Rodimus Prime wrote:his is a spoiler-free review for The Last Knight, which I saw on June 20th.
Overall, the film was a positive experience, but I guess that depends on your individual expectations. The pacing was more brisk than Age of Extinction, and the story was a little more engaging, but not by much. The characters were treated the same as before, mainly the Transformers. We get a little more in-depth look at the history of the Transformers, but only enough to make the events in the film convenient.
The main characters of the film this time around are Cade Yeager and Bumblebee. Some other characters are used sparingly, or just at the right moments to further the plot. The human characters are all portrayed well, none of them seem wasted, unlike some of the Transformers. The action is fast-paced, especially the car chases and battle scenes. Michael Bay definitely put his penchant for explosions to good use here. Fortunately, toilet humor was at a bare minimum, perhaps 2 or 3 instances. Adult language was much more prevalent, however. The film definitely earned its PG-13 rating there.
The story of the Transformers themselves was further revealed, even though the movie was still human-heavy. It does seem the Transformers share at least equal screen time and importance in this film, as opposed to the previous ones. This aspect seems to be improving with each movie. There were a few things left unexplained, and the ending was definitely left open for the sequel which is intended for 2019, with or without Michael Bay. I rate this film on the level of Age of Extinction, with a somewhat thin story and a lot of action. If you liked that film, you will like this one.
William-James88 wrote:Wrap your head around this one: human character Santos, played by Santiago Cabrera, has more screen time than Optimus Prime and Megatron COMBINED.
Who is Santos? Who cares! I sure didn't. And he is far from being a main character in this. But that fact that another random human addition to the ever expanding human cast of the Transformers franchise has more screen time than who should be the franchise's hero and villain is quite dissapointing.
Yes, once again, after what I thought was an improvement in AOE, the robots get the shaft in a story about not one but 2 chosen humans saving the day.
Here is a massive spoiler: that big three headed dragon you see in the trailers is part of the final battle and he does absolutely nothing. Neither does Drift or Crosshairs. And all the cool robot parts are in the trailer. Stitching all the shots from the Optimus vs Bumblebee fight from the trailers gives you the entire fight you see on screen, bar the resolution. What you don't see in the trailers is the ton of human stuff that no one watches these movies for. That's quite sad to me.
I had faith in this film. There was a writer's room, a sense that people cared. But it seems nomatter who is writing, they are dictated to make unfunny jokes, racial stereotypes, and mcguffins galore wrapped in nonsensical plots.
Case in point, the titular Last Knight. There is a lot of time dedicated to the Last Knight, and him discovering who he is, but the finale and end game isn't linked to him.There isn't a purpose to him since the mcguffin is related to another character. There is also a ton of plot holes and actual movie making errors, such as Sqweek's arm changing between shots, using the wrong microphone audio for Laura Haddock's voice in one scene, and robots being in robot mode and vehicle mode from one shot to the next with no sound or indication that they transformed.
It feels very amateurish from Michael Bay, who doesn't make continuity errors this noticeable usually. And of course, there are the afore mentioned plot holes which are more blatant than before, with the worst offender being Bumblebee's voice. Is it fine? Is it broken? Does it need fixing? TELL ME!!!!!
Oh and I will leave you with this, there are two scenes dedicated to talking about either Mark Wahlberg or Laura Haddock's sex life and they are both at least three times as long as the final fight of Megatron vs Optimus Prime.
Yay.
Mindmaster wrote:Saw it tonight. Non-spoiler version: this is probably the best movie out of the five, without hyperbole. I liked it so much that it made me go out and finally get Voyager Optimus and Beserker on my way home, and I was slightly ambivalent about getting them before. Age of Extinction made me want Hound so bad, and now The Last Knight makes me want Cogman just as badly, if not more.
Spoiler-version: Things I liked and got excited about:
*Cogman. Literally the best thing ever. Dude had me rolling every time he showed up. If he doesn't show up in the next one, my hope in humanity will be dashed.
*Unicron: he's finally been name-dropped in the movie universe! Kinda expected him to get mentioned somewhere, but wasn't expecting a Prime reference in that he turns out to be Earth. And that post-credit scene absolutely sets up the next one, nobody deny it.
*The Nemesis Prime name-drop. Now I wish they'd revise the Shadow Spark Optimus Prime packaging to reflect that.
