Genre:
Action
Adventure
Sci Fi
Release Date:
June 26, 2014
Duration:
165 minutes
Plot:
After the destruction of Chicago in Dark of the Moon (Transformers 3) the US Government considers not valid anymore the alliance with the Autobots, completely overlooking the fact that without their help the mankind would be annihilated. From the first minutes of the new film, titled Age of Extinction, we learn that all Transformers, both Autobots and Decepticons, are being hunted down. TV spots and propaganda posters reminiscent of World War II, say that a reward will be offered to anyone who can provide information on the whereabouts of any fugitive alien robot. CIA is financing Cemetery Wind, a Black Ops group that hunts and destroys Transformers one by one. The human weapons may not be enough, so Harold Attinger, head of Cemetary Wind, has closed a secret deal with Lockdown, a mercenary robot that is neither Decepticon nor Autobot. When the human find a robot, Lockdown comes and kills it. And the reward they promised to him? The “head” of Optimus Prime!
And you won’t believe what happens to the dead robots. KSI company has an exclusive deal with US Government to take full advantage of “spoils of war”. CEO Joshua Joyce is the perfect hollywood incarnation of Corporationism and, although like a figure he reminds of Steve Jobbs, he is a “undigestable” villain just like agents Attinger and Welliver. KSI is melting the dead Transformers and collects the metal for their inventions which have such innovative features that they will dominate both the market for gadgets and the war industry. But the highlight of their expertise are two robots that have so many similarities with the rest Transformers, as T-1000 who was made of liquid metal had with the original T-800 / Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day. These two robots are Galvatron and Stinger. 
The surprise is that Galvatron is the new incarnation of Megatron (if you thought we got rid of him, then you were wrong).
No, we have not forgotten the good guys, we just kept the best for last! Protagonist of the film, apart from Optimus Prime of course, is Mark Wahlberg as Cade Yeager, a brilliant scientist… in bankruptcy. Yeager, buys an old truck and carries it on his “improvised” robotic laboratory set up in his barn. After some experiments and repairs it is revealed that this truck is no other than Optimus Prime! Soon, Cemetary Wind detects him and thus the thread of this story starts to unravel.
Our impressions and movie review:
Mark Wahlberg in the role of the mechanic and Stanley Tucci as the tycoon Joshua Joyce, stand out from the rest cast and literally raise the level. After the middle of the film, Bingbing Li in the role of Su Yueming stands out too, she is a senior member of KSI who remembered her knowledge of Kung Fu to protect Joshua! Maybe you think I am kidding, but no, I really enjoyed that plot twist. I suspect however that both this element of the story and the part of the movie that were shot in China are directly related to the involvement of Chinese funds in the production of the film. We had seen that in new Robocop too if you remember. Oh well…
Michael Bay’s movies usually have a beautiful female character. I am afraid, however, that Nicola Peltz did not move me. Neither as an actor, nor as a film character, not even as a blonde ethereal existence. Someday Ehren Kruger should probably explain us how Tessa Yeager (who is portrayed by Peltz), early in the film is the one who keeps the house as the daughter of the absent-minded scientist, and in the middle of the film is unable to run to avoid getting hurt in the crossfire of robots. I still cannot figure it out.
How about the long waited Dinobots? Dinobots can be seen for a few seconds in the first minutes of the film and they are the Deux ex Machina in the end, to balance the scales in favor of the Autobots.
The new film in the Transformers movie series is definitely better than the second and the third, but I have many reservations when I compare it to Transformers 2007. And if we think of movies like Avatar or Terminator… the news are bad for the triplet Bay, Krugger, Spielberg (director, writer, producer). My humble suggestion if to forget about comparisons altogether and enjoy this movie for what it really is: a good sci-fi adventure starring the Transformers.
Transformers: Age of Extinction – Trailer (greek subs)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvxiCtuLxec
Movie Quote from Transformers: Age of Extinction – 2014
Harold Attinger: A new era has begun. The age of the Transformers is over…
Movie Quote from Transformers: Age of Extinction – 2014
Titus Welliver: My face is my warrant
Movie Quote from Transformers: Age of Extinction – 2014
Joshua: We can make you now! Don’t you get it? We don’t need you anymore!
Movie Quote from Transformers: Age of Extinction – 2014
Harold Attinger: You haven’t said what you want him for.
Lockdown: You humans are so little. You think you’re the centre of the universe?
Movie Quote from Transformers: Age of Extinction – 2014
Optimus Prime: [to Lockdown] I’m a slave to no one.
Movie Quote from Transformers: Age of Extinction – 2014
Optimus Prime: There are innumerable mysteries to the universe. But who we are, is not one of them. That answer lies inside us. I am Optimus Prime, and I send this message to my creators: leave Earth alone, for I’m coming for you!
Credits:
Writer:
Ehren Kruger
Director:
Michael Bay
Cast:
Mark Wahlberg – Cade Yeager
Stanley Tucci – Joshua Joyce
Kelsey Grammer – Harold Attinger
Nicola Peltz – Tessa Yeager
Jack Reynor – Shane Dyson
Titus Welliver – James Savoy
Sophia Myles – Darcy Tirrel
Bingbing Li – Su Yueming
T.J. Miller – Lucas Flannery
James Bachman – Gill Wembley
Thomas Lennon – Chief of Staff
Charles Parnell – CIA Director
Production Companies and Distributors:
Paramount Pictures
Hasbro
Di Bonaventura Pictures
UIP
A.A.