Transformers: Age of Extinction
(C or 2/4 stars)
A 4th Transformers extravaganza has arrived. You know what that means ... lamebrain plot, product placements galore, stereotypes, & tons of action. This time, Mark Wahlberg and a host of new characters are involved. No more Shia LaBeouf. This HAS to signal an improvement in the overall franchise. Correct? CORRECT?? Yyyyyeah, not much of an improvement -- but I'll take it. 'Transformers: Age of Extinction' (directed by good 'ole Michael Bay) picks up 5 yrs. after the events of Transformers: Dark of the Moon. After the Autobots (good guys) had been virtually eliminated from Earth as a result of a cleansing scheme, CIA black ops leader, Harold Attinger (a slimy Kelsey Grammer), is hunting down the remaining Autobots with the help of Decepticon bounty hunter, Lockdown.
Meanwhile, in rural Texas, Cade (Mark Wahlberg), a devoted single father/struggling inventor buys a battered old truck in hopes of stripping it for parts. But he quickly realizes that it's not just any truck: it's a Transformer(!) ... Optimus Prime (!!). Cade, his rebellious 17 yr. old daughter, Tessa (Tara Reid lookalike, Nicola Peltz), & her clandestine boyfriend, Shane (Jack Reynor), are drawn into an epic battle with the savage black ops agents. Optimus Prime helps our protagonists escape, & together they join the few remaining Autobots (including Bumblebee) in fighting the corrupt gov't agents, Lockdown, Galvatron, and ... a new threat: visionary CEO, Joshua Joyce (Stanley Tucci), who's found an ingenious way to create his own army of nefarious Transformers. Mayhem {to put it lightly} ensues.
Michael Bay is sometimes admired, but mostly derided as an cocky director of large-budgeted action flicks. While he has the technical skills to occasionally make us marvel at his battle sequences, there are really only a few moments (of his overly lengthy films) when most audiences will feel truly "thrilled" -- instead, we feel BLUDGEONED. The sense of chaos is overwhelming. Tween/teens may be more exuberant about this movie, but the cliched dialogue, sexist characterizations, & needlessly overlong plot wore me down. Though I 'liked' this film more than some of the other Transformer films (Mark Wahlberg is a more appealing protagonist than Shia LaBeouf. I liked Stanley Tucci's Steve Jobs-like innovator. John Goodman & Ken Watanabe lend fun voice performances. I loved whenever a friendly Autobot changed from an automobile to a robot) ... I still feel like too many bad aspects take away from any tangential moments of enjoyment that I received.
Now, I didn't particularly mind some of the predictably gratuitous shots of women's bodies (most of whom are scantily clad). I didn't even mind the concept that this franchise (like many) is catering to an Asian audience/sponsors (heck, there's a sequence which takes place in a labyrinthine Hong Kong tenement complex that had me in AWE). But what I DO mind is sitting through a mind-numbing plot with butt-numbing action sequences that take-up 165 minutes of my life. There is NO way that this film should have been that long. The plot does not need or call for it -- it's just overkill. A few admittedly astonishing action moments and a few stolen chuckles can't completely save this movie from being yet another wildly expensive, yet ultimately mediocre installment in the Transformers franchise.
Meanwhile, in rural Texas, Cade (Mark Wahlberg), a devoted single father/struggling inventor buys a battered old truck in hopes of stripping it for parts. But he quickly realizes that it's not just any truck: it's a Transformer(!) ... Optimus Prime (!!). Cade, his rebellious 17 yr. old daughter, Tessa (Tara Reid lookalike, Nicola Peltz), & her clandestine boyfriend, Shane (Jack Reynor), are drawn into an epic battle with the savage black ops agents. Optimus Prime helps our protagonists escape, & together they join the few remaining Autobots (including Bumblebee) in fighting the corrupt gov't agents, Lockdown, Galvatron, and ... a new threat: visionary CEO, Joshua Joyce (Stanley Tucci), who's found an ingenious way to create his own army of nefarious Transformers. Mayhem {to put it lightly} ensues.
Michael Bay is sometimes admired, but mostly derided as an cocky director of large-budgeted action flicks. While he has the technical skills to occasionally make us marvel at his battle sequences, there are really only a few moments (of his overly lengthy films) when most audiences will feel truly "thrilled" -- instead, we feel BLUDGEONED. The sense of chaos is overwhelming. Tween/teens may be more exuberant about this movie, but the cliched dialogue, sexist characterizations, & needlessly overlong plot wore me down. Though I 'liked' this film more than some of the other Transformer films (Mark Wahlberg is a more appealing protagonist than Shia LaBeouf. I liked Stanley Tucci's Steve Jobs-like innovator. John Goodman & Ken Watanabe lend fun voice performances. I loved whenever a friendly Autobot changed from an automobile to a robot) ... I still feel like too many bad aspects take away from any tangential moments of enjoyment that I received.
Now, I didn't particularly mind some of the predictably gratuitous shots of women's bodies (most of whom are scantily clad). I didn't even mind the concept that this franchise (like many) is catering to an Asian audience/sponsors (heck, there's a sequence which takes place in a labyrinthine Hong Kong tenement complex that had me in AWE). But what I DO mind is sitting through a mind-numbing plot with butt-numbing action sequences that take-up 165 minutes of my life. There is NO way that this film should have been that long. The plot does not need or call for it -- it's just overkill. A few admittedly astonishing action moments and a few stolen chuckles can't completely save this movie from being yet another wildly expensive, yet ultimately mediocre installment in the Transformers franchise.