115.
Transformers: The Last Knight
7.5/10
Time for the fifth instalment in the Transformers franchise and after the forgettable forth for me, my expectations were so low that I surely couldn't walk out of this film feeling truly let down. Whether this is going to be the last film, Michael Bay's last film or another film in a long procession of explosions and metal shards, it'll be interesting to find out. The trailer involved the normal Bay kind movies with a lot of special effects, explosions and all the characters we are used to seeing. I went alone to watch this one so didn't have anyone's reaction to gauge with. This looks bad ass so let's roll out.
Just as the last few films I've seen, King Arthur and The Mummy the film opens in the Dark Ages of England. King Arthur is on screen with his Knights in an epic battle that they are clearly loosing to savages as their men is getting crushed by giant fire balls. Their last hope is the arrival of Merlin and his magic, but the other men, other than Arthur, think he is nothing more than a drunk. Switching to Merlin travelling on a road somewhere, clearly hungover but drinking some more to help him on his way. Shouting into what seems an overgrown, crashed spaceship, he meets a Cybertronian Knight who he begs for help for this fight. Finally the Knight presents him with a powerful staff that can be used to control Dragonstorm, which is awesome in name and awesome in sight. Great effects show a huge metal dragon fly through the land and lay waste to King Arthur's enemies and just in time. Back to the present day and we see Optimus Prime floating through space on his mission to find his creators. He's lost and covered in ice. On Earth, the Autobots are now deemed illegal after the carnage from the Forth film in Hong Kong. One is hiding with Simmons in Cuba, whilst the Transformers Reaction Force or TRF, has been active for the last few years in order to kill any Transformer that they come across. In the NASA control room, someone detects something huge heading towards Earth in a matter of three days and its planet Cybertron. Ok so they say they didn't notice it because it was hiding behind the moon but surely there's enough satellites up there to notice something sooner right?
Chicago next and most of it is in ruins and a bunch of kids fancy exploring and they find a little pod fighter which contains a Cybertronian Knight and it wakes up to shock them. As the slide down to escape a TRF sentinel starts to attack them but they are saved when a young girl and her Autobot friend Canopy destroy the sentinel. She and another of her little Autobot friend Sqweeks run to cover as the TRF air strike the big Autobot down and despite her best efforts, he dies. Bumblebee then arrives, crashing through a wall to take out the drone that did the bombing as Cade, played by Mark Wahlberg, turns up after being in hiding for siding with the Autobots. Not long after this event, the TRF show up to arrest Cade and take down Bumblebee and after blowing him into pieces, each individual one starts to attack before reforming Bumblebee to his normal shape. Cade has Santos, the leader of this group from TRF, pinned to the ground with a gun before a familiar voice asks him to stop. Its Lennox, played by Josh Duhamel, who is one of the only characters to make from the first movies. He talks Cade out of doing anything and lets them both go on their way. Cade goes to the Knight in the ship, who dies but firstly he gives Cade a talisman from the dark ages which will give him a special power. All this has been seen by the Decepticon Barricade, who is disguised as his usual Police cruiser.
In space, Optimus crash lands onto what is left of Cybertron and is approached by Quintessa, voiced by Gemma Chan, who introduces herself as one of the creators of the planet. Optimus isn't happy and tried to attack her as he is held back and they both blame each other for turning their back on their planet and fellow Transformers. She gets into his head and begins to control him, explaining that Earth is really their rival planet, Unicron, in disguise. She wants Earth destroyed so that Optimus may have redemption, which he accepts. His eyes have now turned red, indicating that he has become an enemy, renaming himself Nemesis Prime. Awesome moment actually. Back to Earth again and Lennox is answering to his General about Cybertron's advances and they learn of the news that Megatron has been resurrected and he is seeking the talisman. The TRF make a major deal with Megatron for his help and they must release some of his Decepticon friends. Finally we are sent to a new location and it's Oxford to see a Professor Viviane, played by Laura Haddock, we clearly already see we have our posh English female back, who comes with the good looks. She is constantly reminded that she needs a man, so I can guess who she is going to be hooking up with. Leading a tour through the museum, she tells them of myth and folklore surrounding the country but at the same time kind of telling them all that it's bullshit. Cade is now arriving at a junkyard that he's been calling home. His friend Jimmy who he hired through a newspaper ad, looks after the Autobots in his possession and one of them is a giant dinosaur that is incredibly hard to handle. He has been followed home by Izabella and Sqweeks, and although he tries to turn her away she shows her worth as mechanic but not before explaining that her parents were killed by Decepticons so all she had were her two Autobot friends. Cade allows her to stay and then heads to call his daughters but is unable to speak or stay on the line long because the TRF will find him. Inside his little caravan are three baby dinosaur transformers and I have no clue where these came from.
