Transformers : Age of Extinction (2014) – Movie Review ★★★★

Director: Michael Bay – Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Titus Welliver, T.J. Miller & Sophia Myles – Synopsis: After the battle between the Autobots and Decepticons that caused chaos and pretty much destroyed Chicago, the human race think that all aliens (autobots included) are a threat. So taking matters into his own hands Harold Atinger (Grammer), a CIA agent establishes a unit who track down these threats and eliminate them. Meanwhile a local robot expert Cade Yeager (Wahlberg) discovers an old truck abandoned at a local run down cinema and upon examining it, he discovers it’s a Transformer and none other than the big dude himself Optimus Prime. This discovery puts Yeager and his daughter at risk when Atinger’s death squad find out Prime’s whereabouts – Verdict: Regardless of what you may think of the guy’s movies (and we all have our opinions) Michael Bay knows how to put bums on seats, his style of direction at times is chaotic but in a good way, he entertains us, fills the screen with huge visuals that not even your dreams can conjure up, his movies are always barrels of fun, full of great looking characters and always set to fabulous music that sets the scene beautifully giving you goosebumps & standing the hairs on the back of your neck vertical – his latest Age of Extinction is no exception, it’s the best in the Transformers franchise and delivers a thrill ride from start to finish – the casting of Mark Wahlberg was a masterstroke, it’s his energy, undoubted action chops and screen presence that gives Age of Extinction the edge over the first 3 in the series, with the right material Wahlberg is one of the screens action giants, his experience also allowed the youngsters Peltz and Reynor to knit well into the film giving great chemistry, both I’m sure will be future stars – Grammer & Welliver are reliable villains and Tucci like he does in every movie steals all the scenes he’s part of – it was also exciting to see the leader of the Dinobots the gigantic Grimlock brought to life, his design simply awesome, the film in 3D was spectacular at times even jaw dropping and unlike many in the last few years it was controlled and not over used – Bay’s use of the low camera shot makes everything onscreen look larger than life, the gorgeous sunsets, the pretty girls with low cut skirts and the robots or aliens he projects all look delicious to the eye – Overall: anyone who don’t enjoy this style of escapism at the cinema obviously don’t enjoy action movies – Age of Extinction is one hell of a ride, it’s what the big screen was made for and thankfully filmmakers like Michael Bay don’t listen to those who slam his every move, he just goes about his business making blockbusters that make dollars for the studio and more importantly making film fans like me excited for his next venture – in my view along with Stephen Spielberg and James Cameron he’s one of the most important directors working in the blockbuster arena today….