Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)

I have seen all of the Transformers film and this has to be one of the lowest in the franchise. The addition of Mark Wahlberg to boost star power was a nice touch but certainly did not save the film. His character is an inventor, witty, comical, hell bent on protecting his daughter. TJ Miller was a nice nugget until he bowed out so early in the film. It was a nice caveat that we saw Kelsey Grammer as the antagonist in the film as a defiant and power hungry CIA director. The continuity of the film kept with the franchise story but most of the autoboots are gone. Special effects as always drove the film to a higher rating. I wasn't in complete disappointment but as far as the franchise goes this laid an egg. There is action and some well thought out dialogue, firey scenes with the bots. Afternoon filler.

'Transformers: Age Of Extinction (2014)' is not awful but, just when you think it's been a while since anything stupid happened, the film will throw a racial stereotype or an inappropriate joke (some about statutory rape, no less) or an egregious one-liner or a blatant sequel-bait or an incomprehensible plot-point your way and you'll be reminded of the sobering fact that you are indeed watching the fourth Michael Bay 'Transformers' film. The fourth in a franchise showing no signs of slowing, though relegated to spin-offs it may now be. The picture is just about serviceable in the sense that it didn't anger me, but it is also just plain bland and instantly forgettable. It is also far too long and seems to be making itself up as it goes along. It's the kind of movie that you struggle to remember after a good night's sleep and, honestly, one that you probably don't want to. 5/10

(Very minor spoilers.. I won't get into the story, but do mention a few instances or lines among the criticism.)So, I was a huge Transformers fan growing up. English isn't my mother language, but I watched Transformers without subtitles and actually learned English quite a bit before ever taking English classes in the 3rd grade, just from watching Transformers.When the first movie came around, I actually watched it several times. I absolutely loved it, seeing the Transformers and how incredibly well they had been done. Sure, the humor was there, but with Shia and the goofy family, it somewhat worked in a similar tone than whatever humor the cartoons had, yet kept the story grounded being serious enough to carry you throughout without rolling your eyes.The same can't be said about the later movies. With each iteration, I feel like the series has been pushing towards the kind of humor that Jar Jar Binks brought into the Star Wars movies. Ever since the "twin" autobots in Revenge of The Fallen, I've quite hated the way the transformers are depicted in general.This movie is a great example of what I mean; We do get introduced to new characters, but they are pretty much all complete humoristic caricatures of character cliché's. When the movie is having a bit more serious tone and taking itself and the story a tiny bit more seriously, it works - and reminds me why I'm even bothering to watch, but for most of the movie, it absolutely makes a joke out of itself and every character on the screen, with the exception of Optimus Prime.Even Bumblebee started off somewhat right; loyal, protective, yet having a bit more of a sense of humor. It made him different in the first movie, as he was a tiny bit more like humans, being able to crack a joke, when the rest seemed more "alien" and "robot" - not to mention serious about their task. This worked. Now all of them are depicted as jokesters and Bumblebee instead was depicted as this peevish, mischievous kid that can be provoked to act against all logic, just because someone says the car form he has taken isn't as cool as something else.I absolutely hate that.Then there's the one-liners - or whatever you'd wanna call them.. lines that are just put there to .. I don't know, bring around some supposedly powerful moment without there actually even being one.. like Nicola Peltz character suddenly asking her boyfriend "Well are you still glad you met me?" after doing the one heroic thing she does in the movie - and he goes "Always"... Yet nothing in the entire movie ever suggested that he would've changed his mind or not glad about it. It served no purpose. There are several these kinds of clichés that make you roll your eyes even if you're trying to like the movie.This was actually my third attempt at watching this movie and I finally made it to the end. The idiotic humor, the forced "heroism" and absolutely tired cliché's that keep on repeating (overprotective father thing needs to be reminded of every 5 minutes during the entire mid part of the movie - and we all know that in the end the boyfriend is "accepted" for doing right. We've seen it countless times.) keeps this movie from being even OK. The CGI is again top notch and I can't even imagine how good of a movie a talented writer and director could do with this kind of production value. I'm also trying to remind myself that the humor is there for kids... but truth be told, I've seen countless Disney and pixar animation films that are way less childish and smarter about humor and the pacing, use of the humor. Here, the humor just devalues the movie and makes you not take characters or the plot seriously.I'm planning on watching the next one, Last Knight after this... I see it has got a review score even lower than this. Oh dear.

Good, enjoyable action flick!Mark Wahlberg looking tough, saving his daughter and the world.Totally not necessary to be almost three hours long though!?A sequel movie that is not afraid to make fun of itself though. One of the best lines, "Man, I hate sequels they always suck and never do as good as the first." Bonus points for self deprecation!Worth a rental - but forewarning it's a three hour tour.