Megatron has now tracked them down and the TRF with them to find the talisman and kill the bots. Coming out of hiding, the Autobots start fighting they escape to a deserted that Cade has already rigged with explosives that already blow two Decepticons to pieces. Another dinosaur enters the frame from beneath the ground and turns over some TRF trucks, killing the men inside. This ticks off Santos who sends drones into the town to scout and kill the group. Not before the talisman attaching itself to Cade so as he is shot, it acts as a shield for him. Confused he gets into an elevator there a humanoid Transformer called Cogman is looking for him, but nearly looses him as he leaps out of the glass elevator onto a drone and is dragged to the roof. He finally gets Cade along and tells him that he and Bumblebee need to go with him urgently. Leaving Izabella with the other Bots, telling her that she is family now. This is some quick moving story and it didn't take long for Cade to say yes at all. Anthony Hopkins now makes an appearance as he gets into Viviane's car and turns it into a transformer so the next time she gets in, it takes her, against her wishes to Sir Edmund Burton's (Hopkin's) Mansion. At the time is a churned out of the boot, Cade and Cogman are arriving too. Burton explains to them both that there is such an order since the time of King Arthur that have worked with Transformers for the good of humanity and the Witwiccans, including Sam Witwicky, shown in a little framed picture as a nice nod to the older films, have been doing their part to protect the bots. In a flashback we see one Transformer helping American soldiers in World War II. Burton goes on to explain the staff of Merlin that only a descendant can wield. Viviane is the last one, of course otherwise why else would she be there. She called it bullshit before so it is obvious she would be the one. She needs to work to stop something catastrophic happening to Earth and her father had known it all along. Cade's talisman is explained next and it has chosen him because it deems him honourable. TRF show up again and Hot Rod, the car that took Viv holds them off with a time contained bubble as the others escape through the street of London on a high speed chase causing carnage on their way.
Cade and Viv head to her father's office in her house where her mother and friends take a liking to him already and are happy that she has found a man. Heading upstairs, they search for clues to where the staff may be and downstairs the women can all hear them banging and talking. Everything right now is a sexual innuendo. They locate a submarine with the help of Simmons who wants to be an honorary member of the order. He is on the phone and the movie simply seems like it wants t add him in and he gives the most vital information over the phone just because he can. The Submarine takes Cade, Viv and Cogman to the bottom of the sea where they finally find a massive machine and inside is a chamber of Knights and the staff.
The Knights are all lying dormant and look like they have
for many years. Once they grab the Staff one of the wakes up and tries to kill
them. The TRF have followed them down to the machine as well and are takeout
but the giant Knights. Viv grabs the staff once more and the machine starts to
make its way to the surface and floats above land heading to a destination. By
now the crew have made it to the top of the machine and Optimus has now shown
up, he wants to take the staff to Quintessa in order for her to start the
machine which will drain the Earth and restore Cybertron, ending Human life.
Optimus takes the fight to Bumblebee while he is still brainwashed and before
delivering the fatal hit, Bumblebee's real voice finally came back at the most
convenient time in movie storylines. He remembers this yellow bot is his friend
and Optimus is now good again but all the Knights have surrounded him and want
to kill him for his betrayal. Cade steps in with the talisman attached and this
somehow gives him the power to wield Excalibur, causing the Knights to step
down.
So, the massive machine or spaceship has made its way to
Stonehenge where Quintessa, joined by Megatron, start their attack on Earth. Finally,
the TRF want to join the Autobots and rip off their badges in what is supposed
to be a moving scene but seemed to take way too long. Also arriving to the
fight for no reason but to fill the characters were Jimmy and Izabella with the
other Bots that were protecting them. Burton fancies spraying bullets, only to
be killed by Megatron and dies with Cogman at his side. They fly up to the
alien planet and crash land but prepare to attack. With Quintessa sending out
warriors and massive guns, the team decide to pull back and nuke them instead
so Izabella sends Sqweeks to destroy the gun with his Autobot arm. The
Infernocons head to kill Optimus who chops off their heads in one slow motion
swipe of his sword. Fighting their way into Cybertron, Viv tries to regrab the
staff and Optimus cuts off Megtron's arm and kicks him off the planet and back
down to Earth. The nukes have hit one part of the planet and sent it swinging
from its wires and colliding with another main structure. This has sent the
heroes into a spin because the part of the planet they are on in now breaking
free and flipping in all directions. This sends Cade and Viviane flying towards
certain doom until Hot Rod uses his time freezing trick and helps her closer to
the staff. Optimus gets to Quintessa and she simply holds him back whilst a
sneak attack from Bumblebee destroys her. Viviane has grabbed the staff,
stopped the machine and saved Earth.
Tying up all loose ends, or so it seems, Cade and Viviane
sort out a date whilst also taking in Izabella so that she has a 'normal'
family again. Optimus closes with his usual chat and sends out a call to all
Autobots that Earth is his home once again. During the credits, there is a
scene where scientists are in the dessert and Quintessa appears in human form
and approaches one, telling him that she knows a way to destroy Unicron. As the
camera pans out, we see another massive horn sticking out of the sand.
This was Michael Bay loving his toys once more and because I
knew what to expect with my not so high expectations, I enjoyed it for what it
was. The story was rushed and a little messy but at the same time I was
connecting with the characters. The graphics and explosions where a major
factor for why I enjoyed sitting and watching this movie. At the same time
there was hardly any Bots on the screen when you add it all together, this
should be a movie about Transformers so why are we getting so any Humans! Even
regarding the storyline, one of the characters gives some of the most important
information to save the world, over the phone. This felt like they were just
trying to wedge him in as a familiar face. I could watch this again but I
wouldn't be rushing around to do so. It's going to be interesting to see where
it goes from here now, if Bay will continue or there are some fresh ideas.
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