Transformers: The Last Knight Review

Transformers: The Last Knight is the fifth entry in this actually now long running live action take on the beloved franchise. Things are somewhat better with "The Last Knight" but quite honestly "Age of Extinction" set the bar pretty damn low with only the Dinobots being decent there. That being said, it was a better film in terms of having a plot to some degree and better coordinated action.

Things didn't really make much sense with some moments and story lines being puzzling. I also absolutely hated the young female character Izabella (Isabela Moner). The character was obnoxious, the acting was poor and it was part of a horribly slow start to the film. I've rarely been that annoyed by an actor in any of the films I've reviewed or watched and needed to put that out front.

The plot largely follows the Autobots and Decepticons throughout the ages and their current civil war on Earth. Optimus Prime went to meet his makers so he's gone and we're left with the aftermath of it. Mark Wahlberg returns as Cade with that character actually being better with this one and given an oddly important role. They somehow managed to tie Merlin, King Arthur and a Nazi strike to modern times which worked to some degree. Things can get rather muddled and quite honestly it's best to just ignore when certain parts of the narrative get dropped suddenly.

There was definitely a large scale here not only with the bigger explosions and destruction, but also with the cast of Transformers. This collection of robots gets greatly expanded upon from downright useless ones to some of the big players. Unicron and Hot Rod get explored, but both are wasted.

It's an odd mix of getting some of the old ones to return for small roles and then getting a new line of players into the mix. This was mirrored with the human side of things as well. The start was slow and from there the action wasn't actually bad.

The progression of moving from various locations worked and weaving the Transformers more into history was neat. The visuals were once again top notch with everything looking very realistic and some of the transformations were stunning. I found the 3D added some interesting value to the film with its depth and use of particles such as dust or smoke.

The Conclusion

This was an improvement over the absolutely horrible "Age of Extinction" but still not entirely coherent. There was just too much going on and while interesting to some degree, it wasn't great.

I can see that audiences will still turn out in droves since the name carries weight and those that have enjoyed the past ones will like this. The product placement was also less annoying this time around and the travelling didn't feel like it was forced. The humans were also much better in this one aside from the obnoxious kid, her character was that bad.

When it all comes down to it, The Last Knight was more of what fans expect from the series while moving slightly in a better direction. I'll also make a last note that the visuals were gorgeous with intense action scenes, but I was very disappointed about how the lore was altered.

Transformers: The Last Knight Review at Theater with 3D Viewing
Screening Provided by Paramount

Rating Overall: 4.5