BOX OFFICE | '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 inventor Cade Yeager, Bumblebee, an English lord and an Oxford professor to save the world.
Following the event of age of extinction, Optimus Prime is still off in space search out his creators, leaving Bumblebee in charger of the Autobots as they and Cade Yeager remain fugitives on earth. New characters are introduced in this film as well some who return, and with two worlds colliding, only one can survive as we rethink our hero.
While 'Transformer: The Last Knight' is the fifth film in the 'Transformers' live action franchise, it is said to be asthe last 'Transformer' film for Director Michael Bay. For all the hype that came before it, 'The Last Knight' was a disappointment, lacking a decent storyline, and focussing on the humans more so than the transformers.
On the other hand, Dinematographer Jonathan Sela (known for 'John Wick') brought some excellent skill to the film, with exceptionally planned camera angles and shots, creating a dynamic sensibility.
Anthony Hopkins' character is possibly one of the only human characters to stand out, whereas Mark Wahlberg did little to stand out. New additions like Isabella Moner were somewhat annoying in their character, and Laura Haddock was made to look very much like Megan Fox in some scenes, which was odd for the audience to see.
Now that Megatron has returned, everyone has forgotten about Galvatron. We knew the Galvatron was Megatron in 'Transformer 4', but how did the whole world know about that? It's as if 'top secret' means nothing in the film, but it turn, between 'Transformer 4' and 'Transformer 5', Galvatron somehow made contact to Quintessa as she restored Galvatron to Megatron, and sent him back to earth to retrieve her staff to drain Unicorn, who - surprise, surprise - is laid within earth to restore Cybertron. (Are you still with us?)
There is one scene in particular that 'The Last Knight' was silly to include, and that was when Megatron was talking to Lt. Colonel William Lennox about regrouping some of his Decepticons, who are locked up by doing a somewhat 'Suicide Squad'-inspired introduction, which is pointless and out-of-character for this franchise.
Optimus Prime barely made an appearance in the film, with one or two scenes at the beginning of the film, and a return in the final battle. Also, with Optimus Prime turning evil because Quintessa turned him into Nemesis Prime, Bumblebee received more scenes, including a look into the past of Bumblebee, giving the audience a different perspective of the character. Could this mean Paramount Pictures is trying to kick start a Bumblebee solo film set in the 1980s?
Grimlock has returned, but was only given a small scene. We need to see more of Grimlock, as well the three-headed dragon which also had little screen time in the beginning, as well the final battle.
However, the scene that everyone anticipated, where Bumblebee faced off against Nemesis Prime, was enjoyed, although it in someways mimicked 'Batman vs Superman', with the fight only lasting three minutes. We see bits off of the fight as we kept cutting back to the humans, and then back to the transformers. And when Bumblebee finally talks to Prime, he is somehow able to turn Nemesis Prime back to Optimus Prime, which fans would agree was rewarding; however, we need to see a lot more of this for the pay-off to feel genuine.
'Transformers: The Last Knight' features very good special effects, but could revisit its constant changing of camera lens - a technique similar to that used in 'The Dark Knight Rises'; this resulted in some shots brighter than average, with the next scenes appearing extra dark. It was a stark and highly changeable technique that left the audience visually exhausted.
In the end, the film's biggest issue is its failure to leave a strong impression - either good or bad - with the audience, as Director Michael Bay avoided mythology and big budget fireworks like in his previous films.
There still a chance for 'Transformer 6' at the Box Office though, as it seems to be doing fairly well in terms of ticket sales.
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