Movie Review - Transformers Age of Extinction was released two weeks ago. After Dark of the Moon; I would thought that Micheal Bay is done with the Transformers franchise. But I was wrong. Very wrong. I have reviewed Dark of the Moon before. Two weeks ago; I was busy reading negative comments about Age of Extinction. I was skeptical at first but yesterday, I watched it with my family and here is my honest opinion and my thought about the movie (WARNING: Spoiler AHEAD). Click more at your own risk.
Teaser Trailer
The Trouble with Fans
Read this first - First of all; I would like to mentioned about the viewer comments about the movie. It seems that these viewers are divided and split into a few group. First; the hardcore G1 fans. Second; the Micheal Bay Transformers fan and lastly, the 'not fan of both but enjoy the movie nevertheless'.
Well; I am merely not a hardcore fanatic of G1 or M. Bay for that matter. I just love Transformers as it is. Yes; I really hate M. Bay Transformers toy design but that is a different arena completely. G1, Masterforce, Victory, Beast Wars, Robot in Disguise, Armada, Energon,Cybertron, Animated and the latest Prime; I watched them all (and I still need to finish some of the series episodes). Each of these stories has different story line and making them unique but easily related. Transformers was all about robot in disguise and about two factions (Autobots vs Decepticon and Maximal vs Predacon) that fighting each other for million of years. And their war has became ours when they arrived to earth.
Find it similar? If you watched most of the series; you will understand. Put aside Beast Wars (which happened million years ago); the rest happen mostly on Earth and sometimes their home planet Cybertron and other planet (as depicted in G1 season 3 and Cybertron series). It also concern human beings and a more powerful being (such as Unicron). Even in G1 Marvel comics; human was either an innocent bystander or against the Transformers completely. Again that is the pattern that has been shown in Dark of the Moon and recently; Age of Extinction.
So instead of being bias on Age of Extinction; I would say Micheal Bay has hit most of the traditional plot without going astray. And honestly; if I was in his seat, I would quit immediately due to stress and hyper tension. But instead; he did it well and like any other movies, there will always be a flaw. Just like in Pearl Harbor; I thought it was a good movie (due to the dog fight and special effect). Minus that; than Pearl Harbor will just be a nonsense love story.
If you are the the 'not fan of both but enjoy the movie nevertheless'; you will experience a very good movie with superb special effect. But if you fans of G1; you will think that it is totally crap. And luckily for M. Bay fans; they will love it very much.
TV Spot
The Review (Spoiler Ahead)
The movie introduced a new breed of Black Ops operative called 'Cemetary Wind'. First it was Sector 7 abolished and after the Chicago incident, I guess NEST has shared the same fate. There were no stories what happens to the humans that were involved in the previous movie as the Government approved that all aliens were exterminate - Autobots and Decepticons alike. Ironically; 'Cemetary Wind' was helped by another alien who was neither Autobots and Decepticons but was working with the so called 'Creator'. His name was Lockdown. His vehicle mode is the super car Lamborghini Aventador (the best vehicle mode since the Ferrari Italia). His mission was to hunt down Optimus Prime.
The Bounty Hunter
Fortunately; Optimus Prime was good at hiding after taking a few hits from Lockdown (and really unfortunate for Ratchet and the rest of the Autobots). It was fate that intertwine when a normal (and not obnoxious like Witwicky) human, Cade found Optimus truck at a bad state. Later Cade found out that the truck was a Transformers. Optimus was confused and he was full of anger towards human. But it was Cade who help Optimus on his feet and again and not very long; the Cemetery Wind found Optimus Prime (due to some idiot who call them). Optimus and Cade group were running away from the these bad guys and trying to find out who is after them.
The Story So Far
Event after event; Optimus was captured (together with Cade's daughter, Tessa) and the rest were trying to rescue him. They found out a revelation something about 'The Seed' and its connection with 'The Creator'. To my understanding; 'The Creator' was the being that responsible for Optimus creation (maybe Primus or the Quintesson). These creator were responsible for giving instruction for Optimus and 'The Knights' for space exploration and terra-forming other planet. So if the creator create Optimus Prime and The Knight first; so why the hell the 7 primes (including The Fallen) exist in the first place. This was the major flaw for the whole story line so far. And these Knights were actually The Dinobots? Another major flaw. It create more question than answer and really confuse even for those who followed the trilogy.
