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Critics Consensus: With the fourth installment in Michael Bay's blockbuster Transformers franchise, nothing is in disguise: Fans of loud, effects-driven action will find satisfaction, and all others need not apply.
Critic Consensus: With the fourth installment in Michael Bay's blockbuster Transformers franchise, nothing is in disguise: Fans of loud, effects-driven action will find satisfaction, and all others need not apply.
View All Transformers: Age of Extinction News
All Critics (200) | Top Critics (48) | Fresh (36) | Rotten (164) | DVD (1)
Since the film is a chilling two hours and 45 minutes long, that means one's mind quickly wanders, dancing across this film's many flaws, little and big.
The few authentic inspirations to be found in the movie's hundred and sixty-five roiling minutes involve gigantic science-fiction contrivances.
It barely matters whether this movie is good or bad. Bay is now the sort of filmmaker -- the only one, perhaps -- whose moviemaking goes beyond such binary banality.
In the end, though, this is still a movie about giant robots fighting each other, which is to say it's nearly impossible to take seriously on a narrative level.
Inflated, interminable and incoherent ...
You're either awestruck, dumbstruck or just plain struck in the face.
It's so monotonous and dull that it makes Dark of the Moon look like a breezy 90-minute romp.
When it came time to take in the series' fourth installment...the (very) low bar I'd set for myself was that it not put me to sleep. Well, it didn't
T4 will no doubt be one of the biggest films of the summer and it's not worth five cents in creativity, authenticity, humanity or depth. At least these films are expensive so they don't come out too often.
It's dull, horrifying and miserable.
Based on approximately 615 minutes worth of evidence, the series probably won't get much better than Age of Extinction, which is less a recommendation than a statement of resignation.
This movie is so long, it is ridiculous. I literally rationed out my popcorn.
Infuriatingly silly and pointless, this is the most spectacular and stupid entry in the franchise. No plot to speak of and unbelievably flat characters and dialog make this hard to sit through, even during some of the action sequences. It doesn't help that the film is 30 minutes too long. When even huge action sequences feel repetitive and drag on forever your movie is in trouble. Most attempts in humor, especially on the Bots's side, are just poor. Only Stanley Tucci works here once his character gets interesting. He is the sole ray of light in this convoluted, stupid mess. One of the worst blockbusters of all times.
Super Reviewer
Four movies in, at this point you can either fall back on the old criticisms of Michael Bay as a filmmaker or simply let down your guard and look for any simple pleasures offered by the Transformers franchise, a series mostly known for chaotic plotting and action. Age of Extinction is probably the best Transformers film since the first one (take that for what you will) but it still has all the hallmarks of the obtuse and convoluted plotting, absurd and obnoxious characters, juvenile humor, intense product placement, and often incoherent action. Gone are the characters from the first three films and in their stead is Mark Wahlberg (upgrade) as a Texan inventor named, get this, Cade Yeager. He and his teen daughter come into contact with Optimus Prime and are on the run from multiple forces. Apparently a bounty hunter is looking to target Prime. The U.S. has a black ops team tracking down Transformers in hiding. And Stanley Tucci plays a business tycoon who wants to make his own Transformers via their magic substance "Transformium." Reading all of that, you realize the pieces still don't really make sense, and that's before the robot dinosaurs come into play. And yet Bay and his team have fine-tuned the entertaining aspects of the franchise and better consolidated them in the fourth film. A badass alien bounty hunter/collector is a great addition, adding the government as an adversary, Titus Welliver (TV's Lost) as a cocksure special agent, Tucci as a corporate blowhard, and robot dinosaurs, it all sort of works on its own terms. Again, if you try and logically connect the pieces, it won't happen. By this point, if you're not a fan of the series, there's no real reason to continue watching, but if you've found any semblance of enjoyment then there should be enough to keep your attention with the fourth film. Nate's Grade: C+
This started out way better than I thought, but then fell off the rails at the end. Did it end? I wasn't sure because it felt like it went on forever.
With the visual effects and accuracy in its adaptation the only things going for it, there is not much to hone in on the latest installment of the Transformers franchise. Age of Extinction is drenched in unnecessary dialogue, duration and elements in its story (like the installment itself) making this, arguably, the less-than-satisfying edition to the saga. 1.5/5
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