Transformers: Age of Extinction shows destruction at its peak
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According to Director Michael Bay, the fourth instalment of the Transformers series is the first of the planned trilogy. Wonder if it transpires, it will definitely just show more destruction.
The movie is full of impressive CGI, which makes it watchable; otherwise, the plot is nothing to write home about.
The story is set five years after the alien robotic showdown leaves Chicago almost devastated. Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg), a struggling engineer, spends the last of his savings to buy an old truck to strip it for parts and sell it to send his seventeen-year-old daughter Tessa (Nicola Peltz), to college. Not surprisingly, the truck turns out to be the main protagonist of the Transformer franchise, Optimus Prime.
On the other hand, the corrupt CIA operative Harold Attinger (Kelsey Grammer) is hunting down all the Decepticons left with the help of Kinetic Sciences Institute (KSI), run by the ambitious Joshua Joyce (Stanley Tucci), in order to make their own breed of transformers, which would heavily tilt the balance of power in their favour. Of course, there is that commercial interest of KSI as well.
Soon, the CIA operatives are knocking on Cade’s door and threatening to shoot his daughter if he doesn’t tell them where that Autobot is. Optimus makes his presence felt and Cade gets the chance to run away with the help of his daughter’s secret boyfriend, who seems to be waiting to make his entry.
They run away from the CIA, and Optimus Prime calls upon the last few remaining Autobots to map out a counter strategy to save the world.
In the midst of the overwhelming action sequences, Cade goes through the experience of a father who has to let her child become an adult and have an affair.
There is no denying the fact that the movie’s computer graphics are of the highest standard. However, in terms of plot, screenplay, direction and – quite sadly – acting as well, the director has failed to keep the same standards.
Positives: Apart from its CGI, the movie’s cinematography and production design is also notable. Sequences where the 18-wheeler turns into a fighting Autobot and the slow motion process of transformation are out of the top drawer.
Similarly, despite the mad destruction inflicted on Chicago and Hong Kong, the cinematography of the driving sequences is also impressive. In Hong Kong, the peculiar structures of the buildings are vivid. The awnings covering the outside of the air-conditions on the sides of the buildings, which are part of the visual reference of Far Eastern cities, plays an important part in the movie in its own special way.
Negatives: With a run time of close to three hours, extinction really does seem to take an age in this film.
While the CGI is remarkable, the detail in every action sequence is superfluous. Rather than keeping you on the edge, the sheer mayhem on the screen complemented by its metal crashing sound effects actually makes you push deeper into your seat.
The final word
Age of Extinction is a summer blockbuster that leaves a sickening effect because of its overdose of destruction. At the same time, it seems that this overdose is working in favour of the movie and making it a real summer blockbuster.
Read this review in Urdu here.
Directed by Michael Bay; Produced by Don Murphy, Tom DeSanto, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Ian Bruce; Written By Ehren Kruger; Cinematography by Amir Mokri; Edited by Paul Rubell, Roger Barton and William Goldenberg.
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer, Jack Reynor, T.J. Miller and Bingbing Li.