Transformers: Age of Extinction ***

It’s another Michael Bay robot-carnage fest in the fourth instalment, Age Of Extinction that only feels strangely different because of a more intriguing cast this time around. Gone are bland, boyish LaBeouf and the wisecracking US marines. In comes proven screen action hero, Mark Walhberg, Stanley Tucci as a megalomaniac corporate man and Kelsey Grammer as the rogue government spook – all posing an interesting choice for such a franchise.

Prepubescent boys need not sulk though, as the leggy hottie is still there in blonde Nicola Peltz playing Tessa, Wahlberg’s sultry teen daughter in the prerequisite crotch-skimming denim hot pants (first introduced by a Bay upwards ‘pins’ pan for full, lingering effect) – bet Wahlberg is feeling the days of playing the hot young interest are gone. Oh, and the cheesy script’s even whiffier. BUT the unbelievable truth, folks, is Transformers 4 does entertain, however much the naysayers want to knock it, and that’s because the cast redeem the whole alien-human affair.

Wahlberg is down-on-his-luck Cade Yeager, widower, father to pouty 17-year-old Tessa and inventor (regurgitator of metal cr*p, basically). A chance find at an old cinema, left derelict after the previous robot war in Chicago (nod to Transformers 3), turns out to be more than just a rusty old truck. Unfortunately, this puts Yeager and his family on the government fugitive list as Autobot sympathisers – since the war, we learn no bots are to be trusted again and nobody should be harbouring them either. Father and daughter, along with the latter’s racing-driver boyfriend Shane (Jack Reynor) go on the run and eventually help save Transformer and humankind (again) with the help of the Autobots-in-hiding from an intergalactic bounty hunter, among other foes, all set in Hong Kong.

Bay’s saving grace is Wahlberg because he automatically instils credibility as a solid action figure, combined with reliable Tucci who has the devilish time of his life as Joshua Joyce, a Steve Jobs-styled power figure – even Grammer relishes his villainous part. As a result of the father-daughter insight – however comically wooden and clichéd the script maybe (deliberate tongue-in-cheek references at times), there feels like a bit more heart and soul invested: You even feel sorry for the premature ‘death’ of an Autobot ‘in the name of science’ too.

The unfortunate fact is Bay overcooks his climax battle scenes to the point that the tangled mesh of robot and crumbling building just become tediously samey and too drawn out (165 minutes to be precise). Indeed, it’s a bit of a novelty seeing downtown Hong Kong getting a trashing, instead of yet another US city, complete with a Bourne/Bond-styled high-rise-flats chase involving Wahlberg doing his best Spidey impression. However, what could have been an interesting bounty-hunting sub-plot giving hints to Optimus Prime’s (voiced again by Peter Cullen) origins gets submerged by crashing and bashing metal. That said there is usually an impressive action sequence to be had, such as the Autobots verses Joyce’s replicas on a highway. This looks great on an IMAX screen too. Oh, and the ending sets us up for another Autobot offensive – you even wish Optimus Prime would growl “I’ll be back…”

Bay delivers spades more of what Transformers fans want from previous films – those not yet fatigued by incomprehensible robotic lumps colliding, and gives us a cast to care about. Age Of Extinction will not turn the tide of cynicism surrounding the franchise but it may prick interest with Wahlberg and co at the helm, not to mention how Bay plans to get Autobot revenge, like some robo-Star Wars episode perhaps? There is still a tingle of excitement to be had.

3/5 stars

By @FilmGazer

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