The
Transformers movies are one of the most interesting
contradictions in film history. They get very negative reviews, (the
only one to reach above 50% on Rotten Tomatoes is the first one) yet
each does astounding in the box office. It seems the concept of giant
robots battling it out is so great that it overrides all the mediocrity.
The last one,
Dark of the Moon, was supposed to be the
final one in this saga. The way it ends makes sense: the
Deceptions are destroyed and most of Megatron had been turned to scrap.
Director Michael Bay even went on record to say it would be his last
one. But alas, when a film makes so much money the company doesn't want
them to stop, so here we are three years later with the fourth
installment:
Age of Extinction. This movie is yet another
example of why Bay is one of my least favorite directors. It's not
terrible however, and there quite a few factors that deserve praise,
such as the amazing action sequences. Sadly the writing and characters
is typical Bay fare.
It's been four years since the
battle of Chicago. The Autobots have gone into hiding and the
Decepticons are no longer a group. Sadly, the CIA group known as
Cemetery Wind is hunting down the good guys and making it seem to the
public that they are actually runaway Deceptions. They are doing
this with the help of a bounty hunter transformer known as Lockdown, who
is neither Autobot nor Decepticon. Eventually Optimus Prime is brought
back to life thanks to an inventor named Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) and
goes on a mission to rally all Autobots. Things turn really bad
however when Cemetery is able to make their own Transformers, one of which is
called Galvatron, who contains some of Megatron's soul...
Before
we get into the many negatives, let's talk about what the film does
right. The action scenes are the best of the series, and probably the
greatest from all movies this year. Sadly there are too many background
shots of them and cutaways to what the human characters are doing, but
when the camera focuses on those fights it's amazing. Gone are the days when
the viewer couldn't tell what was happening because every bot looked the
same. Peter Cullen delivers another fantastic voice performance for
Optimus Prime, who is easily once again the primary highlight. Sadly
most of the notable characters died in Dark of the Moon, so a good
majority of the Autobots and all the Decepticons are new. Galvatron is
nicely established, though doesn't get nearly enough screen time. Since
this is the start of a new trilogy, it's forgivable.
Lockdown
is the new antagonist established. Unlike Shockwave in Dark of the
Moon, he's given adequate screen time and an interesting
character. Aside from Prime, he was easily the most engaging
Transformer. Sadly with Starscream, Soundwave, Shockwave and all the
other notable Decepticons dead, new characters are established. They
can't talk so basically they're just a bunch of one-shots. It's been
stated otherwise, but hopefully a way is found to bring back those
aforementioned characters because new ones just aren't going to cut it.
Interestingly, Bumblebee is given a rather small role in comparison with
the previous three movies. His character portrayal is also much more
annoying. Drift and Hound bring something to the table and make for a
fine Autobot team. (Crosshairs on the other hand not so much.)
One
of the primary things that destroyed the previous movies is the awful
human cast. With Shia LeBeouf gone from this movie, some hope was that
the main lead would actually be likable and engaging. Mark Wahlberg's
character is definitely an improvement. For the most part he's the
epitome of what a decent character in a Michael Bay Transformers film looks like. Sadly, it's the directing and writing that kill what
could be a very good character. The film's tone is half comedy, which is
a real shame and typical Bay-fare. Too often in these movies the story
revolves around the humans with the robots in the background; it should
be the opposite. (For a great example, check out the
Transformers Prime TV show, which is more competently written than all four movies combined.)
Perhaps
the worst thing about the Transformer films is the heavy reliance on
sexual appeal. Megan Fox wasn't there for her acting skills in the first two
movies, and Rose Huntington-Whiteley might have even been worst in Dark
of the Moon. (There's something wrong if the very first scene with a
lead actress in a movie that is supposed to be about a robot conflict is
barely dressed.) This time however instead of being an adult what we
have is a 17 year old senior in high school. Nicola Peltz's character
(Tessa Yeager) could have been okay if this movie was from a
different director. Her very first line to her friends,
"After school girls in the summer we're going to get wasted whoohoo!"
destroyed any chance of her being likable. From there forward she's
displayed as some sort of super model. (Keep in mind again that in-movie
she's underage.) Then we have her boyfriend Shane (Jack Reynor) who is
one mediocre character.
"I'm not helping you save your daughter, I'm helping you save my girlfriend." "I like to be fresh when I'm making out with your daughter." The writing in this movie needs some serious help in producing likable characters and competent dialogue.
There
are a few other notable (in a bad way) characters. We have Cade's
assistant Lucas who is there just to provide comedy relief. (Thankfully
he dies early on, I wonder if that was supposed to be a sad scene
because I can confirm
no viewer was feeling emotional.)
There's Joshua Joyce, who's a decent character until after the middle where he replaces Lucas for comedic relief. The acting
is extremely over the top, no one would be acting like this considering
what's going on. The human antagonist would be Harold Attinger, who is
definitely one of the best human characters, maybe even the best. Moving
on to arguably the most hyped aspect of the film: Grimlock and the
Dinobots.
For some odd reason, the word 'Dinobot' isn't
used and none of them are referred to by name. If the viewer isn't a
long time fan, how will he or she know who they are? The actual
portrayal is decent. The CGI is absolutely stunning and the rampage into
the city destroying the bad guys was easily one of the film's
highlights. Sadly, they seem to lack the personality which is present in
almost all other continuities. Grimlock in particular if you read some
of the comics can see that he was one of the most engaging Transformers.
(Hopefully this is fixed in the sequel.) The soundtrack is pretty strong, having plenty of great themes and even some emotional ones when appropriate.
Overall,
Age of Extinction suffers from many of the same problems the previous
three Transformers movies has. It does improve in some areas, such as
action scenes and plot progression. Optimus Prime is the highlight once
again, and Lockdown ranks as one of the most interesting antagonists of
the movie series. The human characters are very miss, which is in big
part due to the mediocre writing. (The day Michael Bay actually has an
engaging female lead in one of these movies will be a day to remember.)
It's still a pretty fun film for the most part, and might be the best of
the movie series aside from the first one. (Not that that's saying much
of course.)
2.5/5
