MOVIE REVIEW: TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT

Humans are at war with the Transformers, and Optimus Prime is gone. The key to saving the future lies buried in the secrets of the past and the hidden history of Transformers on Earth. Now, it's up to the unlikely alliance of Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg), Bumblebee, an English lord (Anthony Hopkins) and an Oxford professor (Laura Haddock) to save the world.
Director: Michael Bay
 
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Anthony Hopkins, Josh Duhamel, Laura Haddock, Stanley Tucci

Release Date: Jun 21, 2017

Genres: Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Rated PG-13 for violence and intense sequences of sci-fi action, language, and some innuendo

Review:

I’ve always been forgiving of Michael Bay’s live action series because the cartoon will always be a fond part of my childhood.  I’ve always found plenty to like in movies even if they’ve been far from perfect.  I’d actually enjoyed the last installment because Bay finally seemed to figure out that it helps the series if you give the Transformers some personality and make them the center piece.  I’d hoped it was something that’d be continued in The Last Knight.  Sadly, Bay decides to put the Transformers in the background, Optimus Prime barely has 30 minutes of screentime, leaving us with Mark Wahlberg and Laura Haddock’s pillowly lips.  The plot is an overly complex mess that seems to find the most complicated way to do everything.  There are a bevy of new human characters including a plucky child, played by Isabela Moner, who’s introduced and forgotten for the majority of the film only to be reintroduced in the final act.  The saving grace of it all is Anthony Hopkins who’s clearly enjoying himself in the unrelenting madness going on around him.  Hopkins and his robot butler provide the majority of the laughs and enjoyment in the film.  The biggest issue is simply making a movie called Transformers and leaving the titular robots on the sideline while haphazardly throwing famous characters from Transformers lore around like undercooked pasta.  It’s a real shame because the series could be a fun sci-fi series if it could stay focused on its actual stars, the robots. 

D