Transformers: Age of Extinction

Why won't Paramount just let it end? More importantly, when will Michael Bay leave the franchise? Ever since the first movie, he has only made one film that was not a Transformers movie. Money will make some people do anything. The story of this film was pretty mindless. It started out fine but as the movie went on, I did not care for the story. The plots of all three sequels are below par and I would say that is the fault of Ehren Kruger, who wrote all of them. While the action and special effects made the movie worth seeing, it was not worth the highest ticket price available.

"Transformers: Age of Extinction" has none of the verisimilitude that I enjoyed in the original film. Originality in this franchise has also been forever lost in my opinion. The first part of the movie was good because I was enjoying the exposition of the new human characters. That felt like something new. Then character development was thrown out the window once the main characters got to Chicago. The growth of the protagonists must be central in the entire story. What good is the foundation of a house if there is no house? Throughout the action, the characters did change but it was executed without any earnestness. The action was taking center stage instead. Once Cade and company sneak into KSI, I started to question the movie's plot because they made it in way too easy. During the climax, when Optimus destroys the giant magnet, I again said to myself "Boy, that was easy?" I wonder why Optimus didn't just destroy it earlier? However, the moment that bothered me the most in the movie was Optimus flying at the very end. All those times earlier in the film when he could have blasted away to safety and it is now that he decides to fly for the first time. That is horrible storytelling. Finally, the product placement in the film got annoying. I was found it quite cheesy by the end. Concerning the live-action actors, some did well, some did bad and the rest were okay. Mark Wahlberg and Stanley Tucci belong in the good category while Jack Reynor's performance was pitiful. It sort of bothered me how Joshua goes from antagonist to comedy relief. While he did have some funny moments like the tactical nuke text, this was not the way his character was introduced. Lucas (played by T.J. Miller) was kind of funny so I was kind of bummed out when he died his but he did deserve what happened to him. Kelsey Grammer and Nicola Peltz were okay in their roles. I can't argue with Peter Cullen and it is cool how the original cartoon voice of Megatron (Frank Welker) is Galvatron in this show. Welker was in "Revenge of the Fallen" but his performance in this movie sounds very much like his work in the 80's as Megatron. Half way through the film, I recognized John Goodman as Hound and that is great casting. I had a feeling that Ken Watanabe was the voice Drift and I liked John DiMaggio as Crosshairs.

GM should add all three Transformers sequels to their already-embarrassing recall list. Michael Bay is a director who can make well-written movies better but on the other hand make poorly written movies worse. He doesn't do it intentionally; rather his style brings it about automatically. The action sequences and the visual effects were impressive but without a great story, "Transformers: Age of Extinction" isn't worth the IMAX price. I am sure that another film will be made but I barely have any hope for it.

3 Stars