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Optimus Prime and his band of robotic refugees have descended upon us one more time in Transformers: Age of Extinction. The 2.5 hour ‘eye-gasm’ is chocked full of awesome special effects, fantastic action scenes, and witty banter. Contrary to some reports and musings out there, T4 does a good job of moving on. Not necessarily forward, but ‘on’.
There is virtually no mention or sight of practically any human from the previous installments, which for this writer is a good thing. However, after carrying a trilogy, one would think they deserved some sort of explanation of where they are now. This story starts out in Texas and makes its way across the globe including back to Chicago, the Arctic, and Hong Kong.
We meet Mark Wahlberg‘s character, Cade Yeager, as a struggling inventor who is in some deep money problems, as well as his daughter, Tessa (Nicola Peltz), who is getting ready to head to college with no way of paying for it. He stumbles across a dilapidated old semi that leads to a confrontation with a clandestine government agency that changes the course of his life forever.
Now you’re likely reading this trying to find out if you should see this movie or not…is it ‘good’ or ‘bad’…’will I continue to hate or love Michael Bay?’ My guess is you already know whether you want to see it or not. But if you ask me : The answer is yes – to all. If you love him, there’s a plethora of explosions, action, and Americana that rings true of his style. If you hate him, there is a total lack of story and character arcs that will only fuel your disdain. But should you see it? Absolutely!!
If you’re expecting a deep and socially-eye-opening tale, then you obviously haven’t seen any of the previous Transformers movies. This is exactly what it’s meant to be : a fun, summer popcorn movie. The action is, almost literally, non-stop. That is a term used often, and while usually hyperbolic, in this case it is the absolute truth. It is almost like someone is constantly being chased the whole movie.
What are some of the improvements you ask? Well, first is the wonderful fact that one can distinguish between the different robots. In the past three movies, it got confusing very quickly when there was a fight. ‘Who was it just got their butt kicked?’…’There are too many grey, jumping and flying robots.’, etc. Not the case in T4. Every character was easily recognizable, even if their names were not.
Mark Wahlberg is great as the over-protective father. His dynamic with his on-screen daughter and business partner are great. While there are reminders of Harry Stamper and A.J. in T4, the ‘bonding’ between Mr. Yeager and Shane (Tessa’s boyfriend, played by Jack Reynor) isn’t quite as emotionally stimulating.
Gone are the silly supporting characters like the Sector 7 agent played by John Turturro and Shia LaBoeuf’s parents. They had their place, but were used too prominently in the succeeding movies. There is plenty of humor, and it is very appreciated, but removing the over-the-top characters lends a little more gravity to how large the struggles truly are.
It wasn’t all rainbows and unicorns, though. Wahlberg has an extremely melodramatic scene that felt ripped from ‘Gone With The Wind’. I question some of his actions as a father. And there were some issues I had suspending my very-easily-suspended belief system.
2.5 hours of run time was too long. Period. It could’ve been tightened up a lot more. 2 hours would have been an ample amount to go from point A to point B. And then, there’s the ending… sigh. I’ll write it off since it is setting up more movies.
All of that said, this was a very enjoyable ride. I’ve heard very positive things about the 3D version. If time permits, I might try that version also, as this review was based solely on the 2D version.
Transformers : Age of Extinction lived up to my hopes and expectations – both good and bad – and is one of my favorite summer blockbusters thus far (as of this writing).
If $10 if the full price of admission, Transformers: Age of Extinction is worth $9
Brian Williams
The Hollywood Outsider