Just saw Transformers 4 with family on IMAX... I've actually lowered my expectations going in..

But the movie is unexpectedly awesome.. I mean my most favorite is still part 1, but AOE is now my second favorite, then DOTM, then ROTF. this movie without a doubt is way better than DOTM

 

Pretty much the only thing I saw of this movie was the SuperBowl commercial. I've somehow managed to avoid nearly everything else.
So going into the movie with very little knowledge, I was pleasantly surprised by a lot of things. Came away happy and having enjoyed it.

 

Best movie ever, although I did say that to every TF movie. Even the product placements are funny enough. Haters gonna hate, critics are not audience.

 

Saw it last night with the wife and was very entertained. I liked it best out of the series. It had a decent plot, great action, more focus on the robots, no stupid crude humor and, of course, the Dinobots! My two big complaints would be that it was way too long and the Dinobots could've been used more at the end. Names mentioned and maybe a "me, Grimlock" would've been nice. However, what I did see of Grimmy and company made me smile ear to ear. They were badass. I plan on seeing it again before it leaves theaters.

 

I liked the movie, definitely better than ROTF and improved over DOTM. Biggest issue I had was the length (I agree with megatroptimus, the Lockdown and Galvatron storyarcs could've been split up and human screentime cutdown), amount of cussing and "killing" the Autobots were discussing, and little to no characterization for the Dinobots (I don't remember even Optimus mentioning their names in the valley introduction). And I'm kinda annoyed with the way the "transformium" created characters like Megatron transformed (wayyy too "magical"---hope they drop that aspect and go back to the traditional transformations). Overall, I still enjoyed the more darker tone, Lockdown's character, Wahlberg and family (could of dropped story with the daughter's boyfriend)'s interactions, Megatron/Galvatron's return (his revival seemed like a homage to Animated Megatron's schemes in season1), appearance of Dinobots, and the greater personality and dialogue given the bots.'

I doubt Ratchet would return, but do we know where Lockdown stored his spark? Did he send it to the "Creators"?

I hope next sequel gives Dinobots some characterization as Optimus goes all space adventure Gundam mode haha (why didn't he fly before? ). Also, feel they need a new writer and editor (there were times, I was wondering how long the explosions and car chase scenes would last).

 

and the humor this time didn't feel forced.. they were just in the right place where they needed to be.

Spoiler

there was a scene with Brains that i particulary found funny about being forced to work without wages and benefits.

 

And another thing that I LOVE that i've been wishing since i'd seen the first movie was how that process of trans-scanning goes. i'd like to see how they go about scanning new disguises and how they assume the new form. We finally got to see it in this movie and I AM ABSOLUTELY HAPPY. I LOVE THAT SCENE. it's a wish come true for me.

 

Yes I thought this was really cool too! Great to see how the color of the vehicle doesn't change the Transformer's colors itself.

 

I can't believe I'm saying this but this is actually a good and fun Transformers movie.

The Good:

Cade Yeager - he's a likeable lead character. I like that he's an inventor and a family man. I like that even though he was a teenager father he stuck to his guns and became a dad. He's more likeable than some horny teenager who wants to get laid and shit. Him using alien weapons doesn't feel like a stretch at all.

Optimus. This might be one of Peter Cullen's best performances in the role. I really felt the rage and anger he had over the betrayal of former allies and this sadness of the deaths of his comrades. I actually love the heartwarming speech Cade makes to Optimus about believing in who we could be.

The Autobots themselves. Hound, Drift and Crosshairs were a great new addition to the series. They all have more personality than most of the other character from the previous films (aside from Ironhide of course). Hound is the hardass military tough guy who a heart of gold, Crosshairs is the cynical guy kind of like BW Rattrap and Drift....well brave honorable warrior guy. Ok so I didn't find Drift that interesting or distinct but he looked cool. They get moments where they bicker argue and actually act like comrades so they got it right.

Ratchet's death. That was satisfying since IMO this is the worst incarnation of the character.

Lockdown. He's a fantastic villain. He's ruthless in his ambitions and is the giver of zero shits. I love the centre of the universe line. I'm amazed that they did Lockdown so well like they did. Now if only The Fallen had gotten this treatment.

