I seem to like the same things as many others. Here is my list of what I liked about Age of Extinction: - Autobot banter gets top billing for me. Finally, the Transformers get enough screen time and focus for them to actually have personality. And personality they do have, each one has their own distinct personality that is fun to see on screen. I found the moments with the new Autobots bickering and interacting to be some of the most fun you can get out of this movie. - Hound. He stole the show from the other new Autobots. John Goodman was great as Hound, the boisterous bruiser armed to the teeth with weaponry and creativity. He fought hard in the final battle after spending the scenes before having the best lines short of Optimus. I also enjoy all of the fat bearded giant robot thing that he had going on. I will be vastly disappointed if he gets sidelined later on, and I want every Hound to be like him from now on. - Optimus Prime. After not liking Prime too much for the last two movies because his biggest moments involved being overpowered, this Prime was a nice change of pace. This Optimus has a story arc and much more characterization than in prior films. He is portrayed as disappointed and weary of the human's actions, angry from a sense of betrayal. He grieves the loss of his friends. While Hound and Drift had the most amusing lines, Prime held the most potent. - How Ratchet's death was treated, and his heroism before death. Ratchet would rather die at the hand of Lockdown than give away Optimus' location, a brave act. Afterward, the death was called back to and brought emotion to the characters. Handled far better than Ironhide's. - The villains here all get a hand from me, some more than others. Lockdown and Attinger were threatening villains, there was a sense of danger behind them. Lockdown can put down Optimus and Attinger hunts the Autobots down under the idea the Transformers are all dangerous. I felt Kelsey did an excellent job portraying the character. Galvatron and the drones were no slouches, either. Galvatron can go toe to toe with Optimus and see the rest of the film afterward. The drones nearly overwhelmed Hound and even took cover, which is a smart thing to do in combat and I am not sure if other Decepticons took cover in past movies. - There is also the nice touch of primarily improved humor. Not all of the humor was good but most of it was certainly better than what the past films had to offer.
AOE was my favorite live action TF film. Instead of it being a commercial for the military, it was a conspiracy film. There was a lack of Shia, which also helped. The robots looked more streamlined and less like a mess. The robots actually had some personality, and were less background characters. Lockdown rocked. Galvatron was cool, if underused, and had Welker's voice. Bumblebee wasn't the star. There were Dinobots, though I'd liked them to have been less underused as well. And there were spaceships. It wasn't the perfect TF film, but it was definitely better than what came before.
The scene when Optimus scans the new trunk and they actually show him reformatting to the new Alt Mode. Thats about it.
That he did. Mark Ryan shouldn't have been so good in the role. I was a total Lance Henriksen fanboy believing only he could be Lockdown. Never have I been proved so wrong.
