I’ve made it clear before that I’m a big fan of Michael Bay’s
‘Transformers’ films, and I’m also well-aware that by being a fan of these
films, I am in the extreme minority when it comes to that opinion because there
are quite a lot of people who really, really hate these movies and these people
have certainly made an effort to express these opinions. In the past, I’ve
defended these movies against their harshest critics and after re-watching them
again, I still stand by my belief that they are honestly not as bad as everyone’s
putting them out to be. I mean sure, I will concede that both ‘Revenge of the
Fallen’ and ‘Dark of the Moon’ are not as good as the first of Bay’s ‘Transformers’
but at the end of the day they were still very entertaining popcorn flicks with
some incredible visuals and action sequences even if it did come at the expense
of the story and its characters. So now Bay is back for his fourth ‘Transformers’
film, ‘Age of Extinction’, which takes place a few years after the events of ‘Dark
of the Moon’ and focuses on a new cast of main characters. But while this film
is looking to reboot the franchise, one thing hasn’t changed… the critical
reception. How bad are the reviews for this one, you ask? Well, at the time I’m
writing this, it currently has a rating of 16% on Rotten Tomatoes, a worse
score than the universally reviled ‘Revenge of the Fallen’ (Just let that sink
in for a moment). And once again, I’m going to have to disagree with the
majority of critics in regards to this latest entry in the series.
Five years after the Battle of Chicago, the friendly relationship
between the people of Earth and the Transformers has since become very much
strained. An elite government unit named Cemetery Wind, led by CIA Agent Harold
Attinger (Kelsey Grammer), begins to hunt down all of the Transformers that are
still hiding out on Earth, namely the Autobots despite the fact that they
protected the planet, and its people, from the Decepticons. While all of this
is going on, Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg), a struggling inventor from Texas,
comes across an old truck and plans on stripping it for parts so that he can sell
them in order to provide for him and his daughter Tessa (Nicola Peltz).
However, Cade and Tessa soon find out that this truck is actually Autobot
leader Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen), which results in Attinger and
his team, as well as a Transformer bounty hunter named Lockdown (voiced by Mark
Ryan), attempting to hunt them down. As Optimus rallies the remaining Autobots,
with the help of Cade, Tessa, and her boyfriend Shane (Jack Reynor), the group
looks to survive with the government hot on their tail. But they soon realize that
Lockdown has a darker plan in store for Earth, one that threatens to wipe out
both humans and Transformers at the same time.
Folks… let’s be honest here. Being that this is the fourth
film in the ‘Transformers’ franchise, by now you should at least know what to
expect from these films. A whole lot of action, mayhem, and visual effects
paired with a story and characters that aren’t really up to par with everything
else that’s in the film. Really, the amount of enjoyment you’ll have with this
film all depends on whether or not you like these films in the first place and
of course, I’m one of those who do like them. Now, for the record, I will agree
on one of the main problems that many are having with this movie… it is way too
damn long. That’s pretty ironic considering that I remember reading a report in
which Michael Bay said that it would be the shortest of the films… and at the
end of the day it ends up being the longest film in the series at 165 minutes. The
thing about this movie is that it’s pretty much two movies in one. There’s a
big action scene around the halfway point of the film in which the characters
are on a big Transformer ship trying to save Optimus and Tessa. That could’ve
been a good place to end this film and maybe Paramount could’ve done something
along the lines of what Warner Bros. did with the Matrix sequels and have the
second half of this film be its own thing and release it sometime later this
year. But as is, the movie just keeps going and going until it stops. It still
kept my interest, but it really could’ve benefitted from either a few cuts or,
heck, even being a two-part film a la Harry Potter.
But even with that in mind, I still managed to enjoy this
film for other reasons. The visuals of course are top notch as well as the action
scenes (no one can do sequences like this quite like Bay). A lot of the action
in the final act of the film is highlighted by the debuts of the Dinobots. They
may not be in the movie that much but they easily end up being one of the best
parts of the whole movie. I also give this movie credit for actually being a
bit more legitimately serious in tone than the last three films. I mean keep in
mind, we’re still talking about a Michael Bay directed ‘Transformers’ film so
the idea of a serious tone can only go so far as there is still quite a bit of
Bay’s ‘attempts’ at humor; some of it works, other times it doesn’t. I also
liked that this film actually did focus on the Transformers a lot more than
before. After seeing this film, I now realize that one of the issues with both
of the previous two sequels was that because they were adding in a lot more
Transformers than there were in the first film, not all of them were given
enough quality time to shine as the film focused more on the main Transformers
(e.g. Optimus and Bumblebee). Here, there aren’t as many Autobots as there were
in the last two films and because of this they are allowed to have much more
memorable personalities.
The new cast of human characters, while still not being the
most developed characters out there mind you, was definitely a breath of fresh
air for this series after the arcs of the characters from the original trilogy
were already played out, mostly before the previous trilogy was even over. Mark
Wahlberg instantly proves himself to be a superior lead to Shia LaBeouf in
pretty much every way, as here he comes off as being very earnest and likable
in the lead role (something Wahlberg is very much good at) and I found that I
really liked how his character was very sympathetic being that he was someone
who, as the movie begins, is just trying to get by making him a very relatable
character in that regard. As for Nicola Peltz, while she unfortunately becomes
yet another objectified blonde in a Michael Bay film (third film in a row this
has happened, by the way), I actually thought that she wasn’t that bad in this.
But Jack Reynor, on the other hand, comes off as being a bit too bland in this
and he and Peltz don’t really have that much chemistry. As the main human
villain, Kelsey Grammer doesn’t really do much in this film but I must say that
Grammer definitely has a nice villainous presence in this regardless of the
fact that he really isn’t in it as much as you would expect. Stanley Tucci is
the other major standout of the cast besides Wahlberg. His character, a
designer who looks to make his own Transformers after discovering the material
that they’re made of, does have a pretty decent character arc in this, starting
off as one of the supposed bad guys before having a change of heart. Plus, Tucci
is just one of those actors who’s great no matter what film he’s in, good or
bad.
I’m excited to see where this franchise goes next for its
two sequels, but for the record, and I’m saying this as nicely as I possibly
can, I think that it’s time for Michael Bay to step away from this franchise, if
only because of the fact that more than a 1/3rd of his directorial
filmography so far has been nothing but these ‘Transformers’ movies. I do think
that it’s time for someone else to take over as director of these films. Now,
at the same time, I fear that whoever takes over these films won’t be able to
match what Bay did with these films in terms of entertainment value, but I’m
still interested in seeing these next two films because like with the trilogy
that came before it, I loved ‘Age of Extinction’. Sure, this one suffers from
being overlong (something that, for the record, never really bothered me with
the other films aside from the prolonged finale of ‘Revenge of the Fallen’) but
the new additions to the cast are a welcome change of pace that helps give this
series a new life and of course the action sequences and visual effects are
excellent. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… no one can make these
Transformers movies quite like Michael Bay and his films are never boring (even
when they’re nearly three hours long). Still, if you’re not one of those people
who likes these movies (Though for the record why would you even be watching
this new one if you hate the others so much? That’s something that I never
understand…), that’s fine but for the love of god, don’t rain on the parade of
those who did like it.
Rating: 4/5
No comments:
Post a Comment