Galvatron...Holy Shit. This is the first time Megatron in the movies did anything worthwhile. I guess the whole fanon theory that he is a magnificent bastard actually is legit. He plays KSI for chumps and I'm glad that he actually lived at the end.

Harold Attinger....Kelsey Grammer was deliciously wicked in the role. He is now my favorite human villain in the entire franchise. Savoy is a good henchman. I would have liked to know more about him but ah whatever.

Stanley Tucci as Joshua was both a hit and miss. He plays the arrogant genius aspect well (sort of like a inverse Abraham Erskine) though he has too many goofy moments after his "heel face turn" but still i like that he actually regrets his previous actions.

Li BingBing is both sexy and badass. She's like a live action Katana from Beware the Batman.

The voice acting from John Goodman as Hound, John DiMaggio as Crosshairs, Mark Ryan as Lockdown and Frank Welker as Galvatron. They we're all great in their respective roles.

Sideswipe not being the film. Good. He was generic as hell.

Drift's haiku.  

The new Transformers transformations. That is so freaking cool.

That KSI believed Attinger and co. we're killing Decepticons and not Autobots. It doesn't make them out to be that heartless just ignorant of the truth.

The action...yes it was mostly BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM....etc...etc, and it wasn't as on the same cataclysmic scale as the invasion of Chicago but the chase scenes and the scenes with the Dinobot ridings was so cool.

The whole mystery involving the creators and why they want Optimus Prime. I care enough to know so yeah I want the sequel right now.

The Bad:

Tessa and Shane. I find them both the load. Tessa is just eye candy who screams DAAAAAD! and can't do shit. Shane is only useful as a driver and nothing else. The rest of the time he's a cocky smartass who surrenders all the time and teases and taunts Cade that he's dating his daughter. He deserves an asskicking. I didn't like how he was introduced...he just shows up trying to act all Kyle Reese. Meh. I think neither of the two needed to be in the film but they are still more likeable than Sam and his whore of the week.

Lucas. seriously fuck this guy. It's his fault most of this happened. He was a total dipshit, still I felt bad for how he died. that looked painful. TJ Miller doesn't need more roles like this.

The Dinobots. They were just beasts and nothing else. So like their TFA counterparts but I really wished Grimlock atleast spoke. That was a missed opportunity. Their only real purpose was for the Autobots to ride in to battle and that's it.

So Transformers or rather the "creators" killed the dinosaurs...sure why not....seems legit.

Stinger should have been a character and not a drone.

Not enough Junkheap.

Ken Watanabe didn't need to voice Drift. I feel like for less money they could have cast Eric Bauza, Andrew Kishino or Phil LaMarr instead.

Ratchet suddenly has an irish accent of some kind? did Robert Foxworth or Bay or someone forget he never had an accent?

Brains on and off again disappearing act? also what happened to Wheelie? not a mention. You'd think he would have said something.

The fact Hound, Drift, Crosshairs and Lockdown all show up for the first time ever and yet act like they all know each other for eons. Where did they come from, were they on Earth before DOTM or came afterwards.

I kind of wished Lockdown lived but at least Galvatron did so its ok with me. I guess but it would have cool if he had gotten up after his head was sliced and drove off.

So do the Autobots now have the trust of humanity again or will someone take Attinger's place to hunt them down and kill them? The ending isn't clear what happens now. Oh well we'll find out next film.

The run time didn't have to be this long.

Overall there's some things bad but also a lot great things. I had a lot of fun watching this. So I actually recommend this movie...but only if you want to have fun. Don't expect anything more from it.

IMO the critics we're wrong but they were also right in a way. It's stupid but it's a good kind of stupid kind of like the first movie. I give it a 5/10 as an actual film but an 8/10 with the fun factor.

 

My Thoughts

So, late this morning me and my mother went to our local Regal theater to see the film in 2D on the RPX screen. Here are my thoughts.

While the film is still not quite as good as the first, this is no doubt the best of the sequels. Shia and co. were not missed and I loved that they focused on the Autobots more than the previous films. Hound in particular was a great new addition. Lockdown was supremely badass and probably the creepiest villain the live action films ever had. The human cast is also quite acceptable. The special effects and action are out of this world, though I didn't care too much for the vehicon drones transformations. I also enjoyed the dinobots. Their introduction into the film series may have been brief but they owned the film every frame they were on. I also didn't feel the length of the film.

