Stars Mark Wahlberg, Josh Duhamel, Anthony Hopkins, Laura Haddock, Isabela Moner, Tony Hale, with Gemma Chan, Peter Cullen, Jim Carter, John Turturro and Stanley Tucci Directed by Michael Bay When it comes to movies like these, I try to leave the baggage at the door. I watched the cartoons growing up; I read the comics. None of that should carry into these adaptations because, really, what’s the point of following any of what’s come before? Since the first Transformers flick came out, I gave up on expecting anything to resemble the original source material in the subsequent movies. There was a juvenile aspect to the characters that grated and was wholly annoying, and it did not let up in the sequels, nor is it completely absent here. The characters bicker and complain and practically yell at each other over and over, while logic of any sense or comprehension is crushed under the massive yet fluctuating weights of the Transformers themselves. As much as everyone might want to blame director Michael Bay for “ruining their childhood”, I’d throw the writers into the mix, whether they are creating the story or following orders where story points are concerned. Half the time, the story is the problem as much as the characters themselves. Optimus Prime is supposedly so strong that he has to be taken out of the story near the climax only to come in at the last minute to win the day. Always or so far, like getting killed off (2nd movie), getting tangled up in some wires (3rd movie), crashing so far away from the action (4th movie), or in this case, momentarily brainwashed by villain Quintessa (Gemma Chan) before flipping sides again and simply disappearing for the moment before rejoining the big fight at the end. Meanwhile, we have another ancient artefact hidden on Earth that could lead to the salvation or destruction of the planet. Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) is hiding out in some junkyard on Native Indian grounds helping out the remaining Autobots who are being hunted by another government sanctioned squad of robot hunters, the RTF. Working with the RTF is Colonel Lennox (Josh Duhamel) who has his own clandestine mission to find this artefact. His superiors have no qualms of teaming up with the Decepticons (again?) in an effort to grab the artefact instead of (logically) talking to the Cade and The Autobots about it. Cade is dragged into matters by Sir Edmund Burton (Anthony Hopkins) supposed guardian of Transformers history on Earth, and teamed with historian Vivian Wembley (Laura Haddock). The plot is slim and the story is a mess, but Michael Bay plies his technical wizardry and delivers some worthy action set-pieces, particularly where the humans are involved. At least, it’s more relevant when the human lives are at stake particularly during the climatic, if aborted assault. The characters are mostly annoying as usual (at least, to me), but that could be a given where this cinematic series is concerned. I didn't catch it in 3D but its evident when scenes filmed with the IMAX 3D come on screen as the aspect ratio fluctuates throughout. It's also evident that those scenes are designed for IMAX 3D, and would most likely look spectacular in that format. Not too sure if it's worth paying for it tho. Ultimately, this is still a Michael Bay film with all its overblown testosterone laden excesses, even if he still manages to pull off the occasional set-piece. There’s entertainment to be had but don’t expect what you think you know based on the old cartoons or comics. Whether you’ll enjoy it all or not is a matter of taste and expectations in this case. Bay has his vans and his following, and more than likely, it’ll be the international market with it’s lack of passionate baggage that will determine the movie’s monetary success or failure. It will all depend awn what you’re bringing to this. Rating **1/2 /5 Find the best online deals here. | Barnes and Noble | Google Play Store | Book Depository Discover more about the books here. Please Support.
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