My Review: Transformers Age of Extinction (4/10)

"But when you look up to the stars, think of them as my soul."

Michael Bay is back at it again delivering a longer and louder sequel full of headache inducing action scenes. It's funny that a film like this, with no soul, puts so much emphasis in trying to convince us that these Transformers actually have one. The film felt like a parable warning us about the dangers of cloning and animal testing, but it was completely uninspiring. There was no reason for this film to be so long and at times I think that the over extended action scenes end up becoming anti-climactic. There is a scene at the beginning of the film where a theater owner is complaining how sequels are killing the industry (a clear parody of itself) and if Bay was trying to make fun of critics as old timers then I wouldn't mind being called a grumpy old man because this film was just terrible. The characters in this film are completely one dimensional and their sole purpose in this film was to allow for an excuse to jump from one action scene to the next. You have the now classic female lead role from Bay not doing anything else than looking good in front of the camera, and several attempts at humor from the rest of the supporting characters who simply seem to be in the movie in order to give funny one-liners. For every funny line, there were ten that didn't work. The film does look great; there is a beautiful scenery and cool looking CGI action scenes but it simply felt like another empty attempt at delivering a loud blockbuster. For Bay it seems like more is better, but for me with every new sequel that comes out I grow more unresponsive towards these cartoon characters that I once loved as a young kid. It's a shame because I did like the first film, but the sequels have ruined it for me.

Having Mark Wahlberg play the lead role instead of Shia LaBeouf was an interesting move considering he is more of an action star. I tend to like Wahlberg's action films, but he wasn't enough to save this film considering the real stars are the soulless giant metal robots. I also found Stanley Tucci to be a great addition although at times he did get on my nerves, but the blame for that has to be put on the poor script written by Ehren Kruger. It's as if for two and a half hours we got beat over the head with one repeated action scene after another. I don't know, the entire experience left me a bit dumbstruck and I was utterly disappointed even though my expectations were really low going into this sequel. At times I wondered if Bay's title, "Age of Extinction,"was referring to the future of blockbusters, but when I thought of what other directors did with films like X-Men and Edge of Tomorrow (to mention a few) I calmed down and realized some directors actually are making smart and intelligent blockbusters. Bay on the other hand is making the same film over and over again with the exception that they get longer and louder. Fans who are looking for this will be pleased because Bay gives you an all you can eat buffet of action scenes involving giant metal robots battling off one another while cities are being destroyed. I never thought I would say this, but Pacific Rim was a much better movie at that.