Preston Barta // Film Critic
“Transformers: Age of Extinction” | 157 min. | Rated PG-13 | Director: Michael Bay | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Stanley Tucci, Titus Welliver, Peter Cullen, John Goodman, Ken Watanabe, T.J. Miller, and Kelsey Grammer
Rating: 1/4
“A Michael Bay film” – that’s all you really need to know, to know what you’re in for. And if you thought the previous TRANSFORMERS films were two-and-a-half hours of incoherent nonsense, well, you might start appreciating them after seeing this fourth installment, AGE OF EXTINCTION.
This new entry continues to follow what Bay has done since the first flick. It takes place four years after the battle in Chicago, and we practically have the same story with new faces, Autobots new and old, and Decepticons looking to wipe them out. That’s it, really.
It’s apparent that Bay is not going give up his trademark aesthetic of expensive cars, young women with their asses hanging out of their shorts, people who look good even when covered in dirt, picturesque sunsets and landscapes, advertisements in every frame, lens flares, and of course, his biggest trademarks: EXPLOSIONS and LOUD NOISES!
The only redeeming aspects of this installment are the sound (even though it pays you a massive headache) and the CGI (although, not truly a surprise in that respect). So if you do make the mistake of watching this, make sure you do it in IMAX 3D, because otherwise there will be nothing on screen to enjoy.
Listen, I can appreciate a movie where you leave your brain at the door and allow the visuals to wash over you. And I’m well aware that it takes a lot of skill to do what Bay does on a technical level, especially here with the new IMAX 3D cameras. But there has to be a story with interesting characters, and the characters here are far, far less interesting and fun than the previous films. The laundry list of faults could go on forever.
Overall, AGE OF EXTINCTION is a well polished turd and a complete waste of time and money. The previous films (well, the first and third one) were a guilty pleasure that scratched a certain itch for a specific audience, but this one doesn’t even manage that while inheriting all the faults of its predecessors. So… #DontGiveMichaelYoMoney
TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION opens tonight at 9 p.m.
Check out our interview with stars Nicola Peltz and Jack Reynor below.
