Transformers: The Last Knight
As the fifth instalment in Michael Bay’s Transformers franchise, our storyline picks up in the near future when the governments of earth have outlawed the alien race of living robots. The dreaded Transformers Reaction Force (TRF) are in the process of hunting all Autobots and Decepticons to extinction.
Mark Wahlberg reprises his role as wise-cracking beefcake inventor Cade Yeager. A fugitive from the law, Cade spends his days assisting a small crew of Autobots to remain ‘robots in disguise’.
Autobot leader, Optimus Prime, has gone in search of his maker on his distant home planet, as his nemesis, Megatron, gathers Decepticons to search for an ancient weapon of unparalleled power.
Every movie asks its viewers to suspend their disbelief. The question then becomes a matter of degree. This is a world where heroes repeatedly defy physics to avoid gargantuan fragments of debris, whilst battling semi-truck-sized robots to emerge unscathed.
That’s all fine and good. It’s become part of the established genre of a modern-day blockbuster. Even the re-writing of earth’s history to include ancient robots in the days of King Arthur was rather entertaining.
However, the flimsy character motivations and Ex Machina solutions to major conflicts leave the viewer wanting more from the writers.
A rich cast of actors including Sir Anthony Hopkins join Wahlberg in lending credibility to a somewhat weak and convoluted script. Whilst complexity in a story is not a problem, the various disparate components didn’t sit together as a part of one cohesive narrative.
Remarkably seamless special effects combined with striking visual compositions are inter-spliced with shaky hand-held footage recalling a sense of a roller-coaster ride; there will be plenty of high-adrenaline thrills, but you may leave the theatre wanting to vomit.
Whilst that might not be to many peoples’ taste, it may be perfectly pitched for the film’s intended audience. A credit at the end of the movie reminds viewers that the entire premise was based on a line of children’s toys from Hasbro.
What a shame I’m no longer an 11-year-old boy.
Rating: M Violence & offensive language.
FILMGUIDE rating:
