By Renee’ Collins
Rating: 2.5 (Out of 5 Reels)
Director Michael Bay brings us yet another installment of the Transformer eye candy series. An automobile mechanic and his daughter make a discovery that brings down the Autobots – and a paranoid government official – on them (IMDB).
The visual process of transforming is what initially drew me to see these films because it was new, interesting and something never seen before. Sadly, for me, now it has become somewhat ordinary and although the makers did develop a slightly new transforming process it definitely does not make up for its other shortcomings.
Luckily, Shia LaBeouf is nowhere to be seen as we are introduced to Mark Wahlberg as Cade Yeager, Stanley Tucci as Joshua Joyce and Kelsey Grammer as Harold Attinger. Unfortunately even though these actors have been spectacular in other roles the writing here makes everything they contribute subpar. My favorite of the group is Tucci because he is a fantastic convincing character actor who has been in too many films to mention here. It is truly sad to see such talent squandered because of the shallow writing which includes several stupid and laughable one liners that must have been hard to perform. Add to that the length of this film, almost three hours, and it is understandable why this film is not one of my favorites.
All of the special effects in the world could not save this film because of the mediocre writing and length. Therefore, spending money to see this film would only be advisable during a matinee or better yet wait for it to screen at the discount theater because seeing it in 3D might help your experience.