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Transformers: Age of Extinction - Grading & Discussion

What did you think of the movie?

  • Total voters
    52
A

Agent Richard07

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[highlight]***SPOILERS AHEAD***[/highlight]





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Get ready for nearly 3 hours of Galvatron and mayhem and dinobots galore!
The fourth Transformers movie is finally here. No pork, no dairy, no Beef!


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Official Website | IMDb Page | Wikipedia Entry
Box Office Mojo Page | Rotten Tomatoes Page | Metacritic Page
Transformers Wiki Page | Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkIPIkPPbdo[/yt]​
 
Back to the top. The movie opens tonight in North America.

Fandango has announced that "Transformers: Age of Extinction" is obliterating all the competition on its advance ticketing service.

The film currently holds 96% of all ticket presales for its opening weekend, cementing the chances of it reaching its early tracking numbers which indicated the film may open to more than $100 million domestically for the weekend.
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Source

The article goes on to say that the reviews aren't good and it isn't scoring well. As of this posting, it has the lowest score out of all four movies on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.
 
Tentative plans to go Sunday.

The film was 44% on rottentomatoes yesterday. Now I see it's plummeted to 17%. Yikes! Although that's about par for the course for this franchise.

I concur with Mr Light's sentiments. :D
 
StarMan said:
The film was 44% on rottentomatoes yesterday. Now I see it's plummeted to 17%. Yikes! Although that's about par for the course for this franchise.
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That's almost enough to make me want to see it after all. The reviews are so dire that I've gotten really curious to see what all the fuss is about. :lol:
 
Since i'm done with wasting money on these movies just spoil me someone. Is Unicron in this one? (complete speculation) How shitty are the characters this time?
 
Reportedly there's no Unicron, although there are some other stuff from Transformers The Movie, such as Megatron becoming Galvatron, the death of several Autobots from the previous films and the creators of the Transformers. As for the human characters they're supposed to be even worse than Lebouf and co.
 
I saw it last night. I don't know if going in with really low expectations helped but it was better than I thought it would be. Yes, it was another Bayformers spectacle, and yes, it was long but it had a number of positives…

  • It had some decent story threads amidst the action. Your milage might vary, but a lot of what we got story-wise did capture and hold my interest. I was also surprised at how much the human element played in this movie. At one point, it even felt more like a Bourne movie than a Transformers movie. If you've seen this thing, you'll know what I'm talking about. It was still very much a Transformers movie though and our Autobots and Decepticons got their arc and screentime in what I thought was a balanced film.

  • Kelsey Grammer, Titus Welliver and Stanley Tucci put in some great performances, and dare I say it, probably among the best of their careers. I've rarely seen a genuinely menacing, cold and frightening villain like the one I saw in Kelsey Grammer. Titus Welliver as the hired mercenary was truly badass, and Stanley Tucci really played up the megalomaniac, doing so with just the right amount of mustache-twirling hamminess. I'd say it's a shame that the trailers didn't promote them more, but they aren't Mark Wahlberg and this is about giant robots fighting, after all.

  • Michael Bay seems to have dialed back his signature excess. Yes, some of the pyrotechnics were his usual over-the-top displays of style over substance but he managed to use some of them to serve the action as opposed to being there strictly for the 'cool' factor. There was also a lot less overt patriotism and what we did get served the plot. And the puerile humor that was present in the previous films was done away with quite a bit. I like my puerile humor, but if you don't, you're in for a bit of a refreshing change. Also, Bay wasn't about to let Nicola Peltz go by without putting her in short shorts, but as part of his dialing things back, he had good old dad raise a stink about getting her into some proper pants. I like my gratuitous short shorts, but if you don't, you're in for a bit of a refreshing change.

  • I thought… Great! Megatron is sidelined again. Fortunately though, they did do something with him that I thought was clever, or at least more clever that what I might have expected from a movie like this.

  • The Dinobots were handled to my satisfaction. Their rationale for being robot dinosaurs was believable and they were true to the spirit of the Generation 1 animated series.

  • I liked seeing the Autobots hiding out in the desert. It was another nice homage to G1.

The negatives…

  • The afore mentioned runtime.

  • There was a lack of really interesting transformers like more combiners, Omega Supreme, Unicron, etc.

  • A chunk of the third act really dragged.

