Review: Transformers: Age of Extinction

Review: Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)

Director: Michael Bay

Principal Cast Members: Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz and Jack Reynor

Michael Bay and the Transformers movies are inseparable. Even though he claimed that the last one was his last, he has inevitably returned for a 4th film which will probably be described as somewhere in between a sequel and a reboot. While Bay claims that this will be his last in the series as he simply wanted to start a new trilogy for someone else to inherit, I for will be more surprised to see him return then not to. But if this is his last film then he goes out doing what he does best. Cleverly deciding to drop the story Sam whatever his name was and current walking disaster Shia La Bouf, the focus moves to Mark Whalberg's single father. The decision pays off as Whalbergs charisma alone makes him a good leading man for a series where the focus is usually upon big alien robots kicking the shit out of each other. While we don't quite escape for teenage romantic drama narrative having actually cast an actress rather then an underwear model means that the female lead for once feels like she could almost be a real character. When your casting a supporting actor for a largely comic role you can't do much better then Stanley Tucci who excels here and becomes the only real human character to make any impact in the films final hour. The problem lies in the films length for there's only so much CGI fighting you can watch and by the third hour of the film your attention will no doubt be wandering. This is made worse by the fact that, other then a few shots that have been shown over and over in the promotional footage, during the final battle you could just be watching the end of the previous film all over again, although thankfully we're now spared the big bad been outdone by child psychology. The plot also seems unsure as who it should cast as the main villain, and with there been so many to choose from it's easy to loose track of whose doing what to who. If the film had been condensed a little bit it's possible that the Transformers franchise could of been put right on track with the perfect summer popcorn blockbuster with enough human interest to keep the film buffs happy and enough action for those who just want a good time but unfortunately due to the extortionate length your just left with hope that Bay can learn from his mistakes (Good luck with that)