Transformers: The Last Knight – 0.5/5 – Movie Reviews by Ry!

Transformers: The Last Knight – 0.5/5 – Film; it is a very subjective form of entertainment.  We may agree and disagree on what we enjoy to see on the big screen, but as fans, we always have some context of what we find enjoyable.  There are times when a film comes along that puts you in complete awe on how bad it can be, it just doesn’t even care to provide an enjoyable experience.  I could go on and on, but I’ll get straight to the point.  Transformers: The Last Knight is one of the worst films I have ever seen on the big screen.

Premise:  Another story about Transformers on Earth.

You can refer to the acting list at the film’s IMDb page.  Overall, the human actors/actress fail on every aspect of basic acting skills.  From the very first moment, the human characters provide the most one-dimensional delivery of lines that I have ever seen.  It will bring a baffling reaction from the audience.  The characters do nothing but read lines to one another.  The actors/actresses are unapologetic in their wooden dialogue, creating no sense of purpose.  They mock the audience in why they are watching a ‘Transformers’ movie; turning everything into nothing of impact for the story.  On top of this, it is an insult to have a lack of any ‘Transformer’ characters that have any impact in driving the world.  Being a Transformers film, it lacks trying to provide any personality to any of the robots on screen, including Optimus Prime and Bumblebee.

Michael Bay is not a bad director.  When given the right material and proper avenue to explore his art, he succeeds (13 Hours, Pain and Gain).  When it is not in his wheelhouse, he fails.  This is probably his worst effort when it comes to directing a film.  Everything that he is known for is amped up even further, causing the ‘style over substance’ angle to take complete control of basic filming techniques.  Providing minding numbing action set-pieces, unnerving cheesy dialogue and unexplainable plot points, we get a Transformer’s story that is incomprehensible in the totality of its three acts.  What this turns out to be is a rehashing of everything that has come before with a few new characters, historical aspects and forced twist that add nothing of value.  With terrible writing, horrible editing and obvious plot devices, you are flabbergasted by how bad everything develops.  What this leads to is the common complaints this franchise has had:

• Predictable action
• Forced dramatic and relationship scenarios
• Convoluted storytelling
• Heavy handed exposition

The continual push (from previous films) to create backstories with no real point causes constant tonal shifts and fragmented pacing; sometimes just in one scene.  This hurts pivotal moments, action scenes and character dynamic.  Even at its attempt to create a simplistic blockbuster adventure gets stale and unwelcoming.  Within it trying to create this blockbuster motif, it rips off every movie trope from every sci-fi, adventure and action film that is well known (Star Wars, Terminator, Lord of the Rings, etc.).  If you make it to the end, you realize that this movie is a complete insult to the art of filmmaking on a basic scale.

If there is one positive, it could be cinematography.  Michael Bay is someone that knows how to create a visual spectacle, and he doesn’t disappoint.  From the worldly aspect of the transformers to ‘some’ of the action, it is welcoming to see chaos within some kind of context that is relatable to the audience.  The score is dull, predictable and boring.

Transformers: The Last Knight is not worth anyone’s time.  I have given you a warning, just don’t watch this at all.