I'd say it had more good than bad, so I'm curious about why the scoring is as low as it is. I didn't find this to be the worst of the four movies. Is this a great movie? Was I blown away? No. But I liked a lot of it and was pleasantly surprised.
 
Overall Age of Extinction was a lot better than I expected. I liked the use of China in the film. But really? Wulong Park is not 5 seconds away from Hong Kong! And cars in Hong Kong have right-side steering wheels like the U.K.! The Autobots got a lot of dialogue to characterize themselves. Optimus the wounded leader, Bumblebee the vain scout, Crosshairs the jerk, Drift the serene swordsmaster, Hound the excitable soldier. It was disappointing though that there were only 5 main Autobots. And only 4 Dinobots who only appeared for about 10 minutes and none of them talk. I was surprised that Drift was a triple changer. And I was surprised that Scorn's visor-style face matched his toy so well. And there wasn't a detailed explanation for why the "Creators" cyberformed Earth and other planets in 65 million B.C.E. We had one shot of what appeared to be the hand of a creator. It looked technorganic, so the Creators might be Quintessons. But how did the Creators "create" the Transformers????? The first movie clearly showed the Allspark creating Transformers. Oh yeah, and how did Lockdown get all those aliens to serve him? And why didn't Optimus depart Earth in Lockdown's ship and free all of Lockdown's trophies?

Maybe it's just cause they're new characters, but I thought the humans were alright. It was great how Cade himself jumped into combat with Transformers by utilizing the alien gun he stole from Lockdown's ship. That's more than I can say for Sam Witwicky. The dynamic between Cade, Tessa, and Shane was unoriginal but amusing. I thought "Lucky Charms" was an overt racial/ethnic slur though. And I found the assholes of "Cemetery Wind" to be surprisingly believable. I thought it was a story element kind of like Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Still though, Sam, Carly, Simmons, all the surviving NEST personnel, etc should have been around to pose a threat to Cemetery Wind's grossly illegal and immoral actions.

As many people have stated, the film is just so long. I can say though that Michael Bay has learned somewhat from the mistakes of previous films. Not as much overt patriotism, explosions are used somewhat better, and not as much crass humor. Nonetheless, Age of Extinction is a typical Michael Bay film, and I suppose I understand why a lot of critics hate the movie. For the next Transformers film I want new producers.
 
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Agent Richard07 said:
I'd say it had more good than bad, so I'm curious about why the scoring is as low as it is. I didn't find this to be the worst of the four movies. Is this a great movie? Was I blown away? No. But I liked a lot of it and was pleasantly surprised.
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I think a lot of it is that critics are just sick and tired of the series as a whole by this point. Even if this movie is genuinely better than, say, the second one, it still basically feels like "more of the same" to them in the end.

And I can't really say I blame them. Even if this new movie is halfway decent, I still have less interest than ever in watching a Michael Bay Transformers movie.
 
For a change* it's not out here in the UK for two more weeks
(* as every big Marvel movie seems to come out earlier here)

But even so I'm thinking I'll pass on this. Sounds just as bad as the others. And 2 hours 40 minutes of Bay Transformers? No thanks.
 
Doctorwhovian said:
Reportedly there's no Unicron, although there are some other stuff from Transformers The Movie, such as Megatron becoming Galvatron, the death of several Autobots from the previous films and the creators of the Transformers. As for the human characters they're supposed to be even worse than Lebouf and co.
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I find that last bit impossible.
 
Mister Fandango said:
As do I. But, somehow, I can believe it nonetheless. Which blows my mind.
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Does Wahlberg chatter like an insane monkey?

Does Whalberg splatter the word "No" out like he gets paid by the syllable?

Does Whalberg needless scream like a drunk banshee throughout all of the action scenes?

Is Whalberg's character just a complete douchey asshole?

I've watched all of the other TF movies this past week, with Rifftrax, and Shia's character is just insufferably annoying and terrible. There's not one iota of redeeming value in him making him a worthy main character.

Particularly in the 3rd one where he acts like a butt-hurt child. Which I think is mostly due to LaBeouf's limitations as an actor, his screen presence or maybe it's just the "arc" for his character over the movies was more of downward spiral.

He's looking for a job and he's talking to Malkovich's character after an interview that netted him a job in the mail-room and he comes across as whiny as he says, "I can't tell you how or when but I've saves your life..." I think it's supposed to come across as dark and brooding, which would work for a better-grounded character or probably an actor with a darker side to him to make this come across as a lost hero moment.

