Transformers: Age of Extinction
Directed by: Michael Bay
Written by: Ehren Kruger
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Titus Welliver, Sophia Myles, Bingbing Li, T.J. Miller, James Bachman, Thomas Lennon; Voices by: Peter Cullen, John DiMaggio, Robert Foxworth, John Goodman, Mark Ryan, Ken Watanabe, Frank Welker, Reno Wilson
Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi - 165 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 27 June 2014
Written by: Ehren Kruger
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Titus Welliver, Sophia Myles, Bingbing Li, T.J. Miller, James Bachman, Thomas Lennon; Voices by: Peter Cullen, John DiMaggio, Robert Foxworth, John Goodman, Mark Ryan, Ken Watanabe, Frank Welker, Reno Wilson
Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi - 165 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 27 June 2014
There are franchise sequels and franchise reboots. Transformers: Age of Extinction joins an ancillary category of both sequel and reboot, an ominous sign suggesting the studio craved another installment but recognized the old cast and storyline were stale requiring a kick in the rear. In the fourth installment of director Michael Bay’s sub-woofer-focused, explosions first / plot second Transformers franchise, there are all new humans, some familiar Autobots, and mostly the same elements tweaked just a bit to trick you into thinking you are seeing a new film rather than the same one for the fourth time.
Forget all you know about Shia LaBeouf as the old protagonist; those memories will be no use to you here. Mark Wahlberg (2013’s Lone Survivor) replaces LaBeouf as the audience’s human connection and all references to the civilians and government officials the Autobots used to interact with are wiped clean. Wahlberg plays a recession-hit gadget man and widower with the All-American quarterback name Cade Yeager. Cade works out of his barn trying to create the next indispensable robot product which will launch him and his daughter, Tessa (Nicola Peltz, A&E’s Bates Motel), out of poverty.
Forget all you know about Shia LaBeouf as the old protagonist; those memories will be no use to you here. Mark Wahlberg (2013’s Lone Survivor) replaces LaBeouf as the audience’s human connection and all references to the civilians and government officials the Autobots used to interact with are wiped clean. Wahlberg plays a recession-hit gadget man and widower with the All-American quarterback name Cade Yeager. Cade works out of his barn trying to create the next indispensable robot product which will launch him and his daughter, Tessa (Nicola Peltz, A&E’s Bates Motel), out of poverty.
Nicola Peltz’s Tessa is a new character, yet is interchangeable with Megan Fox and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, the leading ladies from the previous films. There is even the same shot calling our attention to just how pin-up calendar worthy and bronze Petlz’s body is. The camera, knee high behind Tessa, fills the IMAX screen with her miniature jean shorts giving the guys in the audience the exact same view they had of Megan Fox bending over a motorcycle from Revenge of the Fallen and Huntington-Whiteley emerging from a low to the ground sports car in a short dress from Dark of the Moon.
In a two-hour-and-fourty-five minute film, it is hard to say if the action everyone is waiting for kicks off soon or not. Is a half hour in soon? Cade unknowingly takes possession of Optimus Prime, figures out its a Transformer, and then an avalanche of black Suburbans, helicopters, and drones descend on his head. Writer Ehren Kruger, who also wrote the previous two installments, portrays the CIA, led by Harold Attinger (Kelsey Grammer, 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past), and a corrupt major defense contractor, Joshua Joyce (Stanley Tucci, 2012’s The Hunger Games), as the villains. Decepticons show up as means to and end but are not major characters.
Pulling back, the film portrays big government and shadowy intelligence organizations as the sinister puppet-masters behind the calamity befalling Cade and his daughter and the ever-dwindling Autobot population. Taking their cues from recent current event controversies including drone warfare and intrusive surveillance, the filmmakers choose not to discuss these issues, but employ them as plot devices to advance us to the next fireball or interstate collision. Rather intentional or not, Kelsey Grammer reminds the audience of a Dick Cheney sort of politician. There are multiple speeches espousing themes such as protecting God and country from the invaders, you’re either with me or against me, and multiple scenes either referencing or displaying torture during interrogation.
Shifty government agents are nothing new to the Transformers as there is usually someone attempting to use and abuse the Autobots, but they are not the only ingredient carried over. The action sequences remain full of plot holes concerning why bad guys stop to let the good guys get away to fight another day, the sound during major action sequences quiets down so they can turn up a gritty, soft or industrial rock song featured on the soundtrack, product placement gimmicks distract from the narrative, and even the city of Chicago gets torn up again. Michael Bay just finished ripping it to shreds three years ago.
The filmmakers also apply the alternate history manipulation again. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen gave us an alternate history of the pyramids, Transformers: Dark of the Moon gave us an alternate history of the first moon landing, and now, we get an alternate history of why the dinosaurs went extinct. Someday, I look forward to an alternate history explaining why anybody thinks adding more derivative films to the Transformer franchise is a good idea. Yes, this movie will make a truck load of cash, but not many people can say with a straight face the Transformers franchise is keeping up with either the X-Men or Avengers series. It is not.
22 Jump Street recently mocked itself the entire length of the movie for being a sequel; therefore, worse than the original. Age of Extinction pulls the exact same self-deprecating line. Early on, Mark Wahlberg explains all sequels and remakes are “a bunch of crap.” Yes sir, including this film.
22 Jump Street recently mocked itself the entire length of the movie for being a sequel; therefore, worse than the original. Age of Extinction pulls the exact same self-deprecating line. Early on, Mark Wahlberg explains all sequels and remakes are “a bunch of crap.” Yes sir, including this film.
Comment Box is loading comments...