*The WWII scene; as a history major, this was what I was waiting for. I really hope we see toys based on Bumblebee and Hot Rod's WWII designs.
*The Decepticons; finally! The main ones have personalities! Mohawk retool of Hunt for the Decepticons Brimstone, pls.
*All the references to the previous movies: Simmons; the Ark during the Moon's destruction; the Pyramid still slightly destroyed from Devastator in Revenge of the Fallen; Starscream's head (Megatron even goes Hamlet on it); Viviane name-dropping Shockwave and Soundwave when she gets kidnapped by Hot Rod; even Sam Witwicky gets a small nod.
And a few things I didn't like about it;
*Cogman; despite him being my favorite thing about the movie, he never transformed and combined with the Aston Martin like they pre-movie hype led us to believe. Was very disappointed, but optimistic that it might happen in the next one.
*Dinobots; once again, they get shafted as far as screen time is concerned. I wasn't happy that they showed up for less time than Age of Extinction, and they never even transformed.
Kinda irritated about it, but whatevs I guess.
*The Decepticons; wished they had survived to see the end, especially Nitro.
*The Knights of Cybertron: kinda irritated how it takes all twelve for them to combine into Dragonstorm, yet the upcoming Leader-class figure only breaks down into two. I get that it would be a nightmare to engineer a twelve-bot dragon combiner, but still.
*To a lesser degree, Hot Rod's gun. No further comments.
All in all, this movie did a lot more right than all the others. Thinking about the previous ones, I didn't really have a favorite; the first one was my least favorite, then the next three kinda were tied. They never beat each other out because they all had an equal amount of things I liked and disliked. But The Last Knight? To me, it unquestionably had more right than wrong. Definitely the most Transformer-y of the franchise. I think we're finally getting on the right track as far as Transformers movies are concerned, and I've regained my confidence in the movies.
D-Maximus_Prime wrote:I liked the con stuff, like we actually had some good cons stuff starting, but it got cut off pretty quick, which is a shame. though we still have Megatron, Berserker, and maybe Barricade. Hot Rod felt good but really needed more screen time (we can agree on cool ass weapon though). Cogman was the main cybertronian presence, and he was a good character, though I was bummed that he was the main cybertronian presence throughout much of the film. And we had his actual headmaster part cut. Boo. And then Crosshairs, Drift, and Hound are barely in the film basically. Like, only in some scenes. Hot Rod was in more scenes, and I feel he was under-represented.
Also, topspin had Leadfoot's head.
Transformations were good too. Sqweeks was the only one not to transform in the film, and they did it a lot. Spent some good time looking at the transformations too.
I felt the first maybe half to 2/3 of the film was on the right track, but the last bit kinda fell off the rails some for me. Felt rushed and incomplete, like a shadow of what was intended.
Definitely feels like it could have easily been 2 movies, or 3 hours, and things would have gone to the potential the film really had.
I did really like how much Megatron used his arm cannon though, and I really feel that they cut a whole part about where Quintessa somehow rebuilt Megatron from Galvatron, made him a knight's body, and that red bit on his face, which he had in the film and was a sign of Quintessa control,
showed that he was doing her bidding, hence some of the events in the film. I also liked Bee in the film, though I think it really set some stuff up for the Bee movie. sir Burton said he was much different in the 1940's, like much more cruel and not ever referred to as nice, and maybe that is where the Bee movie will explore: murder and rage bot to kind Bee.
I actually did not take Quintessa's "death" scene as death. It almost appeared as if she simply left that shell in a shower of electrical current, only to show up in human form in the id credits scene. I liked Sqweeks, but definitely see how he was kind of a waste. I thought Izzy was a waste too, which is a shame, but the movie didn't feel like it really needed her, or for her to be a main character. I only saw Grimlock and Slug, and it was disappointing not to see Strafe or Scorn.
It was also sad that those dinobots we did see disappeared completely really quickly.
I don't want anyone to think i didn't enjoy myself or the movie. I did. I just feel it had more potential, and time and too much trying to fit into a thin plot did it in
It Is Him wrote:The first hour offered surprising promise and fun, followed by an hour of bloat, and ended with an action sequence that just didn't take well enough of advantage of the great robot cast introduced in the beginning.
It was better than AoE, and ultimately I'm glad I saw the movie.
Randomhero wrote:I just got out of it and i really enjoyed it. its not perfect in the slightest but i had fun.
however i walked away saying "so they stopped sucking the earth dry but isnt cybertron still colliding with the planet? they saved Earth but isnt Unicron still waking up?" oh well it was a fun ride.
zko wrote:I liked it, I've liked all the Bay movies pretty well, and this one was my favorite.
It played out a bit like the plot of season 1 and 2 of prime as a Bay movie, mixed with some of the G1 episode where they go back to medieval times and also the old kids read along book "When Continents Collide" had some stuff in there that seemed to be almost reflecting some biblical, book of revelations stuff with the plot about the horns, the dragon, the seal etc, but that wasn't carried too far.
KVO Prime wrote:I was disappointed... disappointed in myself to get so excited ...AGAIN... for a let down. What an incoherent piece of garbage. After a while I started timing it to see if any scene lasted longer than 2 seconds before violently jerking back somewhere else. Don't they have stabilization gyroscopes? Jeezus.. and all the bots shown ONCE for their toy placement was absurd.
all_the_primes wrote:This movie was a mess. Straight to to the point: I will not watch it again. Okay, maybe when I am incredibly bored... But I'd rather be watching Sesame Street, TFP or Inglorious Basterds, I respect myself that much.
TLK movie felt overwhelmingly unfocused and pacing was too fast/poor to the point that I lost focus on what the story(s) was about. If you are looking for some robot fighting action, it's there, but nothing groundbreaking. Over all, (in the words of Anthony Fantano) not good.
...
OVERALL/FINAL THOUGHTS/TLDR: This movie was godly unfocused, probably the most unfocused movie I've seen to date (an impressive feat). I could go on and bag on this movie for days, but I did find it enjoyable at some very certain times (surprisingly so), but if had an opportunity to watch it again, I'd gladly decline. In fact, after writing this review and leaving a great lot of critiques out, I realize how much I did not enjoy this movie.
well this is out now and getting slaughtered by the critics as usual.
but ya know what?
im just back from it and- shock horror- its not bad !
ok the bar is LOW on this one and its still too bloody long- i was dying for a piss for the last 20 mins. but its probably the best one theyve done so far. iwent to see it in 3D . something i normally avoid but one of the things i'll give bay is he at LEAST does that format right. i was kinda hoping that if it was a big pile of shyte it'd at least look good.
but straight off the bat you can sense a different "feel" to this one compared to the others. you can see whats going on and its actually got characters in it. in fact its amazingly got some emotional heft to it in places.
Izze for instance. she's so much like verity from the comics im kinda annoyed they didnt just call her that. she's been through alot and moner balances the grit with the vulnerabilty of her very well. i really liked the scenes with her and marky mark.
speaking of him ive gotta say i was worried about what they were going to do with him as cade yagers character in this is kinda jarring. thankfully they mainly rip the piss out of him and i loved the banter/digs between him and vivian. yes its the standard" they hate each other/ oh now theyre kissing" stuff but at least its fun. haddock was one of my favorites in this .
hopkins is in this for the laughs exposition and a paycheck, and in fairness to him he does look like he's having a blast in the role.
now onto the transformers.
primes not in this much, but more than you might think. ditto for megatron. they STILL dont know how to write prime, but theyre getting there and his speech near the end is actually approaching inspiring. megs is probably the best he's been portrayed since the first and while he still doesnt look right, watching him uses a proxy of an arm mounted fusion cannon goes along way to sating what i want from the guys.what amazing though is several times transformers are in this to just talk
sorry but that just doesnt happen in a micheal bay film. so it looks like the producers/writers got more clout on this from someone. there actually a hell of alot of transformers just reporting to one another. or reflecting on the position there in. in fact im pretty sure one or two dont do any bloody fighting at all but just have screen time chatting.
unheard of !!!
its STILL a by film so theres his trademark "humor" but its not as offensive as in the other films and theres actually some decent laughs in this in places. as you'd expect the action is brilliant and it IS worth the 3D..
If i was to really rag on it its main prob is its got a hell of alot of ideas in it and many dont get fleshed out that well. if more time was spent establishing villains -infernicus for instance- their battles wouldve come off as more epic than they do when they happen. ditto for the Arthurian stuff. more character time there couldve lent it more weight.. but those scenes just seem to happen far too quickly. infuriating when theres a good 20 min of fat that couldve been cut from it in other places.
but still if flows fairly well in the main which means your at the final battle quick enough. bafflingly though it just stops.
i mean STOPS.
the end comes out of nowhere and is really jarring. but that said it DOES leave the franchise in a rather mental postion. i mean the way things are left is bonkers so the next one has a hell of alot of stuff to deal with.
the best thing in it is the world building. theres ALOT of transformers lore in this. particularly from the "tranformers ; prime" series but also the comics and the previous live action fims. i particularly liked one bit with megs and a certain head. theres a nice "the transformers: the movie" reference in how primes fight with megs ends and again its probably the most character centric of the movies. yes grimlocks wasted and theres still some cringe inducing dialogue. but its nowhere near as bad as the others.
7/10 from me.
best laugh (unintentional) is hopkins running down a lane in london to end up in trinity college dublin. im sure the yanks wont get it but the irish audience will LOL at it.
breacher wrote:So wait, roadbuster and topspin ARE in this? I doubt they have much screen time, but having them back at all is good imo. (seriously though, someone, are they really in this?)
Va'al wrote:I keep track of everyone. Backwards.
There are atandarfs to maintain.
LOST Cybertronian wrote:Hey, If Mindmaster survived then you should do just fine.
Mindmaster wrote:breacher wrote:So wait, roadbuster and topspin ARE in this? I doubt they have much screen time, but having them back at all is good imo. (seriously though, someone, are they really in this?)
Topspin is, though he inexplicably has Leadfoot's head. I never saw Roadbuster.
D-Maximus_Prime wrote:Mindmaster wrote:breacher wrote:So wait, roadbuster and topspin ARE in this? I doubt they have much screen time, but having them back at all is good imo. (seriously though, someone, are they really in this?)
Topspin is, though he inexplicably has Leadfoot's head. I never saw Roadbuster.
Roadbuster was there at the beginning the first time we see Simmons. We didn't see him after that
Va'al wrote:I keep track of everyone. Backwards.
There are atandarfs to maintain.
LOST Cybertronian wrote:Hey, If Mindmaster survived then you should do just fine.
Mindmaster wrote:breacher wrote:So wait, roadbuster and topspin ARE in this? I doubt they have much screen time, but having them back at all is good imo. (seriously though, someone, are they really in this?)
Topspin is, though he inexplicably has Leadfoot's head. I never saw Roadbuster.
Randomhero wrote:Mindmaster wrote:breacher wrote:So wait, roadbuster and topspin ARE in this? I doubt they have much screen time, but having them back at all is good imo. (seriously though, someone, are they really in this?)
Topspin is, though he inexplicably has Leadfoot's head. I never saw Roadbuster.
Topspin didn't have leadfoots head. All the Wreckers had similar facial features but topspin had his dreadlock like hair. He looked right
partholon wrote:have to admit to LOLing at the Cuba thing.
bots and humans playing basketball or sommat in what amounts to a transformers "safehouse". i weirdly wanted to see more of that.
Kurona wrote:So I'm not gonna see the movie for a while if that - I don't really wanna spend money on it; I'll watch it on Netflix next year if I still have it by then - so I just wanna know now; do they explain at all how Megatron isn't Galvatron now? It doesn't even have to be a good one; maybe a throwaway line that mentions the name Galvatron or even just asking if he used to be called something else before they get cut off. Is it even ACKNOWLEDGED that he used to be Galvatron? Or is it as if it never happened?
And because I know I'm probably gonna get this response; if it turns out that there's no explanation, that's not gonna be a reason for me to think that's a bad movie. That would be monumentally stupid; it's a very minor thing in the grand scheme of things. I'm just curious about this one thing.
breacher wrote:So wait, roadbuster and topspin ARE in this? I doubt they have much screen time, but having them back at all is good imo. (seriously though, someone, are they really in this?)
Kurona wrote:do they explain at all how Megatron isn't Galvatron now? It doesn't even have to be a good one; maybe a throwaway line that mentions the name Galvatron or even just asking if he used to be called something else before they get cut off. Is it even ACKNOWLEDGED that he used to be Galvatron? Or is it as if it never happened?
Return to Transformers Live Action Film Forum
Registered users: Bing [Bot], Glyph, Google [Bot], Google Adsense [Bot], Yahoo [Bot]