God, I am not hard to please when it comes to movies, am I?
Certainly not when it comes to the Transformers franchise. I
don’t know what it is with this brand that I’m so enamored with. Perhaps it’s since
I didn’t have a good Transformers series to follow as a kid, and I just fell in
love with what the brand is doing right now. Perhaps my love is thanks to my
mind being blown when my 9-year old self saw the first movie back in 2007 on
the big screen for the first time. Maybe it’s just my innate love for spectacle
that keeps me entranced in the theaters. Whatever the case, Transformers: The Last Knight is another
case of me satisfyingly purchasing a Transformers movie ticket. And I’m already
considering going back for more.
The story is nothing unfamiliar to the Transformers series:
the world is ending, Autobots have to team up with humans to protect it, and
they have to travel the globe in search of the device that can save mankind.
What shakes things up a bit is the fact that Optimus Prime, longstanding fan
favorite, has been corrupted into fighting against us, rather than for us.
What’s unfortunate is that, yet again, the actual
Transformers themselves aren’t explored as deeply as many might want to see.
Optimus has turned evil, but his screen time is minimal enough that the ideas
behind his corruption aren’t explored in any great depth. Bumblebee is given
more backstory, revealing that he and newcomer Hot Rod have been on Earth for
at least as long as World War II, but we only get to see about a 30-second
sequence. The foundation for a new mythology meeting the old is laid, but it’s
only laid. This is where a longer Transformers movie could have benefitted from
a longer runtime.
As for the characters, all of the new Autobots we met in the
previous film – Drift, Crosshairs, Hound, and the Dinobots– have returned to
the limelight, with the two former taking somewhat of a backseat in order to
allow for newer characters, both human and alien, to get some time to shine. As
I mentioned, newer Autobot Hot Rod appears, but he doesn’t get much of a proper
introduction. Megatron, the resident Transformers baddie, returns, with a slew
of a new crew. Despite giving them a casting call a la Suicide Squad, most of the new Decepticons don’t make it past the
40-minute mark. Even Megatron, returning in his infinite glory and being voiced
once again by Frank Welker (who voiced the character in the original series and
periodically throughout the subsequent series), he, like several other
Transformers, isn’t around too much.
When it comes to the humans, Mark Wahlberg’s Cade Yeagar is
serviceable, but nowhere near as enjoyable as Shia Laboeuf’s Sam Witwicky.
Anthony Daniels, Laura Haddock, and Isabella Moner, playing all new characters,
are also fine for the finite time they’re in. In this movie, more than any of
the other Transformers movies, none of the characters have any significant
impact on the audience. They’re not bad in any real way, but they also don’t
grant the audience any sort of particular enjoyment. Middling is probably the
best way to describe the human cast.
And on a final note, that’s probably the strongest aspect of
this film: it’s coherent. That shouldn’t be a surprise for any film fan, but it’s
always been an issue in the Transformers series, even on their best film. But
while this film may be somewhat formulaic in how it builds up to the climax,
one doesn’t get lost when moving from scene to scene, or from character to
character. It’s kind of sad that it has to be noted and recognized in such a
prolific franchise, but here we are, giving Transformers:
The Last Knight props for getting from point A to point Z in a movie.
Despite this critique, and the franchise as a whole, I
enjoyed seeing these special effects on-screen once again. And I enjoyed the
exploration, however light, of the Transformers lore. If this is the direction
the franchise is heading – whether it be spin-offs, prequels, or further
sequels – I’m ready to stick around for more.
Rating: 8/10
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