Transformers: The Last Knight

Everyone's favorite Robots in Disguise are back for another pyrotechnic display from Michael Bay. This is Transformers: The Last Knight, allegedly Bay's last film in this franchise. It's got more of the same from this franchise and director. It may or may not break the film as usual.

Autobot Leader Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) left Earth at the end of the last film, Age of Extinction, to meet his makers. He meets one of them, the evil Quintessa (Gemma Chan), on the remains of the Transformers' world, Cybertron. She tells him he can help her restore Cybertron if he gets her staff. She can use her staff to drain Earth's energy. A bit of brainwashing later and "Nemesis Prime" is ready to help...

...with an hour or less remaining in the movie.

The rest of the movie deals with Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) as a fugitive savior of the fugitive Autobots. While scouring the remains of Chicago, devastated in Dark of the Moon, he finds a plucky survivor, Izabella (Isabella Moner) and a Transformer who gives him an unusual talisman. This gets the attention of the Transformer Cogman (Jim Carter), who summons Cade to meet his master, Sir Burton (Anthony Hopkins). The talisman is a relic from an order of Cybertronian Knights who served Camelot and Quintessa's staff was Merlin's staff. It also transpires that Earth is more than meets the eye. Only a descendant of Merlin can wield the staff and save the Earth from Quintessa.

The film mercifully scales back the franchise's escalating runtimes. It's 149 minutes, a minute shorter than the second movie, Revenge of the Fallen. Although it's shorter, the film's screenplay misses a few marks. I already mentioned how "Nemesis Prime" takes forever to show up oppose the Autobots and friends. It takes less than that for him to turn good. Izabella, meanwhile, is out of the picture for a good chunk of the movie despite being heavily featured in the trailers. She is a strong character in her fairly limited screentime, though. Let's not forget how Cade could've prevented a few conflicts if he showed the Cybertronian Knights his talisman.

The supporting cast gets some stuff right. Merlin, played here by Stanley Tucci, is portrayed as a drunk and a charlatan plagued by self-doubt who begs the Cybertronian Knights for help against overwhelming odds. His cameo was the best thing about the movie. Cogman and Burton were entertaining and endearing old folks, and never overstayed their welcome. The new Decepticon warriors were entertaining, even if most of them bit the dust after a scene or two. It's always something to see Barricade, the one Decepticon who won't die, prowling around.

The franchise continues its technical standards ten years on. The Transformers still look and move like real robots. They seamlessly transform into actual vehicles and other CGI-creations. Quintessa is an eerie CGI creation as is her gestalt henchman, Infernocus. The sound quality is as loud and forceful as always, though thankfully my screening didn't dial it up exponentially. The various locations, from London to Cybertron and the Knights' ship, all looked great when rendered by cinematographer Jonathan Sela. The crew hasn't lost its touch or its power yet.

The TV commercials are making it out like it's the last one ever. But it's not. There's a spin-off with the Autobot Bumblebee next year and an official sixth film the following year. The end credits even show a blatant sequel hook. They've got a lot of plans with this franchise even as the reviews get worse and worse. As for me, the film is fine as long as you don't think about it too much. I just hope that whoever takes over from Bay does more to fuel this franchise's spark.

OK, rolling out now.