Transformers - The Last Knight: A Review

I have been anticipating The Last Knight for quite a while. While I don't really expect much in terms of writing and story, I've always enjoyed the action sequence, CGI, and music of installments in the Transformers franchise. When the teaser trailer was released, the film seems to offer a promising premise. For those of you who don't know, this fifth installment in the Transformers franchise follows the fourth in terms of story. It mainly follows Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg), one of the very few humans fighting for the preservation of Transformers, while almost all mankind has turned on them.

Source: medium.com

If there is one word I could think of about The Last Knight (henceforth referred to as TLK), it's 'ambitious'. At 2.5 hours long (which is a hefty amount of time), the film is unable to properly tell the story at a pleasant pace. Scenes are changing rapidly before I grow accustomed to the one I'm looking at, and while it's necessary to the progression of the story, I couldn't help but think that the rapid pacing is rooted in the film's ambition in terms of scale and story. I'm constantly reminded about how familiar TLK is with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Both theatrical versions are so ambitious that regardless of their long running time, there are so many things left unexplained. Not to mention the similarity with Dawn of Justice's "Martha" scene with Optimus (Nemesis) Prime and Bumblebee.

As an example, former agent Simmons' (John Turturro) only role in the movie is to point Sir Edmund Burton (Sir Anthony Hopkins) to the correct row of library books, whereas in previous installments he was always where the fighting is the thickest. His role could be substituted by a piece of map. Why bother having him in the first place? Izabella (Isabella Moner) is another similar case. A considerable portion of the film was dedicated to building her character and providing us of her backstory, but she didn't end up doing anything significant. In Izabella's case, I can't help but suspect that the reason she was cast was because she is a female non-white actress. With the political correctness craze for the past few years and Mark Wahlberg, Laura Haddock, and Sir Anthony Hopkins as the lead, I could imagine the backlash the film would get from SJW (social justice warriors) for having "an all white cast" and "typical American Joe lead with no powerful female lead". Thus we're given one extremely overqualified female professor with a string of degrees behind her name, a girl prodigy that is a better mechanic then most men, and an American jock who is practically in the lowest point in his life (with no wife, kids left for college, no girlfriend, stagnant career, a bit of a dimwit and tries to solve everything with muscle). But I digress.

TLK has a promising inspiration, one that was drawn from one of the most famous (and controversial) folklore, the Arthurian legend. As one who is deeply fascinated with medieval knights and historical European martial arts, I had some measure of expectations in this regard. It turned out, however, that the promising backstory was never properly bridged to the present day, making it a vague background at best. The only thing connecting the protagonists of the present day with the backstory is a vague amulet given by a vague Transformer (whose name were not even given in the film) with vague origins. The vague amulet, too, is a weak element of the story. The whole story was supposed to revolve around it, yet the times I actually saw it during the course of the film can be counted using my fingers. It ends up doing something extraordinary and impossible (I realise that giant transforming robots are impossible, but this is crossing the line), when the vague talisman transformed into the famous sword Excalibur and in the hands of Cade Yeager, stopped a giant sword with the force of a huge Transformer behind it before vanishing again. Farewell, basic physics.

One aspect that I absolutely didn't expect was the humour. The Transformers franchise was never shy in using a little bit of stereotypical straight-out-of-jail street-thug voice in one of their robots (like Jazz in the first installment), but this installment is on a whole new level. They have Megatron arranging for the release of Transformers (who sounded like they grew up in the hood, living 'the thug life') from government containment (a.k.a. jail). Literally straight-out-of-jail street-thugs. It's so ironic and in poor taste, that it becomes quite funny. Cogman, the human-sized Transformer who's served as a butler for Sir Edmund Burton (and all previous Earls of Folgan) is another character who was meant as the comic relief (even said to be a poor copy of C-3PO, the comic relief of the Star Wars Saga). His character had potential at first, being the smug and snobby English butler that he was with all the snide remarks he brought to the table, but soon turned to be a different form of disappointment when he undercuts epic moments with his playing of the pipe organ and female operatic voice. Similar to Marvel's approach in the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies such as Captain America: Civil War, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, it destroys the scene's momentum.

However, this is not to say that there is nothing good about the film. One apparent aspect that proved to be a great contributor to this installment was the musical score. Steve Jablonsky had brought back elements of the original installments into the music, such as one found during the famous scene when the Autobots first descended on Earth. It was absent in the fourth installment, and was wisely brought back for TLK. It lends a glorious tone (at other times, melancholic) so identic to the turning points in the films. When the Autobots descended on Earth, the victory of Autobots from the Decepticons, Optimus Prime's victory over The Fallen, Autobots departure from Earth, all significant moments where their melancholic or epic tones are enhanced by the familiar score. I can't help but to feel goosebumps on certain moments in TLK because I paid specific attention to the music.

I never expected Sir Anthony Hopkins to star in a Transformers installment. I've always thought that Sir Anthony Hopkins only played complex characters in demanding stories (which the Transformers franchise frankly is not). I expected his talents to be wasted in this type of film, but turned out to be wrong when I saw his great command of the scenes he was in and over people he was in the room with. He overshadows both Wahlberg and Haddock, who are arguably the more important characters in the film. His portrayal of an English Earl of a seemingly bygone era and bygone way of life striving for significance in the war to come was far more memorable than both Wahlberg's and Haddock's, who each delivered a decent performance.

All in all, ambition is a very great tool with which filmmakers can open up new possibilities. But without proper storytelling, it will confuse viewers and ultimately be counterproductive. The Last Knight is an amalgamation of several stories and lead characters on different journeys that converged at the very last possible moment, barely held together with ambition, insane amounts and scale of CGI, and great music.

Thanks for reading. Until next time!

-Jason

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