With LeBouf? He just comes across as a whiny asshole.

God-damn, I can still hear his screaming in my head during... oh so many scenes in that movie. When he loses his shit at the stop-gate at the military instalation where the Autobots are, during the freeway chase where Bumblebee transforms mid-chase and just soo, sooo, painful.

I REFUSE to believe Whalberg is worse in this movie than LeBouf is in his, particularly 3.
 
Trekker4747 said:
Does Wahlberg chatter like an insane monkey?

Does Whalberg splatter the word "No" out like he gets paid by the syllable?

Does Whalberg needless scream like a drunk banshee throughout all of the action scenes?

Is Whalberg's character just a complete douchey asshole?

I've watched all of the other TF movies this past week, with Rifftrax, and Shia's character is just insufferably annoying and terrible. There's not one iota of redeeming value in him making him a worthy main character.

Particularly in the 3rd one where he acts like a butt-hurt child. Which I think is mostly due to LaBeouf's limitations as an actor, his screen presence or maybe it's just the "arc" for his character over the movies was more of downward spiral.

He's looking for a job and he's talking to Malkovich's character after an interview that netted him a job in the mail-room and he comes across as whiny as he says, "I can't tell you how or when but I've saves your life..." I think it's supposed to come across as dark and brooding, which would work for a better-grounded character or probably an actor with a darker side to him to make this come across as a lost hero moment.

With LeBouf? He just comes across as a whiny asshole.

God-damn, I can still hear his screaming in my head during... oh so many scenes in that movie. When he loses his shit at the stop-gate at the military instalation where the Autobots are, during the freeway chase where Bumblebee transforms mid-chase and just soo, sooo, painful.

I REFUSE to believe Whalberg is worse in this movie than LeBouf is in his, particularly 3.
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I was agreeing with you for the most part.

I just know Michael Bay. He's like George Lucas, he can bring out the most annoying aspects of anyone or anything. So when people are saying that the acting in this one is just as bad, if not worse, than the previous ones... I can kinda believe it. Which, again, blows my mind given how fucking awful LaPoof is.
 
I have the strangest relationship with this series. I hate them with a passion. They are some of the worst garbage ever committed to film. Yet somehow, after three terrible movies I still feel compelled to see this one, even though I know it will be no better. What the hell is wrong with me? Battered person syndrome?
 
OdoWanKenobi said:
I have the strangest relationship with this series. I hate them with a passion. They are some of the worst garbage ever committed to film. Yet somehow, after three terrible movies I still feel compelled to see this one, even though I know it will be no better. What the hell is wrong with me? Battered person syndrome?
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No, Dinobots :evil:

Seriously if you tolerated the last 3, you should give the 4th one a chance.
 
Just saw it today.

1. Don't know if it was the non-3d version or my local theater (AMC) but the sound was wonderful. Dialogue was crisp and the explosions were muted. Very pleasant experience.

2. We need to stop calling Michael Bay either a racist or a sexist. It's clear that he hates and demeans everybody EQUALLY.

3. This is the first time I noticed that Bay's movie are at the level of sophistication understood by a 12 year old. Soldiers are awesome, Government is bad, grownups are grumpy but they try really hard, Blonde girls in shorts are hot, robot dinosaurs are the coolest thing ever and Optimus Prime is so awesome he should rip people's faces off. Oh and Chinese people know kung-fu. Maybe that's the problem, I'm no longer 12.

4. Michael Bay == Optimus Prime. Just think about it and it makes sense.

5. For some reason, I didn't feel this movie was overly long. The last battle in Hong Kong definitely could be edited better but I really wanted more dinobots.

6. They turned Bumblebee into a jerk. I thought that was uncalled for.

7. Kind of suffered from the too many villains syndrome. Lockdown was great but there should be more of him. Galvatron was a big Meh. Stinger was a disappointment. The other decepticons were pretty forgettable. All throught the movie I thought the idea of humans creating evil versions of Autobots should be it's own movie.

8. I agree with Prime, you kill Ratchet you deserved to die. I wish Prime ripped Kelsy Grammers face off instead of just shoot him.

9. The didn't explain the whole Knight thing or where the Dinobots came from.
 
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