Transformers: The Last Knight movie review— World isn’t ending anytime soon

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Isabela Moner, Josh Duhamel, Laura Haddock, Anthony Hopkins
Director: Michael Bay

Transformers is one of the longest running movie series, with five instalments down and a few more to go, it seems like the story now needs an overhaul. With Mark Wahlberg, who has been comfortable in the position now, and with The Last Knight, acquiring some physical connection with the Autobots, is expected to show some more transformation in the next episode, otherwise the series would be difficult to continue with. The Last Knight starts with a grim prelude where the world (America) is experiencing crisis due to the departure of Optimus Prime and routine clashes between the Autobots and Decepticons that is converting colonies into debris in the absence of Prime. Humans have now evolved Special Forces to tackle the extra-terrestrial species and the distinction between the good and bad has diminished. The characters show a lot of evolution as Autobots have now acquired earthly manners, started indulging in substances and professions, like humans would do sometimes. It does not help much but it surely fills in some time.

Time is another factor for the story to seem a little dull at most places, specially with the Transformers you want to experience more thrill and excitement, you want to see them fly, dance, engage in some action that will make you cringe, but these guys seem like they are on a beach holiday most of the times. In fact, the entire duration before the interval (strategic interval that happens abruptly) seems like that. After the interval, the story does take up some pace but it still does not give you thrills. Or maybe I have grown too old with the story now or maybe the fact that all such stories have a very linear narrative path. The world is coming to an end due to some reason which cannot be easily explained so a scientist conjures up a simple, humorous explanation to give it a perspective, then the protagonists who have no idea what they are supposed to do, end up meeting a historian or researcher who has been waiting for the very moment to inform the protagonist(s) of their secret powers, abilities or purposes, finally there is a major battle that continues for about 25 minutes interrupted only by a single moment for a kiss, irrespective of whether the protagonists are lovers or simply hate the sight of each other, followed by the collapse of the oppressive, colonial power that plans to end the world.

The kiss is very important, for it helps renew the faith in lust as a potent energiser. It is intriguing how the kiss interrupts an intense situation, almost like a promise that they will overcome the trouble and get back to finishing the rest of the business. If it weren’t for that promising, lustful kiss, I wonder how many of our protagonists would survive the ordeal, what would they have to look forward to in case they did? Sure, saving the world is great, but something more personal and immediate is more helpful. Laura Haddock, the British historian, is filled with disdain for Mark Wahlberg, an American inventor in the first meeting; she seems to be rather stoic, snob and somehow within a span of less than 24 hours engages in a kiss. There surely is a lot of unfinished business that needs to be taken care of after they defeat the evil powers that are going to end the world (America) as we know it.

Transformers is not an economical film, with the magnitude of special effects and animation required to produce something like this, it is very important that the story is kept straight and rightly paced. Michael Bay, known for directing and producing big-budget action movies, seems to have gone easy on this episode. But there are moments that are exciting and characters that outshine. For instance, Cogman, the butler that assists Anthony Hopkins is funny, cool and also incredibly evolved.

There are a lot of loose ends and possibilities for the next instalment to pick up from; a promising new character is Isabela Moner who would probably have a more prominent presence in the next one. However, the next instalment will have to have a completely new plot and perhaps it will be more exciting than this one. One only hopes that it should not be this long. The Last Knight plays for about three hours but definitely feels much longer, so maybe a little engine overhaul will help the Autobots and Decepticons to move faster, and help reduce the duration.

The writer is founder, Lightcube Film Society