The Transformers movie franchise has been out for quite some time now, and on its fifth film, fans are left to wonder if there’s anything that can salvage this franchise from its downward spiral. Sure, it’s been raking in the money and each film has been a success in that respect, but the story and the integrity of the franchise has been in the dumps as early as the third film, some could argue that even by the second film it was not headed in the right direction. Will this latest installment turn it around? Check out our spoiler free reactions for Transformers: The Last Knight, now showing in cinemas nationwide!
We’ll get right down to it, it’s a movie that you just have to switch your brain off for the next couple of hours and just enjoy it for what it is. To be perfectly fair with this film, I went into the screening with no expectations whatsoever because I would just get disappointed if I did. Nearly nothing has changed, if you’ve seen one you’ve seen ’em all, and maybe for some that’s a good thing. Sure, there are new characters here and there, new robots on each side, but each Transformer film that has been released is pretty much the same formula that’s made it a success, or a flop, whichever way you want to frame it as. If there’s anything that the film has going for it is that there are a LOT of explosions. While we all know that it’s a given for any Michael Bay film to have excessive explosions, you cannot discount the fact that it adds a lot of drama and impact to the scenes and some of the best effects and explosions can be seen in this film alone. In fact, it feels as if there was an explosion every 10 minutes and not that I’m complaining but it feels a bit too excessive. It most certainly looks good, but it’s a lot of unnecessary fluff.
There was a lot of robot action in this film and maybe it’s a good thing? Kids will definitely want in on all the action and for that, I’ll give this film the props it deserves. As part of the generation that grew up with Transformers playing every week, I expected a lot more. Grimlock was there but hardly fought, and as one of the more powerful Autobots in the whole roster, you’d expect him to tear everyone to pieces but it just didn’t happen. Sure there were a lot of fight scenes and the kid in me was happy to see all those robotic parts flying around but it just left more to be desired, at some point it felt like I was watching something right out of Fast and the Furious.
With this film being the last Michael Bay film in the franchise, he sure didn’t want to leave without loose ends so maybe he thought of just cramming a LOT of story points into a 150 minute film and while it would have been a good idea, the execution was totally off. There was so much happening in that span of time, and believe me the film is a long watch, that there was hardly any character development. There were a few comedic moments that, while they mostly felt forced, did make me chuckle a little bit and I’ll give the film that as it tried to connect with the audience in that regard.
I had high hopes for this film but in the end, if you got multiple fireworks in Super Mario as you crossed the flagpole for more points, this was the total opposite, with the number of explosions denoting something negative. I am hopeful that the franchise will get the reboot it deserves and honestly? If they just remade the old animated movie with Unicron, Galvatron, and Rodimus Prime, I would be the happiest person alive and I speak for multitudes of fans out there as well.
Overall, this isn’t the worst movie in the series and I would actually rank this as one of the better films in the franchise in my opinion. Kids will surely enjoy all the robot action in this film and for a couple of hours, they’ll be the happiest kids around guaranteed. The film will require patience, brain toggles set to off, and a watch without your rose colored glasses on and hey, who doesn’t need a stress reliever of a film every once in a while? Catch Transformers: The Last Knight as it is NOW SHOWING in cinemas nationwide!