Obviously, with Transformers: The Last Knight, the fifth installment, upon us next week, why not have yet another proper time to revisit the film series that started it all for this franchise, the Michael Bay directed Transformers movies. Granted, I've seen the first three films and had thoughts about those, but I revisited them again just to really wrap my head around them and get in on the conversation about these movies and watch the fourth for that matter. I truly viewed these movies with an open mind and whatever my final thoughts were on each film, it's all about a proper discussion about cinema. I want to get in on the conversation about these movies and that's that. Without further ado, let's get into my thoughts about them "robots in disguise."
TRANSFORMERS (2007)
I must say that this film has one of the single greatest teasers trailers of all time with the silhouette of a Decepticon destroying the Mars Rover. I'll put a link at the end of the post if you haven't seen it. It was a truly mysterious and very intense looking glimpse, but what did it exactly pan out to be? Well, for many people this first film is actually some of people's favorites in the category of big budget summer blockbusters. There are people who really enjoy watching this movie and have fun with it and revisiting it again for at least the 6th or 7th time in my life since I really enjoyed watching this movie in my preteen years, I'll admit I had some fun with this movie.
The biggest strengths are definitely the action sequences, which I really had a blast watching for the amount of energy Bay infused in the filmmaking and visual effects. The movie is nearly 10 years old and the visual effects really hold up. There is some incredible CGI imagery integrated into the real life environments of this movie. It was very top notch and that CGI was responsible for creating my favorite parts of this movie, which were the Autobots and Decepticons. It was truly awesome seeing Optimus Prime and his crew on this adventure and I was totally into the stakes at hand with there war against the Decepticons. When that was going down on screen I was all for it, but the film makes the silly mistake to overshadow that aspect.
I appreciate the idea of showcasing this film's plot through the point of view of the human characters, but I really didn't care for the characters they introduced at all. I found the writing for these characters to be very bland and that there was too much focus on them rather than the robots, who got very little screen time. They could probably be utilized okay as side characters, but they just didn't work for me. Also, I feel the movie is tonally inconsistent when it tries to be a forced comedy on top of being a hard core action film. The first act was mediocre with that inconsistency, the second act gets semi interesting when the robot battle escalates yet a little exposition heavy, but the third act hits when the action's in motion. The film may look great and sound great with killer action and quality filmmaking, but suffers from an incredibly flat screenplay.
Verdict: C+
TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN (2009)
Unfortunately the only positive I can bring to fruition is that this movie looks good with some of the sleek camera shots, decent visual effects and...yeah that's about it. The screenplay for this film is kinda atrocious with a plot that's non-existent and characters that are just there. The issue I had in the first film with more focus on the humans than the robots is still prevalent, but what's actually pretty depressing this time around are that the robots were pretty boring characters as well. They couldn't even save the movie and on top of that the action was really mediocre as well. There just wasn't that memorable action scene that makes this movie worth that single viewing. All I did during the course of this recent viewing was just watch endless destruction happen and that's it.
I didn't feel the inner conflict or tension in the action scenes because the writing for these characters was abysmal and for that reason I couldn't care about them and even like them. They also made the Decepticons really one note and just evil because they can be and annihilate the Earth since they're mean giant robots. I just wish there were motivations behind the villains that made us hate them. The film was just one big missed opportunity and a cash grab and I get that it was developed during the Writers Guild of America Strike back in 2007 into 2008. That's definitely why the script was so horrible, but there really could've been more effort in the end product and they could've done something a lot better than what they already had.
I saw hints of potentially great stories in here with maybe the conflict of Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson's characters leading the Autobots against the Decepticon war. I would really like to see that movie. If that aspect were fleshed out instead of more focus on a failed attempt at a comedy with Sam's parents, Sam in college, goofy side characters, racial jokes, and distasteful toilet and sexual humor there would've been something better here. Unfortunately that wasn't the case and we got a pretty forgetful and painful sequel to a first film that could've been better. No more improvements just plenty of faults.
Verdict: D-
This might shock some people considering my hatred for the second film and so-so feelings on the first, I actually thought this movie was decent. I could definitely see this time around that there was more effort in the screenplay. I found the plot to be kind of intriguing considering the plot in Revenge of the Fallen was absent. Dark of the Moon has a plot this time, but it actually had me on board throughout the film and I was impressed with a couple twists and turns it took.
And the best part about it was that it focused heavily on the Transformers themselves and it was interesting to see how they incorporated the historical event of the first Moon landing into this story. The way it played out made the film semi compelling and when I say semi I mean that this film wasn't absolutely perfect in it of itself. It does have its unnecessary characters and forced humor in scenes that could've been written and executed a lot differently, but where I will give the film credit is that it does turn it down a bit and not go as over the top like Revenge of the Fallen.
Do I like that this was heavily about the Transformers this time around? Absolutely, but unfortunately like the others those robot characters are pretty underutilized. I did find the human characters more tolerable this time around, but since this was a story about the robots themselves and I did really like the scenes they were in I wish the film took more advantage of using them. The inclusion of Leonard Nimoy as Sentinel Prime was an awesome addition and I liked how that character was utilized in the grand scheme of things.
