“Sting like a bee.” —Bumblebee
Today’s quick review: Transformers: The Last Knight. Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) travels to Cybertron to confront Quintessa (Gemma Chan), the creator of the Transformers, only to fall under her control. Meanwhile, Sir Edmund Burton (Anthony Hopkins), the last member of an ancient order, tells Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg), a fugitive fighting for the Autobots, that he holds the key to defeating Quintessa and preventing the end of the world.
Transformers: The Last Knight is a sci-fi action adventure and the fifth film in the Transformers series. The movie expands the Transformers universe by introducing Quintessa, a being who wishes to wipe out the Transformers and rebuild Cybertron by absorbing Earth’s energy. The Last Knight returns to the classic Transformers formula of goofy humor and large-scale action. However, its busy plot and poor sense of continuity undermine its efforts.
To its credit, The Last Knight walks back the excessively dark tone seen in Age of Extinction. Even though its events are similarly cataclysmic, the Autobots face them with optimism and a sense of humor, resulting in a much more palatable watch. Otherwise, The Last Knight has the same high stakes and over-the-top action as Age of Extinction. It also benefits from an expansive cast of Transformers, including a couple of creative new designs.
However, The Last Knight suffers greatly from its lack of consistency, both in terms of the big picture and from moment to moment. The changes it makes to the Transformers universe are hard to reconcile with the previous films, and the plot does not hang together very well. The film drops plot threads, forgets important details, and ignores characters entirely whenever they become inconvenient, making it a shallow watch that doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
The result is a peculiar movie that’s hard to pin down. The Last Knight has the tone of the first three Transformers films, the scale of the fourth, and a host of new ideas that never quite pay off for it. Fans of the series who are willing to forgive the film’s many lapses in logic will find it to be a chaotic but enjoyable popcorn action flick. Steer clear if you are hoping for artful storytelling or a coherent plot.
5.2 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.5 for strong action and a fun tone saddled with jumbled and inconsistent storytelling.