Once someone has betrayed you and turned their back on you, why would you still try to help them? In June 2014, Optimus Prime faced an even greater danger than even the Decepticons… humanity.
Directing this 165 minute action/adventure/sci-fi is Michael Bay.
Blowing up the screen is: Mark Wahlberg as Cade Yeager, Nicola Peltz as Tessa Yeager, Jack Reynor as Shane Dyson, Stanley Tucci as Joshua Joyce, Kelsey Grammer as Harold Attinger, Titus Welliver as James Savoy, T.J. Miller as Lucas Flannery. With the voice work of: Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime, Frank Welker as Galvatron, John Goodman as Hound, Ken Watanabe as Drift, Robert Foxworth as Ratchet, John DiMagio as Crosshairs, Mark Ryan as Lockdown, Reno Wilson as Brains.
Five years after the huge battle in Chicago, the Autobots aren’t seen as the friendly robotic beings by the humans as they once were. Now they are seen as a threat and are being hunted down, leaving the Autobots with no option but to hide. So when inventor Cade Yeager found an old beat up semi truck in a junk pile he thought he’d hit a gold mine. Since he’s behind on his bills, he thought scraping the semi for parts could pull in a pretty penny. What he didn’t know until he got a closer look was that he had found an Autobot in really bad shape. The inventor in Cade wanted to know more so he tried to help, but that came with a price. Now Cade and his family face the same danger as the Autobots… extinction.
You know, I’ve watched the Transformers franchise since the first film, and I always thought something was missing. Now, I could never put my finger on just what it was, but the final piece was just never there. Then the second and third hit, and still something wasn’t there. But what was that missing vital piece I pondered?
Finally my question was answered after watching the fourth film. It held the something that was missing from all the others… a longer running time. Not that the others weren’t long enough mind you, but hey lets drag this out just a lit-tle longer and see if anyone notices. Because up till now the longest run time record was 154 minutes, held by Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011). Yep, that’s what made it work. The fact that it drags out for a hundred and sixty five glorious minutes to tell it’s tale is how this one consumes… I mean, wins over it’s audience.
The storyline that writer Khren Kruger came up with was kind of boring – because yet again the Aubots find a human that “needs” to run with them. As the story unfolds, the human will bring action/comedy to the story. Also, while all that is going on in the movie, Kruger is trying to tell a new idea that adds a cool spin to the film, yet doesn’t get enough air time. At times the script was just an excuse for another fight scene or an attempt at a joke. All the while the movie jumps around from place to place attempting to carry multiple story lines. The main story was cool and pretty interesting, it could have focused on just that and done better in the long run. Instead, the under-story was weak and when it was hitting it’s climax, I could have cared less. I would have to say (storyline wise) this is the worse of the of the Transformer films.
As for the playthrough, yeah, the battles were super charged coolness like I expected. Visually this film has a lot of fast paced action, shoot outs (human and transformer) creating serious property damage and so many explosions. Amir Mokri did great work with the cinematography, and the special/visual effects are just as good if not better than the other films. Catching those scenes on the big screen only equal… awesome! I do have to point out that this one is a little darker than the others, which I kind of liked.
The cast was cool all around, but Grammer and Tucci caught my attention the most with their characters. I’m not used to seeing Grammer play a bad guy-ish kind of role, but he was freaking cool. Then you throw in Tucci, who has always been a talented actor, and he definitely does his part in carrying the film. Now, Wahlberg was good, but the script hurt him. I think there were too many cheesy one liners and crappy dialogue that hurt his performance, because usually I’ve found Wahlberg to be a great addition to any movie. Whereas here, he was just a better grown up version of the Shia LaBeouf character from the other films (also less annoying).
Overall, yeah you will want to see it in the theaters. Some of the killer scenes could only look cooler on a 30 foot screen. I just wish the audience was getting more than really cool scenes for their dollar. Sadly, this was a film that everyone was looking forward to. It has the Dinobots, how could this not be cool? Yet, after it was all said and done, it was more hype than pay off. Also, I will warn everyone when taking the kids to see this one, they dropped the F bomb once or twice if I remember right. The language has never been clean in the Transformers franchise, which is kind of sad when I think about it.
Side note, after you watch this film you’ll notice how they left it w-i-d-e open for another film (big surprise huh?). Well no worries, they have already stated that the fifth installment will be released in 2016. Man I just can’t wait for the next one… actually yes I can. Unless they dig deep and pull out a better storyline for the next one, I fear the Tranformers franchise maybe getting old and rusty.
