After three films following the same character played by Shia LaBeouf, Michael Bay has decided to restart the franchise (the characters at least) with his latest installment of Transformers: Age of Extinction.
Featuring a whole new set of stars including Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer and more, this film actually might have some hope for the action genre. Following Mark Wahlberg’s character of Cade Yeager, in a sort of American Pickers type fashion, is an inventor whose daughter Tessa, played by Peltz, needs money for college and is conveniently dating race car driver Shane Dyson, played by Jack Reynor. Through a series of hijinks, Cade buys Optimus Prime, restores him, and here comes Kelsey Grammer’s Harold Attinger, the Autobot-removal military advisor to the White House, who in reality we find out, is in cahoots with another transformer, who is on a hunt for all transformers – Autobots and Deceptacons alike. Stanley Tucci magically fits in this with his company that has synthesized the new material “Transformium” that he uses to make his own Transformers that he controls.
With a plot like that, what’s not to love? The product placement is high with this one – there was a blatant thirty second Bud Light commercial when in the middle of a chase/fighting scene Wahlberg reaches for a bottle, opens it, and takes a swig. All that was missing was an “Ahh.” But that was just one of the numerous product placements barefaced throughout the film.
There were some parts that the film tried to convey emotion, but there was nothing to base the anger or sadness off of, as the film does not draw the audience member in emotionally. At times, Bay’s use of slow motion goes against him when we tries to portray emotion. One highlight was Tucci’s comedic timing during the film’s most dramatic moments.
In all, it was a very entertaining movie. Grammer’s villain character was just the right amount of evil that even kids could handle (although there were a few curses that you would not want your thirteen year old hearing), but enough that even the adults shivered at his potential. Tucci’s character, Joshua Joyce, experiences the life-changing lesson of never letting your morals be second to your goals, and Wahlberg learned how to let his daughter have her own life as he continued with his. With an enticing story that continues what was set in place over the first three movies, Age Of Extinction allows for the audiences to have a fun ride and look forward to the next film in the series.
