Transformers: The Last Knight

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Josh Duhamel, Laura Haddock, Isabela Moner, Anthony Hopkins, and Stanley Tucci
Directed by: Michael Bay
Screenplay by: Art Marcum and Matt Holloway

     Does it ever feel like certain things are just getting old now?  Like, they're not even fun anymore? That's how I feel about Transformers: The Last Knight, the fifth installment of the Transformers series that Michael Bay has said is his last (even though there will be more of these movies).
     Optimus Prime ( Peter Cullen) is gone.  He has left to go find his makers and see what is left of the planet Cybertron after being ravaged by war between the autobots and the decepticons.  While there he is seduced by a weird transformer sorceress named Quintessa (Gemma Chan) and changes his name to Nemesis Prime.  She convinces him that in order for Cybertron to live once again, Earth must die.  So like an asteroid speeding towards a point of gravity, Cybertron speeds toward Earth so that the transformers can begin to rebuild their world.
     Back on Earth, we meet up with Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg), the new protagonist from the fourth movie that took the place of Shia LaBeouf's annoying character from the first three movies.  He is hiding out somewhere in South Dakota with some of the autobots because they are deemed illegal and now there is a task force whose purpose is to find and destroy all remaining transformers.  Cade is trying to help the autobots in whatever way he can, mainly by doing maintenance on them and making sure nobody sees them.  Eventually they get found out and Cade is brought to England to meet Sir Edmund Burton (Anthony Hopkins) and Viviane Wembley (Laura Haddock).  Burton is the last in a long line of secret keepers about the transformers.  Viviane is an Oxford professor who also happens to wear very tight dresses and looks more like a supermodel than a professor.  But we'll let that one go for a moment.
     Believe it or not, the transformers have something to do with King Arthur and the knights of the round table story; a story which takes far too long to be told.  Magically, Viviane happens to be just the person needed to defeat the latest onslaught from the transformers; in this case, stopping one planet from literally crashing into another planet.  Fortunately, she's in the right place and with the right people who can help her out.
     If you think that I've told the story poorly, I probably have.  But that's because the film tells the story poorly as well.  And there's just way too much going on.  There are about three different storylines going on that seem to have almost nothing to do with each other, and they make some characters who have been main characters throughout this series seem like minor characters in The Last Knight?  For example, did you see me mention Megatron?  That's correct, I did not.  He is in the film, so don't worry if you thought you could go one Transformers movie without seeing your favorite Megatron!  But Megatron is a minor character who for once is not even the mastermind behind the evil side of the movie.  It's Quintessa, a character brand new to the series.  This film has so many different storylines and aspects to its story, it's almost hard to keep track of while watching the film.  And that's not what I want with a Michael Bay film.  I want explosions!  I want crazy visual effects!  I don't want to have to keep track of like five different storylines that seem to have nothing to do with each other!  The worst part?  The end sets us up for another sequel!
     There are a lot of franchises out there that are long past their prime.  I'm beginning to feel that way about Pirates of the Carribbean for example.  However, Transformers is truly past its prime.  The first film was released 10 years ago, and each film seems to have gotten progressively worse (with the exception of the third one in my opinion).  Yet they all still make millions of dollars at the box office, which is why they keep getting made.  Transformers is the quintessential franchise that simply needs to be over.  This franchise has become like a car that keeps falling apart after each release and yet keeps getting put back together when it's time to simply get a new car.  The Transformers movies need to stop, and The Last Knight is the prime example of why.  It's not fun anymore and the storyline has gotten so confusing and convoluted that it's almost a totally different story for each film, making it seem like one can watch them in any order.
      Transformers is a series that was a lot more fun when I was younger.  I remember waiting for the first one to come out and how excited I was for it.  I felt the same way about the second and third films, and even to some degree about the fourth film even though I knew it wouldn't be very good.  I was not excited about The Last Knight.  I've lost my excitement for this franchise, and I'm sure that many others have as well.  So, if this series is to continue, someone needs to wright the ship, because otherwise we are going to have more let downs like The Last Knight.

I give Transformers: The Last Knight an F.

Image Source: Inside Pulse