So, yeah, no complaints from me. It's Michael Bay. It's Transformers. I knew what I was getting into. Bring on 5 and 6.

I rate films on an enjoyment scale, so I give this is a 9 out of 10.

 

all this "Grimlock didn't speak" comments.... i couldve sworn i heard him speak during the bridge scene. i thought i heard him say to the Dinobots "We'll hold the bridge!"

 

I might be mistaken, but I think that was Crosshairs that said "We'll hold the bridge!" It definitely wasn't Grimlock.

 

thanks... i probably would need to see the movie again  

i know Crosshairs has a distinctive accent, so from whatever i could remember from that scene, the voice that said "We'll hold the bridge" was more rough and deep, which led me to think it was Grimlock who said those lines and those lines were said immediately after he transformed to robot mode.

 

It was crosshairs. The 2nd time I saw it I think he's even standing with them as they finished transforming

 

ah.. thanks for clarifying bud. it's a lot to take if you're seeing the first time. Cheers!

 

Scorpio reviews TF;AOE

The following review/dissection contains heavy spoilers and will be a little confusing to those who choose not to read long posts - so if you are one of these people I'd suggest scrolling to my final rating to get an idea of my overall thoughts on the film... with that being said, let the review begin.



Its difficult really to judge AOE in terms of its quality. While the films first 40-45 minutes flow very fast paced and enjoyable building character and giving us a rather emotional death scene of a surprisingly likeable comedic character - the rest of the film feels as though it is determined to fall apart and after the fairly over-the-top reunion scene of the Autobots the movie's pacing problems begin to dramatically take hold.

In truth where the film stops is with the introduction of Joshua played by Stanley Tucci. While Stanley Tucci is one of my favourite actors the script doesn't know what to do with him, portraying him as both a bad guy and a good guy at the same time. I suppose he's supposed to go on a journey of discovering the Autobots are good - however instead it comes off as he is just picking to side with the Autobots after Galvatron escapes. A great example of this is when he confronts Prime revealing that the world no longer needs the Autobots; "We don't need you anymore"

While many might view this line as a bad thing - throughout the movie Optimus is whining about protecting the humans and Joshua's line means that the Autobots could have just left. Literally the only thing keeping them on Earth is for the sake of making this movie. They've had no reason to be on Earth for the last four years!

Its about this time where Galvatron is introduced and after saying 'hi' he leaves... wow, that was completely and utterly pointless. I understand that Bay watched Transformers; Animated - however the writing of this movie makes the scenario fall apart when sparks are described as containing 'the life force and memories'... so is Megatron's spark in his head? as by that logic Megatron's spark was extinguished in DOTM when his head was severed.

Speaking of the Megatron head... how the heck did Optimus not notice it in the KSI factory when he freed Brains? During a flashback later in the film it establishes that his head was close to brains in that scene... so why didn't the Autobots notice? Why does Optimus just have to guess that Galvatron is Megatron...

Lockdown captures Optimus and Tessa in a giant net – despite being shown to have suction abilities in the trailer - and gives the Autobots a reason to stay on Earth - to save Optimus. Its at this point I should probably mention Shane...

After they save Optimus and Tessa they once again have no reason to stay on Earth, so its back yet again to Galvatron who Brains just so happens to guess might be planning on using 'The Seed' Suprisingly this is correct and he has made a plot that connects with 'The Seed' - an item that Lockdown has given to the humans. Lockdown is actually a really nice guy in this movie, he's pretty much only after Optimus, except when the plot requires him to randomly kill or go after other characters for little reason.

So bet your hoping for Galvatron to do something right... nope... he scarpers off into the mountains. In all I think he had about the same screentime as 'The Rhino' in The Amazing Spider-man 2...

Meanwhile the battle of Hong Kong begins... Though ofcourse this film needs to target a large age range so say hello to the legendary warriors, a group of five warriors who cannot speak and barely fight in robot mode... yeah even removing the fact that they are Dinobots, these characters SUCK.

