Transformers: Age of Extinction

You know that the summer movie season is in high gear when a Transformers film has been released. As with its predecessors, "Transformers: Age of Extinction" is a high-budget, high- adrenaline, high-explosive--basically high everything type of film. Break out the popcorn, because it's time to escape BIG time.

This installation of the franchise begins after an epic battle leaves Chicago torn, however with the world saved. As humanity picks up the pieces, a shadowy elite group, headed up by Joshua Joyce (Stanley Tucci), Harold Attinger (Kelsey Grammer) and James Savoy (Titus Welliver) reveals itself in an attempt to control the direction of history... while an ancient, powerful new menace sets Earth in its crosshairs.
With help from a new cast led by Mark Wahlberg as Cade Yeager, a mechanic/inventor, his teenage daughter Tessa (Nicola Peltz) and her boyfriend Shane Dyson (Jack Reynor), Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) and the Autobots rise to meet their most fearsome challenge yet. In an incredible adventure, they are swept up in a war of good and evil, ultimately leading to a climatic battle across the world.

Others to round out the cast are Sophia Myles as Darcy Tirrel, Bingbing Li as Su Yueming, T.J. Miller as Lucas Flannery, friend and employee of Cade's, James Bachman as Gill Wembley, Thomas Lennon as Chief of Staff, Charles Parnell as CIA Director, Erika Fong as CIA Analyst, and Mike Collins as CIA Analyst.

This was directed by the 'father' of big-budget summer flicks, Michael Bay ("Bad Boys" '95, "The Rock" '96, "Armageddon" '98, "Pearl Harbor" '01, "Bad Boys II" '03, "The Island" '05, "Transformers" '07, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" '09, "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" '11, "Pain & Gain" '13). By his very resume, I believe this guy would feel like a fish out of water if he decided to direct a small independent film. He clearly sticks to what he not only knows best, but probably what he prefers best, and we are the recipients of a project that we can truly escape into. It was written by Ehren Kruger who also wrote the   predecessors with exception of the original. This was based on the Hasbro figures. Not that it should be of any shock, but he is also writing "Transformers 5" as we speak. This material isn't anything considered Oscar worthy, but, com'on, this is pure fantasy at its best. This wasn't without a few areas of choppiness, but ILM's (Industial, Light & Magic) visual effects more than made up for the choppy places in script. This certainly was not an acting stretch for Wahlberg, Tucci or Grammer as they graced the screen, but they must have realized this aspect allowing themselves to be upstaged by the Autobots.

If you liked the other installations of this franchise, you'll certainly love this, even with the new cast. As I stated above, the real stars here are the Autobots, and as long as Hollywood doesn't tamper with that cast, the investors will be able to keep saying CHA CHING for years to come.

Out of 4 Stars: 3                              Rated: PG-13                           165mins.