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The Preview Reel: Transformers: The Last Knight

Scott Davis
The Preview Reel

Welcome to this week’s “Preview Reel” column, where we look at the week’s upcoming movie releases. Cars 3 zoomed to the top spot this past weekend with a decent $53 million showing, but there’s a new beast debuting this weekend that should easily take over the top spot. Studios fled at the sight of the latest Transformers movie as The Last Knight is the only wide release debuting this weekend. Will this fifth installment of the Transformers franchise be a return to form for the series or will it continue to give audiences headaches, let’s break it down to find out.

 

Transformers: The Last Knight

What we are excited about: The first Transformers film was a lot of fun. It certainly isn’t a perfect movie, nor even a great summer blockbuster, but that movie nailed the summer adventure tone it was going for. We’ve been saying this for about a decade now, but if a Transformers sequel can match that first movie’s sensibility without being so dour or self-serious, we could have a good blockbuster on our hands. Mark Wahlberg is a fine action star, and while he was terrible in the franchise’s last installment, Age of Extinction, his track record proves he can handle blockbusters. A Mark Wahlberg-led Transformers movie shouldn’t be that hard to make fun, but as proven with Age of Extinction, it might be for Michael Bay.

What we are worried about: Outside of the first Transformers, let’s be honest, this series has been garbage. Even if you want to give a mild pass at the third installment, Dark of the Moon, there is no argument that Revenge of the Fallen and Age of Extinction are two of the worst summer blockbusters of the last decade (if not longer). Michael Bay seems to have lost touch with what made that first movie so memorable—it’s sense of fun and adventure. The plots of subsequent movies are too convoluted and downright confusing for a story that ultimately boils down to good robots trying to save the world from bad robots. The series is at its worst when it decides to focus on loud explosions and CGI battles over characters and story. The first installment did a good job of balancing fun characters with an interesting adventure and cool action. Michael Bay seems to be the problem with this franchise, and luckily this is supposedly his last time in the director’s chair, which might get us excited for a Transformers movie again.

The Buzz: The Transformer series used to be a must-see summer moviegoing experience five to seven years ago, but audiences have been let down time and time again, so now they’ve become shrugs. Internationally, the series is as popular is ever, so don’t worry about not seeing Transformers movies in the future. We will, including a Bumblebee spin-off starring Hailee Steinfeld?! As for this one, it is, predictably, getting panned by critics as it sits at just 16% on RottenTomatoes and 30 on MetaCritic. Despite the negative reaction, look for a five-day opening of around $90 million.

Final Thoughts: The Transformers series is one for four so far in making quality blockbusters, and without a change in directors, it’s hard to see the franchise reversing that trend with its fifth installment.

Scott Davis

Scott Davis is a recent graduate of Oakland University where he earned a degree in journalism. He worked for the student newspaper on campus, The Oakland Post, where he became the paper's managing editor. He also earned a minor in Cinema Studies at OU. Scott enjoys all things film and TV related, especially the blockbuster kind. He might be the biggest Christopher Nolan fan you know.
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