Age of Extinction looks and sounds great dinobots, Mark Whalberg, a villain that isn't Megatron and Kelsey Grammar as a villain but while that all sounds great its a Michael Bay film so whats great on paper isn't so great on screen. Well thats 90% of the time anyway and while Age of Extinction isn't a perfect film or even a amazing film I can forgive it for trying new ideas and trying to leave behind what they had done previously in the series. Extinction takes place 4 years after the events of Dark of the moon with Chicago still trying to pick up the pieces of the massive robot space battle the human race has come to one conclusion the transformers are dangerous and must go. (By any means necessary) Led by ex- CIA agent Harold Attinger he heads up operations of search and destroy any and every robot in disguise whether their autobot or deceptacon. Extinction does something that I have always felt that the previous instalments have failed upon a good human based story with Extinction giving us are first human villain pulling all the strings. With every member of the autobot's now either dead or in hiding its no surprise to find out that Optimus is now nothing more then a broken down wreck in a busted old theatre found by the films hero Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg). Cade is an inventor and down on his luck with nothing to lose so you know the typical main protagonist for these films now a loser with nothing to lose.
Again Mark Whalberg sounds exciting on paper to be in a Transfomer's film but he just falls flat with bad writing and he's used to be more comedic effect rather then progressing the storyline in anyway. Along with his daughter (some hot young 17 year old girl its Michael Bay what do you expect ) and her boyfriend they head off with Optimus to find the autobots and get some answers for what the real purpose of killing his kind. Mark is almost brushed off into the background most of the time as much more interesting and plot processing characters fall into frame. The only times Mark really becomes interesting is during one on one dialogue scenes with Optimus who is no longer the "we don't kill humans" type but rather the "I will kill every human that gets in my way of the answers for the truth" The new take on Optimus is a high point for the movie and takes the series in a different direction and makes Optimus a much better character to route for and watch on screen as he finally feels like he has a goal to save his own kind rather then humans. We are also introduced to new autobot's which is a norm for this series now. Hound a grease throwing killing machine voiced by John Goodman who is both funny and brilliant to watch on screen. Drift a ninja yes ninja samurai that is loyal to his brothers and will follow Optimus what ever his choice and Crosshairs a one robot solider that again provides comedic relief. While Age of extinction is less about the Transformers when they do get their screen time the dialogue is both funny and powerful and the action set pieces are some of the best from the series so far. This is the first Transformers sequel that I felt was a return to form trying to go back to what made the original so great, a great human story which is both funny and full of action.
What was brilliant is that they break the traits that they have become stuck in a rut with by having Cade as a father it means the hot girl everyone takes a gander at is continuously being made to cover up. So we can just focus on the story rathe then any time the story is dragging lets just have a low shot of the girl or girl running slow mo. Don't worry your slow mo running away from explosions is in here which is possibly the biggest explosion in the film and the best sequence in the film as its the first real time danger is felt in the movie. Which is a constant factor in the film danger never goes away the heroes of Extinction spend 90% of the movie on the run from CIA special swat teams rather then deceptacons which I felt was a brilliant change for the film. But its also a problem with the film is that its just to long Age of extinction from start to finish is just over 2hrs 30mins and for a action movie and a kid friendly movie its hard to keep the interest going for that full 2hr 30. Which unfortunately Extinction doesn't manage to do that it falls into the same problems that the previous instalment's have had that they add so much filler that stops the pacing of the movie from going smoothly to a grinding hault. I felt the film could have still worked being a 100min movie, with a lot less characters because to many characters just make it fall apart and become a mess. Be prepared for a brilliant first 40mins and great action heavy last 30 mins and then the rest is just filler and Mark Wahlberg walking about like a lost dog. Most characters in the movie even previous fan faviroute BumbleBee becomes a B sideline character and is just used as filler. The film could have worked without him and I feel he won't have been missed by new people to the series. But a lot of extinction is fan service and fans will appreciate the references and characters that may pop up in the movie some exciting others not so much but they do a great job of remembering the fans that made this series so popular.
But Extinction is all about the villains its very much a villain movie as Deadlock the transformer assassin who takes what he wants as trophies from planet to planet and Kelsey Grammar take centre stage. Both of them are amazing villains and the back and forth from both of them makes for great scenes and I could have easily just watched a film based around both of them. Mark Ryan voices Lockdown and he is the highlight of the movie with his calm monotone voice he is both exciting and terrifying wanting his prize in the form of Prime and he will do whatever it takes to get it. Deadlock is the first villain of the series that I have ever really felt posed a real threat to Optimus and the Autobots as he's no deceptacon and he just works for the highest bidder and himself. With his massive ship that towers over cities he shows power that even Megatron would have been hard to face him down. Extinction is hard to talk about with out giving away the plot as Deadlock and his motives play such a big role in the plot of the film and he only appears for such little screen time I feel he was a missed opportunity. But he does help pave the way for the dinobots who are short and sweet in that they appear in the last 20- 30 minutes of the film but thats enough because they aren't around long enough to become stale.
For all of its bad habits the film falls into such as making it feel almost like a remake of the first film I can forgive it for what its trying to do. Its a film for the fans which is helpful to get the fans excited for the series again but also is a great place for new fans to the series as you don't have to have watched the previous trilogy to enjoy the movie for what it is a fun Transformers movie. Its first movie since the first one that I feel that they really have had fun with it and aren't trying to take themselves seriously because their not serious films. While this film will defiantly split fans down the middle as previous instalments in the series have and the Dinobots might not have been in enough of the film for others you have to forgive it for what its trying to do. Its setting up a new trilogy and if the ending to this film is anything to go by its going to be exciting and a new age for the autobots and Optimus as he's not so mister nice guy anymore. Extinction while very much a human story is a redemption story for the autobots and first movie I feel that Optimus really comes into frame and gets the screen time and story he deserves. Don't go into this film expecting it to be amazing or the Transfomers film of your dreams but just know that we are getting back to form and the sequel I feel is just going to blow us all away.
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