After being discovered on Lockdown's ship these 'Dinobots' never have any aspect of them explained and while its hinted they are 'Prime knights' or something along those lines - they never develop any characteristics. The Autobots also completely suck at fighting as Hound is literally the only Autobot shown fighting in almost the entire Hong Kong fight. Sure Bumblebee fights Stinger in a rather weak fight scene, but in that time Hound has taken out about 10-20 Vehicons on his own.

Guess you are wondering now where the 'it looks like Unicron' scene fits into this battle... well the truth is the entire scene is utterly pointless and forgettable. Its here to delay the Dinobots from doing anything and that's about it. It sucks things up and drops them but their is little tension as Optimus just shoots it once and everything is fine.

Lockdown however returns riding in on an explosion that explodes... literally the most bad-ass entrance of a villain in these movies... followed by a very short and disappointing fight with Optimus, impaling him. Rather than pull the sword out himself the humans have to help and Optimus finishes longdown by slicing him in half from the chest through the head.

Optimus magically becomes Chuck Norris and flies off using a Deus Ex Grenade that resembles the 'pillars' and 'the seed' to defeat the remaining Decepticon Vehicons and the movie ends with him blasting off into space in search of his creators.

As the movie ends for the seventh time (Three times in Hindu, Four in English) I'm sat wondering where to judge this movie. The plot is over-complicated and muddled, their are additional scenes to target the Chinese audiences and their is so much that can be trimmed from the movie that I'm tempted to do a fan edit...

HOWEVER, I do find myself enjoying a lot more of the movie and I was surprisingly enjoying almost all of the move up until the Hong Kong final battle. Whether it was the fact that the human characters became more of a focus during that scene, or the fact that the Dinobots and final battle with Lockdown were disappointing, or the fact that Galvatron decided to climb a mountain - I honestly don't know.

The movie is definitely not a 'good movie' in truth I'd arguably say it combines the pacing problems of DOTM with the lack of characterisation from films such as Pacific Rim. Cade, Tess and Shane for example only being given character from their titles as Father, Daughter and Boyfriend respectively.

If you are alright sitting through the incredibly long and unnecessary runtime then this is probably the best of the Transformers series so far - it gives a lot of character development to the Transformers and even though I feel they've messed up characters such as Prime to points where he arguably shouldn't have went... its indeed a worthy film to watch.

The comedy and aspects that you would normally dislike from the prior films have been toned down - and while their are still some scenes such as a realtor scene - the movie actually tries to be fairly mature in places and it actually works. Sadly it feels that the Dinobots and Galvatron were last-minute additions to the movie 'TO SELL TOYS' and it shows.

Final rating;

Ratings;
7.5/10 - Transformers; 1986
5/10 - Transformers; AOE
4/10 - Transformers; 2007
3.5/10 - Transformers; DOTM
0.5/10 - Transformers; ROTF

Thoughts;
The movie lacks a consistent flow and anyone with time and editing skills could easily construct this into a 2 hour movie and make it easily gain a higher rating by stripping several plotlines, characters and pointless scenes. If this film was streamlined and focused more on Lockdown rather than shoving in Galvatron pointlessly it'd probably go up to 6/10.

Its definitely got enough for fans to enjoy, its got action, fights and comedy - however the pacing prevents this from getting a higher rating. Its a fairly average film, but luckily the series has been below average to the point where this comes off as pretty amazing - especially in a lower budget. An enjoyable film, but not a 'good movie' - though I found myself enjoying the film via treating it more as a comedic self-referential piece.

Not sure what to say to end this review... so... Ratchet you take this one;



Oh...  

 

Nice write-up. It almost pains me to say it but I agree with you almost 100% on everything listed here.

I wanted to love this movie, but I don't. I like it, a lot, but there is still enough wrong to bring it far short of love.

Wish the Dinobots had been given a purpose other than transform>fight>antigrav>fight>frolic into the fields.

 

I agree with pretty much all of what you said here, except overall I place AOE lower than the 2007 film. The plot's a little simpler, and there's the (very debatable) "Magic" about seeing the characters in live action for the first time.

 

yeah i thought aoe was worse then tf1 but hay its personal preferance and its your opinion which im fine with oh and I agree with about everything you said besides the 2007 being worse then aoe thing but besides that Great Review!