Transformers: The Last Knight is another poor entry into a franchise that just won’t die, though its $605M worldwide gross was the lowest so there is hope. In any case, I didn’t feel this was as bad as Age of Extinction but that’s not saying much.
Transformers: The Last Knight
(2017)
Genre(s): Science Fiction, Action
Paramount | PG13 – 154 min. – $37.99 | September 26, 2017
Date Published: 09/21/2017 | Author: The Movieman
|
|
|||||||||||
THE MOVIE — 1.5/5 |
|
Well, the good news is Transformers: The Last Knight is 10-minutes shorter than Age of Extinction and isn’t as of an excruciating of an experience by comparison. The bad news is, it’s still a terrible, un-exhilarating film filled with plenty of explosions, a nonsensical story and a bloated cast of characters I couldn’t care less about. The plot is on the basic side but needs 5th century-era opening with King Arthur and his men going into battle against all odds only to be rescued by Merlin (STANLEY TUCCI), who receives a staff from an ancient Transformer and, when wielded, conjures up a dragon and turns the tide of the war.
Fast forward 1600 years to the present day. Chicago is a no-go zone being patrolled by some military force, which includes the return of William Lennox (JOSH DUHAMEL), now a Colonel; apparently Tyrese was busy racing cars and pretending he has a shot playing Green Lantern… In any case, some kids enter this area hoping to get scrap parts of Transformers, or something, when they run into RoboCop-like patrol robots and are saved by a teenage girl named Izabella (ISABEL MONER), who has been living in the area on her own but has the skills repairing her own little Transformer, think BB8 but not as adorable… or funny. So, these kids are saved by a Transformer she calls Canopy but are spotted by the military and this ‘bot is located and targeted. Saving the day, Wade Yeager (MARK WAHLBERG) enters the picture and after a brief standoff with the men in green, is let go where he, along with Bumblebee, and Izabella stowed away, return to a junkyard on an Indian reservation seeing as he’s wanted by the authorities, so much he can’t even speak to his daughter who is off to college. Even MORE meanwhile, Optimus Prime (voiced by PETER CULLEN) has return to his home planet of Cybertron to find it near extinction and is visited by his creator, Primus, who reveals that the planet can be saved using a staff hidden on Earth which turns out to be actually be Unicron, Cybertron’s mortal enemy. Or something. Point is, Prime has turned bad but we won’t really get to see him until towards the end. AAAANNNDDD back on Earth, some spikes begin coming out of the ground across the globe in preparation for Cybertron’s arrival; the government strikes a deal with Megatron (FRANK WELKER) to release dangerous Decepitcons in order to use them to, oh hell, I don’t really know, nor really care. Oh, and if the film wasn’t bloated enough, we are introduced to Professor Vivian Wembley (LAURA HADDOCK), she may be the key to saving the world; and Sir Edmund Burton (ANTHONY HOPKINS), who serves as our narrator and knowledgeable scholar on what the hell is going on. And because we seemingly missed him, John Turturro he pops in for a few minutes, his character living in Cuba playing pick-up games with Transformers who are laying low there. Turturro just one of many characters, including young Izabella, who were needless and could’ve easily cut the movie down 10-minutes. I won’t say it would’ve made the movie any better, of course, but being shorter and tighter in terms of characters couldn’t hurt. Michael Bay returns, yet again, with Transformers: The Last Knight and as with the previous four entries they look good and features quality visual effects, though this time around seemed a bit off, the story is non-sense and we have characters you couldn’t care less about. And a plot doesn’t need to make sense, just look at The Fast and the Furious franchise, which, for the most part, I’ve enjoyed. Thing is, those were entertaining and had characters you liked, these Transformers movies, mostly, don’t; however I kind of miss Shia LaBeouf’s presence… The acting is what it is. I doubt there’s any actor in this who gave a damn, but it is saying something Mark Wahlberg gives a more convincing performance in these last two Transformers movies than he did in The Happening. Anthony Hopkins gets a fat paycheck to spout gobbledygook; Josh Duhamel returns after taking a movie off and has little impact (so little, he’s not even featured on the front or back covers); Laura Haddock is the latest sexy gal to get the BGS™ (Bay Glamour Shot) and she’s… fine, but forgettable. This franchise had plenty of potential but like Pirates of the Caribbean, Transformers is running out of steam and at this point, I’m not even sure a change in director – as Bay is apparently done… until he’s not – would make much of a difference, though I would like to see this in the hands of someone else, matched with a tighter script and sub two hour running time. As it is, The Last Knight is just plain bad but an ever-so-slight step up from the awful Age of Extinction which I had trouble even sitting through. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.0/5 |
|
This release comes with a title-embossed slip cover. Inside is a redemption code for the Digital HD copy. All the features are contained on the third (Blu-ray) disc. Although there is about 85-minutes worth of footage, this isn’t a great set of featurettes, would’ve been nice to have something more in-depth, not to mention some deleted scenes and trailers. Merging Mythologies (19:53; HD) looks at fitting history with the Transformers story from the time of King Arthur to World War 2. Climbing the Ranks (8:48; HD) is on the military actors and extras, and their training. The Royal Treatment: Transformers in the UK (27:04; HD) – Here we get some behind-the-scenes footage on the production moving to the good old United Kingdom and some of the iconic locations. Motors and Magic (14:47; HD) examines the new cars featured in the film and the visual effects as they transform into, well, Transformers. Alien Landscape: Cybertron (7:15; HD) checks out the Transformers home planet and its designs. One More Giant Effin’ Movie (6:45; HD) is some more behind-the-scenes footage. |
4K VIDEO – 4.75/5, BD VIDEO – 4.5/5
|
| Paramount rolls out Transformers: The Last Knight onto 4K presented with a 1.90 and 2.28 widescreen aspect ratios (I measured to make sure) and 2160p resolution (HEVC/H.265). This is a nice looking ultra high-definition transfer, colors are generally vibrant courtesy of the HDR and detail was incredibly sharp throughout with no major signs of artifacts, aliasing or other flaws, and particularly there were smooth transitions so banding was not an issue either. The Blu-ray meanwhile looks good as well. The 1080p high-definition transfer is fairly sharp as well and colors still are bright and vibrant. |
4K/BD AUDIO – 5.0/5 |
| Both the 4K and Blu-ray come equipped with a strong and absolutely robust Dolby Atmos track (decodes to Dolby TrueHD 7.1 for older systems). This is an incredible aural experience that includes crisp, clear and clean dialogue (such as it is) and excellent depth when the numerous action sequences kick into high gear making great usage of every available speaker. The LFE doesn’t get left behind either turning on during those key action scenes not only shaking the floor, but the walls as well. |
OVERALL – 2.5/5 |
|
Overall, Transformers: The Last Knight is another poor entry into a franchise that just won’t die, though its $605M worldwide gross was the lowest so there is hope. In any case, I didn’t feel this was as bad as Age of Extinction but that’s not saying much. The 4K UHD release includes incredible audio and video transfers and a fine selection of bonus features. |