TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION MADE SMALLS WAVE THE WHITE FLAG

In Transformers: Age of Extinction the Autobots have fallen on hard times. After the battle of Chicago at the end of Dark of The Moon, Humanity has turned against them. Sick and tired of all the wanton destruction, we now see all giant robots as threats. N.E.S.T has been disbanded and replaced by a military Autobot hunting group (named Cemetery Wind) that is assisted by bad-ass galactic bounty hunter Lockdown (voiced by Mark Ryan), who is on his own hunt for Optimus Prime.  Good ole' boy Cade Yaeger (Mark Whalberg) stumbles upon Optimus and is dragged along with his daughter Tessa (Nicola Peltz), and her boyfriend Shane (Jack Reynor) into the war. Meanwhile, a new tech company named KSI, has figured out how to control the element that Transformers are made up of (called Transformium, I shit you not) and has started making their own giant robot army led by one of their creations named Galactus (voiced by Frank Welker).

The humans this time are nowhere near as grating as Sam Witwicky and crew. Mark Whalberg is given more to do than any other human in the Transformers franchise, Nicola Peltz is just there to be the damsel in distress but is still very likable, Jack Reynor gets the blunt end of the stick with zero character development. T.J. Miller appears for most of the first act as Lucas Flannery and is entertaining as a worker for Cade Yaeger. Stanley Tucci is ok as Joshua Joyce, head of KSI who is in cahoots with Harold Attinger (Kelsey Grammar, who is also just ok) who is in charge of the Autobot hunters. The human story centers around the theme of family, and I did dig the family dynamic between Whalberg and Peltz.

As for the new Autobots there is the cigar chomping Hound (voiced by John Goodman), the samurai Drift (voiced by Ken Watanabe), and Crosshairs (voiced by John DiMaggio). They aren't memorable or even all that likable. The standout is John Goodman as Hound, and even then he can't hold a candle to the original crew (though it is entertainingly surreal to hear John Goodman's voice coming out of a robot). The Dinobots also make an appearance near the end (they are in essentially the entire last act of the film, and they are indeed pretty bad-ass. It's always fun to watch them snatch up baddies off the ground or in mid-air and either toss them or snap them in half and eat them). Galactus (voiced by Frank Welker) is introduced as our Megatron surrogate, but he is neither all that threatening nor is he given much to do. The real standout as far as baddies go is Lockdown (voiced by Mark Ryan), who is a hardcore galactic bounty hunter. He was so cool, I was almost tempted to root for him during his battles with Optimus (Lockdown's ship is pretty impressive as well).

I'm surprised to say that director Michael Bay seems to have started to turn over a new leaf. There are no terrible jokes here (the script still isn't great though), and there are barely any gratuitous shots of females (zero of Nicola Peltz, she still looks good though). However, one thing has remained constant with Mr. Bay, he still loves him some good explosions, and he still doesn't know when to say CUT! The only real problem with Transformers: Age of Extinction is it's 2 hour 45 minute running time, which consists mainly of things going BA-BOOM (The film throws as many explosions as it can at you until you are forced to wave your white flag in surrender)!!!! If you love explosions, this is most definitely your film. I've got to hand it to Bay, while the film is WAY TOO LONG, it takes a special kind of crazy to decide your going to make an almost 3 hour epic consisting of pretty explosions and crazy action. The inner ten year old in me was quite happy, but my 23 year old adult self was super exhausted by the time the end credits rolled.

I should mention I saw the film in 3D, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The scenes that utilize 3D do so quite well, and to entertaining effect, just don't be surprised if you find yourself fighting off eye strain during the third act of the film.

I can confidently say  that Transformers: Age of Extinction is easily the event film of the summer. A nearly 3 hour film that is nothing but explosions and robots fighting deserves that title. The film definitely delivers, but maybe to too great a degree (TRAITOR!!! Yells my ten year old self). There's only so many explosions the human mind can handle before it starts to feel action fatigue. That said, this latest installment is still a major step up from Revenge of The Fallen and Dark of The Moon. The human characters are likable, it's not as jokey or goofy, the plot is cool (though there is too much of it) and there is a certain amount of surreal entertainment to be had listening to John Goodman's voice come from a robot. While there are some benefits to seeing this in the theater (like a larger screen and better 3D), I almost hesitate to say that maybe you should wait for Blu-Ray where you can fast forward to the good parts. Ultimately, the choice is yours.

 All in all, Transformers: Age of Extinction is a fairly harmless film that ranks in as the second best Transformers film to date. It will probably kill some of your brain cells, but this is Michael Bay people, so that is to be expected. Buckle up, and hang on because you are in for an insane, hella long film.

3 STARS

I WAS SURPRISED WITH HOW MUCH I LOVED EDGE OF TOMORROW

In Edge of Tomorrow, aliens land on Earth and Earth decides to fight back. Cage (Tom Cruise), a Major who is in charge of PR for the upcoming battle dubbed Operation Downfall, is ordered by his superiors to take part in the fight. He is forcibly shipped into the front lines where he and the rest of the army are defeated and killed, he then has to relive that terrible day over and over and over again.

 For the first 40 minutes of the film, Tom Cruise plays the biggest damn coward you will ever see, and we get to watch him die many gruesome deaths. Yes, it is huge fun (and very funny) getting to see Tom Cruise dying repeatedly, and I loved that at first his character is so not the typical Tom Cruise we get in films. Cruise is playing at a level we haven't seem him at in a long time. Emily Blunt is also the hottest she has ever been as the hardcore, ass-kicking soldier Rita. She is super impressive here, and I actually dug the relationship between Rita and Cage (Luckily for us it never turns into a full on romance).  

I saw the film in 3-D and I thought it was some of the best 3-D I have seen in a while. Things are constantly jumping into the theater or into your face, but at the same time we get great depth as well. The whole film is shot in such a way that with 3-D you really do feel like you are there. I love that this isn't cheap science fiction either, it's actually pretty strong stuff.

The director of the film is Doug Liman, who also directed Jumper and The Bourne Identity. He actually does a pretty great job here, he is clearly a competent and smart action director. He knows what he's doing. It also helps that the script by Christopher McQuarrie, Jezz Butterworth, and John-Henry Butterworth is a strong one which has been adapted from a Japanese Manga named All You Need Is Kill (This was the film's original title as well until what I assume was studio interference led them to change it. I honestly still prefer the original title, it sounds more bad-ass). 

In a nutshell: Edge of Tomorrow is what happens when you mix a sci-fi alien invasion film with Groundhogs Day and Call of Duty. It's almost like watching a video game complete with all the deaths and restarts the player has to go through.  I was surprised at how great the result was (especially with Blunt and Cruise as the leads, they are both spectacular and make the film that much more fun). My only real complaint was how they kind of backpedaled on the ending. Edge of Tomorrow truly is an original, innovative, creative, very funny, and endlessly entertaining film that most definitely is worth your time and money. It's the best film I have seen in theaters for a while, and you should definitely see it (in 3-D, if possible).

4.5 STARS