Review by Jonathan Godfrey for Mr. Will Wong
With the loss of their masked Avengers, some thought Paramount Studios would struggle as a result. But truth be told their success wore a different disguise, that of malleable aliens with an affection for General Motors, Transformers.
The triumvirate responsible for these Transformers are Paramount (as mentioned above), Hasbro (the Company that co-founded the Franchise), and the master of slow motion, Michael Bay. For the last seven years, laurels have draped around the necks of all three parties thanks to their victories on the cybernetic warfront. And with the release of Age of Extinction, they’ve taken up arms yet again.
The latest battle is alluded to in the Film’s opening. Ominous spaceships send out drones to terraform a plush paradise into a metallic wasteland. The mysterious event fades to black as the present day comes into focus.
The Yeager Family replaces the Witwickys as the central human Protagonists. They’re a Father-Daughter duo from Texas whose finances are far from stately. Mark Wahlberg plays Patriarch Cade Yeager, a visionary Inventor with a warrior’s spirit. While his Daughter, Tessa, is played by A&E Darling Nicola Peltz. The two are drawn into intergalactic drama after stumbling upon Optimus unexpectedly. The Autobot leader had fallen into a coma following the war in Chicago, (it seems Megatron wasn’t the only enemy out to steal his spark).
Lockdown is the name of the new Villain, a hired Hitman sent by cryptic beings from a galaxy far far away. His mission: to eliminate the rebellious Autobots, and he is helped in his quest by CIA Operative Harold Attinger (Kelsey Grammer). Attinger is in turn aided by Billionaire Joshua Joyce (Stanley Tucci), a Man keen on making Transformers of his own. The Characters interact as their plotlines intermingle, and the Autobots rise to meet their new threat.
Lambos, Paganis and Bugattis abound, but as usual it’s the American Steel that triumphs over its European Brethren. Be that as it may the most impressive new toy up on the screen is definitely Lockdown. His confidence and stalking prowess are matched only by his marksmanship. He’s cool, and so is all the action on the screen, especially all that takes place in China. Cade’s tumble through the tight confines of a Beijing apartment complex, and Optimus duel with the Dinobots in the picturesque parklands, are just some examples of the eye candy that goes on in the East.
Be that as it may the Story is not as easy to follow, and much of this is a result of its unsolved mysteries. Bay promised that we would be coming into the middle of a story with the start of this new Trilogy, and that most of the answers to our fill-in-the-blanks questions would be coming later. Here’s to hoping they do. For now enjoy the struggle for survival that is Age of Extinction in theaters now via Paramount Pictures.
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