", "Nicola Peltz",
and "T.J. Miller".

      When we hear 'Transformers' we directly associate this name with the director "Michael Bay", who directed the previous installments and is known also for 'Bad Boys' film series and 'Pearl Harbor(2001)'. Despite his various and consistent box office successes, "Bay"'s films constantly gets criticized. In my opinion, "Michael Bay" created a very special and entertaining film series building a great universe that fans really enjoys and always wants more. He is also known for his amazing eye for great action sequences, since directing styles allows these action sequences to be shot and shown in very creative and entertaining manner. The visual effects of this movie also are quite spectacular and the 3D use was for the most part implemented in a good manner allowing for a better movie experience. Writer "Ehren Kruger"('The Ring(2002)') who also wrote the screenplay of the second and third installment provided us with a solid story, which unfortunately included many repeated and cliché elements. But what I realized is that for the first time the movie tackled various subplots that had potential if they were explored and not shut down in favor for the big spectacle. "Steve Jablonsky", who also returns to score the movie, once again provided us with a beautiful score, which is essential due to the role the score plays to enhance the movie's overall experience.

'Hound', 'Bumblebee', 'Optimus Prime'
and 'Drift'. 

'Grimlock'.

      As mentioned before, the movie handles many subplot threads that are meant to serve the story's main plot in order to meet eventually and re-release new threads. In total, the subplots did have huge potential to allow elevating the level of the movie's story, unfortunately most of them falls short and are undercooked. Another problem with the movie is the time frame, the movie's running time is overly long a point that was made by many of the audiences who watched the movie. Many scenes felt unnecessarily long and if these scenes which included these small threads were to be removed, a more coherent story could have emerged. The main positive of this movie once again goes to the amazingly directed and choreographed action sequences. From the attack on 'Cade''s home, to the attack of Autobots on KSI, Highway chase sequence, 'Lockdown''s ship rescue sequence and the entire 'Honk Kong' sequence, the movie constantly provide with breathtaking and exciting scenes. Which is obvious when one looks at the purpose of the movie: giving action lovers and movie fans a film that they can enjoy. Small issue to be raised is that the decision to dedicate the entire third half of the movie for Honk Kong was a very smart decision, which translated into humongous box office receipts in China and becoming the biggest grossing movie in China's history. The ending was also to be expected and definitely opens the door for many possibilities for the 'Transformers 5''s story.

"Nicola Peltz", "Mark Wahlberg",
"Jack Reynor" and "Stanley Tucci".

'Optimus Prime' and
"Mark Wahlberg".

      Pumping new blood into the series was a very clever decision. "Mark Wahlberg" is one of the main reasons why the movie succeeded. He is an action star and his role was a very convincing one, being able to successfully lead the franchise thanks to his awesome chemistry with the entire human and robot cast. "Nicola Peltz" was introduced basically as a replacement for previous female leads. She didn't exactly provide something new, but her acceptable involvement will be enough to ensure her more roles in the future. Also included as a young addition was that of "Jack Reynor", who did a decent job and what was required from his character. This trio in my opinion had very great chemistry when put together. "Stanley Tucci" was the star of the movie. Even though he was basically a human sort of villain, his wit and ability to balance humor and seriousness is what make us love him. Also he effortlessly gives his comedic lines in a very clever and fashionable manner, giving him many highlight moments in the movie. "Kelsey Grammer" gave a very interesting performance fleshing out what could have been a one-dimensional character. "Sophia Bush" and "Titus Welliver"'s involvement were nice ones but very limited and a larger role for both was expected. "T.J. Miller" also surprised me with his great comedic timing when providing his punch lines, too bad that his character was cut short, which in my opinion was a huge mistake. Including "Lin Bingbing" was for attracting the Chinese market, but surprisingly she provided us with a pleasant performance.

'Grimlock' and 'Optimus Prime'.

"Mark Wahlberg" and 'Lockdown'.

      The CGI and robot cast was one of the most interesting array of characters presented within the entire 'Transformers' film series. 'Optimus Prime' and 'Bumblebee' are the faces of the series and being part of the story was a given, with nice changes that they got. Appearances by 'Ratchet', 'Wrecker' and 'Brains' was a welcomed move. The new Autobots inclusion was a very interesting one since this time around most of them were allowed to have some type of back-story that was shown briefly. Making "John Goodman" and "Ken Watanabe" voice 'Hound' and 'Drift' was a good move. 'Glavatron' was ultimately included in order to portray the human made Transformers, like 'Stinger', while also allowing a previous Decepticon to be relived for future movies. But the most interesting Robots that the series has ever provided was 'Lockdown'. This was the first robot brought in having no interest in taking side with the Autobot/Decepticon feud happening and only interested in performing his own agenda. This was one of the positive subplots that was tackled, even if they did go with it until the end. Fans were waiting for the moment "Michael Bay" and his co-workers were going to introduce the 'Dinobots', which were finally included. Even though the Dinobots were beautifully created their inclusion was not fully realized leaving us hoping for a much better return in the future.

      By now, everyone can figure out what to expect from a 'Transformers' movie. 'Age of Extinction' is supposedly the last movie "Michael Bay" will ever direct, which is sad in some ways but allows us to hope for the best for the planned fifth installment.

Official 'Transformer: Age of Extinction' Poster. 

-'Transformers: Age of Extinction' Info:
-Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer, Titus Welliver, Sophia Myles, Lin Bingbing, T.J. Miller, with voices from Peter Cullen, John Goodman, Ken Watanabe, John DiMaggio, Frank Welker and MarkRyan.
-Based on: 'Transformers' by Hasbro.
-Studio(s): China Movie Channel, Hasbro and Paramount Pictures.
-Director: Michael Bay.
-Written by: Ehren Kruger.
-Music by: Steven Jablonsky.
-Running Time: 165 minutes.
-Budget: $ 210,000,000.
-Box Office: -Domestic(US):  $ 245,439,076.
                   -Foreign: $ 841,965,423.
-Ratings: -IMdb: 6.2/10.
              -Rotten Tomatoes: 18%.
              -Metacritic: 32%.

              -PERSONAL RATING: 7.4/10.

-'Transformers: Age of Extinction' Trailer: