by Rodimus Prime » Tue Jun 20, 2017 11:07 pm
- Motto: "Individual freedom above all else."
So. I just saw The Last Knight. Here's a spoiler-free review:
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.
To those of you eager for spoilers, here you go:
Earth is Unicron. That's all the explanation we got. It wasn't said if Unicron is alive, of if it/he was just some sort of inanimate object/planet. Quintessa did say unicron was just like Cybertron, and that's why she was going to use Cybertron to suck the energy out of Earth/Unicron to rebuild Cybertron. Which apparently survived the space bridge collapse from DoTM but was badly damaged. Simmons had a minor part in the movie. Optimus was gone until the last 30 minutes or so. The main characters were Cade Yeager and Bumblebee. Grimlock and the other Dinobots were also only in it for a few minutes. Onslaught was terribly wasted. He was among 5 Cons who were "freed" from TF prison when Megatron made a deal with Lennox. Speaking fo whom, Megatron was also misused, as usual. There was no explanation given for his new appearance or for why he is called Megatron again after being called Galvatron in AoE. TLK can be considered a direct sequel to AoE because it follows the story of Cade Yeager as well as how the Transformers continue to be treated. They are outlawed, and since Cade stuck with them, he is hunted as well. Hot Rod was actually treated decently as a character, though he could have done more. He does have a cool weapon, it temporarily stops time for whoever is shot with it. Sqweeks was an utter, totally useless character. The screen time they used for him could have been used for another actual character, perhaps another of Soundwave's minions. Waste of time. Infernocus was also wasted, he was on screen for maybe 3 minutes, just enough to get killed by Prime. The 3-headed dragon is formed by the 12 knights who abandoned Quintessa and came to Earth 1600 years ago. They are the TF version of the Knights of the Round Table. Quintessa basically guilts Optimus into trying to save Cybertron at the cost of Earth. He comes to his senses when he almost kills Bee and Bee speaks on his own for the first time. He did get a voice box from Trader, the junk truck, but it was a voice box for a female bot. It made for a few good laughs. There were no toilet jokes, but a good bit of swearing. The movie definitely earned its PG-13 rating there. Anthony Hopkins' character dies. Megatron gets blasted out of Cybertron at the end, but isn't shown destroyed. Quintessa is killed. In the end, Cybertron is rebuilt, but not all the way. Optimus and the other Autobots return to Cybertron to rebuild it the right way, without destroying Earth. The explanation for Unicron being Earth is left for the next film. Overall,
I would rate TLK on the level of AoE. Thin story, a bit rushed, but the 2nd half makes up for the 1st half.
If you have questions, either PM them or ask them here, and I'll answer them if I see them.
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I saw it in 3D, and the visuals were worth it. I will probably see it again over the weekend, and maybe I'll get to see the credit scene. I also agree about the other Autobots being wasted, which is why I didn't even write about them. Hound got in some good lines, and he got to go 1-on-1 with Megatron. It wasn't shown whether he was killed or not. He did take a shot from Megatron dead-center in the chest. I missed the smaller stuff, such as the wrong head on the wrong body. I also agree that Izzy was an unnecessary character, but much like Sqweeks, she is there for the younger audience. That kind of counteracts all the swearing in the film, though. And yes, Cogman. He was very entertaining, and next to Bee, the main Transformer presence in the film.
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