Anyone who goes into this film expecting to review this film as a mature adult has already made a huge mistake. If you have seen any of the first three films, you would know that the storyline, acting and dialogue take a back seat to the giant robots destroying one or more cities in a stereotypical struggle of good vs. evil. And people love them for it, which is why the last film took in over $1 billion worldwide. So it is unsurprising to know that the only thing that has changed is the introduction of fire-breathing robot dinosaurs.
The very basic plot of the film picks up 5 years after the end of the last one, with all of the Transformers, good and bad, being hunted down by the CIA to apparently make sure no more human life is lost as a result of their fighting. But the real reason for them being hunted is that the government want to study their technology so that they can build their own army. They're also have a deal with another Transformer-type alien who wants to capture Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots (good guys). But, pretty predictably, the humans lose control of the technology, and the Autobots have to come in and save the day once again, only this time they need back up, hence the introduction of the bad-ass robo-dinosaurs.
But none of this is really that important, because the storyline, as in the last three films, is just used an excuse for the giant robots to fight each other and blow stuff up, which is all anyone going to see this film should want to see. Yes the dialogue at times is terrible, although you will find yourself genuinely laughing at certain points, and the acting is mediocre at best (from the supporting cast mainly). But the computer animation of the robots and dinosaurs has only gotten better, and the choreography of some of the fights between the robots is very cool.
The one massive issue that I have with this film, however, is that it is just too long. It goes on for over 2 and a half hours, which would be fine if it had an interesting story line like the Hobbit or any of the Lord of the Rings films, but about half way through this you just want to watch the inevitable climax, in all it's fire-breathing glory. But instead the film insists on focusing on the human angle and developing the relationships between the one-dimensional characters. It was over two hours before the dinosaurs were even introduced.
So if all your looking for is a big, loud action film where you can switch your brain off and just enjoy the ride, then this would be an okay choice, but there are much better options out there. Although it was great to see two Irish men in a big Hollywood blockbuster, in the shape of Glenn Keogh and one of the stars, Jack Reynor.
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Transformers: Age Of Extinction is out on the 5th July.