Also, you can never go wrong that the spectacle is easily the best part of these movies and in my opinion I think this film showcases its visual effects, action sequences and set pieces in the best and most memorable quality. I thought the big action climax was really great and that large scale scene alone is worth a single viewing of this film. It has flaws like the first two with some forced humor and less focus on the robot characters, but this time it's kept reserved on the humor, the plot had some intrigue and the action sequences were an insane blast to sit through. It might not work for some people and I get it, but I had fun with Dark of the Moon.
TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON (2011)
This might shock some people considering my hatred for the second film and so-so feelings on the first, I actually thought this movie was decent. I could definitely see this time around that there was more effort in the screenplay. I found the plot to be kind of intriguing considering the plot in Revenge of the Fallen was absent. Dark of the Moon has a plot this time, but it actually had me on board throughout the film and I was impressed with a couple twists and turns it took.
And the best part about it was that it focused heavily on the Transformers themselves and it was interesting to see how they incorporated the historical event of the first Moon landing into this story. The way it played out made the film semi compelling and when I say semi I mean that this film wasn't absolutely perfect in it of itself. It does have its unnecessary characters and forced humor in scenes that could've been written and executed a lot differently, but where I will give the film credit is that it does turn it down a bit and not go as over the top like Revenge of the Fallen.
Do I like that this was heavily about the Transformers this time around? Absolutely, but unfortunately like the others those robot characters are pretty underutilized. I did find the human characters more tolerable this time around, but since this was a story about the robots themselves and I did really like the scenes they were in I wish the film took more advantage of using them. The inclusion of Leonard Nimoy as Sentinel Prime was an awesome addition and I liked how that character was utilized in the grand scheme of things.
Also, you can never go wrong that the spectacle is easily the best part of these movies and in my opinion I think this film showcases its visual effects, action sequences and set pieces in the best and most memorable quality. I thought the big action climax was really great and that large scale scene alone is worth a single viewing of this film. It has flaws like the first two with some forced humor and less focus on the robot characters, but this time it's kept reserved on the humor, the plot had some intrigue and the action sequences were an insane blast to sit through. It might not work for some people and I get it, but I had fun with Dark of the Moon.
Verdict: B-
TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION (2014)
Oh where do I begin with this movie if you even want to call it a movie. Instead of Shia LaBeouf we now have Mark Wahlberg as the lead who's okay I guess. I'm actually kind of blown away by how high energy this film was and that the plot felt like the last resort. I mean I might as well cut and paste what I put about Revenge of the Fallen here. I'll give it the upper hand on a little less of the annoying characters, but there was still more of that idiotic human story that made me question if I was watching a Transformers movie. Who cares about Mark Wahlberg and his daughter and her dating Jack Reynor from Sing Street? I want to watch a proper Transformers movie that's about I don't know THE TRANSFORMERS!
Also, the action scenes in this film are the least memorable and the endless destruction is so in your face that it was hard to look at and almost gave me a headache. I'm not lying just to emphasize how bad they were. They're that poorly executed and extremely hard to follow. Those who say it's more of the same are true. It's more of the same, but written and directed in the worst quality. I mean some of the effects are okay and the designs aren't bad, but after such a painstakingly long film it's just not exciting to see giant robots and glossy looking shots. It gets so sickening.
There are times when it feels like the film does too little only by telling a story through exposition, which makes the experience so dull. Then, it does way too much to try and entertain you by shoving as much explosions and over the top CGI in every shot in its action scenes to the point where you don't even know what's happening. If you couldn't tell by my negative comments I think this was probably one of the worst sci-fi/action films I've ever seen. Don't waste your time.
Also, the action scenes in this film are the least memorable and the endless destruction is so in your face that it was hard to look at and almost gave me a headache. I'm not lying just to emphasize how bad they were. They're that poorly executed and extremely hard to follow. Those who say it's more of the same are true. It's more of the same, but written and directed in the worst quality. I mean some of the effects are okay and the designs aren't bad, but after such a painstakingly long film it's just not exciting to see giant robots and glossy looking shots. It gets so sickening.
There are times when it feels like the film does too little only by telling a story through exposition, which makes the experience so dull. Then, it does way too much to try and entertain you by shoving as much explosions and over the top CGI in every shot in its action scenes to the point where you don't even know what's happening. If you couldn't tell by my negative comments I think this was probably one of the worst sci-fi/action films I've ever seen. Don't waste your time.
Verdict: F
Well folks those are my thoughts on every single Transformers film directed by Michael Bay and I'll say that it was a very interesting experience. Look forward to my Transformers The Last Knight review next week as well as a special Transformers review I'll reveal soon. For more updates follow me in the social media links below and check out the cool teaser trailer I mentioned earlier. You won't regret it :)
Transformers Teaser Trailer
Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this retrospective and as always be sure to see some movies and all that good stuff.
Take care. :-)
Twitter and Instagram: @alexjcorey
Transformers Teaser Trailer
Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this retrospective and as always be sure to see some movies and all that good stuff.
Take care. :-)
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