Returning to the action and spectacle that have captured moviegoers around the world, this incarnation of the franchise will take audiences on a 90's globetrotting adventure with the Autobots, including Optimus Prime (voice of Peter Cullen), Optimus Primal (voice of Ron Perlman), Maximal Airazor (voice of Michelle Yeoh), Mirage (voice of Pete Davidson) and Arcee (voice of Liza Koshy), all forming as allies in the existing battle for earth between Autobots and Decepticons headed up by Scourge (voice of Peter Dinklage). In this prequel, the protagonists are Noah Diaz (Anthony Ramos and Elena Wallace (Dominique Fishback).
Others to round out the cast are Luna Lauren Velez as Deanna Diaz, Noah's mom, Dean Scott Vazquez as Kris Diaz, Noah's younger brother, Tobe Nwigwe as Reek, Sarah Stiles as Jillian, Leni Parker as Ms. Greene and Michael Kelly as Agent Burke.
This was directed with grit and pure adrenaline by Steven Caple Jr. ("Class" (TV movie) '15, "The Land" '16, "Creed II" '18) plus TV, shorts and a music video. Even though this filmmaker has limited feature film experience, one certainly can't pigeon-hole him. His diversity with what type of film or what genre he tackles knows no boundaries and I definitely can respect anyone for that. This being the first big-budget type film he has helmed showed me that he could continue with this genre if interested. It was written with action as well as heart in mind by Joby Harold, Darnell Metayer, Josh Peters, Erich Hoeber and Jon Hoeber, based on a story by Joby Harold, which is based on Hasbro's Transformers action figures. After watching the trailer of this film, I thought it was simply going to be pure torture to get through this, but after the end end credits rolled, I must say it was truly better than I would've ever imagined. First of all, it was comprised of five writers-- count them--five. Usually if the tally of writers of a film extends beyond two, the story simply becomes convoluted and unoriginal--too many chefs in the kitchen I guess, but since most of these writers have a fair amount of feature film experience, I believe that was certainly part of it being as palatable as it was. Secondly, this being set in 1994, this had to be considered a prequel to the rest of the installments--all of those being shot in present day. Prequels can be fun because it can give an origin of the characters and find out more, in detail, about them. Were there flaws in this screenplay? Absolutely. There were a few areas of inconsistencies and some choppiness in the script, and, hey, that could've been that there were too many writers, but who knows? And, of course, the visual effects predominantly designed by MPC (Moving Picture Company), Weta FX and ILM (Industrial, Light & Magic) were seamless, but, as with this franchise's predecessors, upstaged the actors and story a bit too much.
Certainly if you like the Transformers franchise, you'll be right at home with this since, like the others, it has action, adrenaline, explosions, some humor and tons of CGI to last you for a while. The surprise here was that the amount of heart this obtained showcased an element of humanity this certainly conveyed. It's pure escapism at its finest. Head to the multiplex and grab the popcorn for this roller coaster ride.
Out of 4 Stars: 3 Rated: PG-13 127mins.
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