Plagiarism or Coincidence?
Then these CIA Cemetary Wind was involved with a multi-billion company called KSI. These guys were responsible for the death of Autobots and Decepticons alike for one purpose only - 'Transformium' (I don't even know if that is even in the dictionary or periodic table). After the event of Dark of the Moon; most dead Autobots and Decepticons were molten down to create this materials. It was a scarce material that the head of KSI, Joshua Joyce needed more to create his Transformers especially his most prized possession; Galvatron. As we know in G1 movie; Megatron was reformatted as Galvatron. It has the same basic element in it but with a twist of the Animated series. Remember when Professor Isaac Sumdac was extracting technologies from Megatron head? The same thing happened in this movie. Megatron was never dead but was transferred into a new body. A body without a spark and can manipulate element on his will. But his resurrection was rather useless as most of the scene and the final battle centered on Lockdown instead. I guess this was his introduction that might be a sequel to another upcoming movie maybe?
The Dinobots
I was frustrated that The Dinobots scene arrived almost at the end of the movie. But there were some funny scene by Drift who thought that these 'The Knights' would transform into a big car or something due to their huge scale. In one of the scene; Optimus actually knows and recognize these Knights and there is so much that he is hiding even between his fellow Autobots. The Dinobots action was quite an adrenaline rush and most of them were in dinosaur mode in all the scene.
The Human Matters
Anyway; the human involvement in this movie was about helping the Autobots finding the truth while trying to avoid getting shot or smack by a big giant robot. There were a lot of human aspect in this movie; as Cade Yeager was an overprotected father. He is trying the best to be a good father but was slipping financially due to his dream of becoming an independent inventor (which all of his creation was junk). Shane Dyson was dating his daughter and when the shenanigans happened at Cade's home; he was there (I did wonder why he was there in the first place. Stalking his girlfriend maybe?). So basically; Cade Yeager is the new Witwicky and fortunately without the obnoxious attitude and crazy parents. Then came the bad guys. Harold Attinger was a patriot but was rather a villain worthy in the James Bond world. Sadly in the end; he was only interested in money and fortune. Since Dark of The Moon; the human aspect plays a major role in the Transformers world either as the good or bad guy and the innocent bystander.
The New Looks
Somehow some of you will love or hate the new looks of the Transformers. The Autobot looks a bit like the Power Ranger but I do love what they did with Lockdown and The Dinobots. Most of you guys would love Drift but I found out that he was a bit arrogant. Crosshair sounded and looks like a pirate who would do mutiny against his fellow Autobot. Hound was like a retired army soldier who would have energon beer with Leadfoot (I love his 'last stand scene' against the Decepticons. That one was funny and a keeper). And Bumblebee still an obnoxious teenager just like Sam Witwicky. But I do love the scene when Optimus and Bumblebee tried to tran-scan another vehicle. That was more appropriate than the one in the first movie. Honestly; I really hate how Galvatron looks. He looks like a robot pervert with a huge hole on his chest.
Another TV Spot
Conclusion
Anyway, no matter how many fans hated this movie; I still find it enjoyable. It went overboard with the whole trilogy but nevertheless something really fresh and new as promised by Micheal Bay. I think the movie has entirely evolved into a more mature setting. We can't expect to get what we want but at least Micheal Bay has tried to told the story in his own way. Some might like it and most of us hate it. But as I mentioned before; we should not refer the old 86 movie with this one as it will be boring if it does (I do find it cheesy when I watched it again). At least; Age of Extinction approach was trying to be more realistic and somehow I do get the feeling that something big is awaiting for us soon. And since Optimus Prime is gone to meet his creator; I do have a feeling that the Autobot will try to reorganize themselves under a new leadership while facing the threat of Galvatron. Who knows that we might get Rodimus next? Or the return of Optimus Prime as a different entity.
For those who are still skeptical; just watch it and enjoy it as it is. It is not G1, it is not the series that you all love and known. But it is totally fresh and enjoyable at the same time. It is not as good as the 2007 movie but at least it is not terrible as Revenge of The Fallen (I hate that movie). So until then; go grab a ticket and judge it yourself.
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