Transformers: Age of Extinction – Movie Review
Transformers: Age of Extinction – Movie Review
Director: Michael Bay
Writer: Ehren Kruger
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammar, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Titus Welliver, Bingbing Li, Sophia Myles, T.J. Miller
Science Fiction Action Film
It’s summer blockbuster season. And it’s time for another Michael Bay Transformers movie.
Transformers: Age of Extinction is full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
I love a movie full of explosions and good special effects, but even I want some plot once in a while. There’s some fun here, but it’s pretty mindless. Make that extremely mindless, with whipped cream and an explosion on top.
It’s been five years since the events of Dark of the Moon, and a government decision to no longer maintain any sort of alliance with the autobots. All Transformers have been declared the enemy. The only “military” presence in the film is an elite CIA squad, chasing down the remaining Decepticons.
The main plot is about Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg)–good guy, father, inventor, fix-it man. An all-American-hero kind-of guy. While his daughter, Tessa (Nicola Peltz), concentrates on finishing high school and figuring out what comes next, Cade is failing at making a better life for the two of them.
In the midst of a job, Cade runs across a truck that is more than it seems, and starts to question everything. Everyone around him is caught up in the resulting brouhaha. Run away. Fight. Get chased. Lather, rinse, repeat. Boring.
I’d argue that the real main character should be Joshua Joyce (Stanley Tucci), head of Kinetic Solutions Incorporated (insert evil corporation joke here). He goes through an actual Hero’s Journey, grows and develops as a character, and is far more interesting and complex than Cade. He’s also funnier. The movie that truly focused on him–that one I would have enjoyed far more than the one I sat through.
My biggest problem with this movie was that many people were just not thinking things through. They didn’t realize that their actions had consequences–for them, for their friends and family, and for the human race.There were also far too many coincidences and unresolved plot threads. And, like each of the previous Transformer films, the action was built around a McGuffin. The whole film felt a bit . . . recycled.Most of the Autobot versus Decepticon fight scenes were very hard to follow–they’re choppy, and it was hard to figure out who’s who.Despite all of this, the performances by the major cast (Wahlberg, Tucci, Peltz) are solid.Supporting cast members Kelsey Grammar and Titus Welliver are absolutely diabolical as CIA operatives, and Jack Reynor has some unexpected moments as Tessa’s boyfriend, Shane. T.J. Miller provides some needed comic relief, and Bingbing Li’s scenes with Stanley Tucci are the best in the movie.Go ahead and skip this one unless you have nothing better to do and you really love explosions. Or Stanley Tucci. He’s pretty darn awesome.
Reviewed by Elektra Hammond
Elektra Hammond
Elektra lives in Delaware with her husband, Mike, and the cat herd of BlueBlaze/Benegesserit catteries. When not freelancing or appearing at science fiction conventions she travels world-wide judging cat shows.
Latest posts by Elektra Hammond (see all)
- A Walk Among the Tombstones – Movie Review - 10/14/2014
- The Maze Runner – Movie Review - 10/10/2014
- The November Man – Spy Film Movie Review - 09/11/2014
- The Expendables 3 – Movie Review - 09/08/2014
