I'm not a huge transformers fan, but I don't dislike the series either, they have there moments, and the first was a genuinely fun comedy more than anything. I did however give up on the series midway during Age of Extinction, there was a point where it felt like everyone except for the brilliant technicians just gave up. It just became really silly. Cut to today where I wanted to turn my brain off and watch something pretty to look at, and having seemingly run out of films to see, and noticing a 4K version of the film was available on demand, and decided to just see what happened.
Maybe because I had such low expectations, but I went away satisfied. The film started real lazy, you could almost sense Michael Bay sleeping in his director's chair, as the rest of the team just took care of things. It did get better about a good half hour in though. My biggest complaint is scenes don't transition well, and the constantly changing aspect ratio, I get why Nolan does it, but I have never liked it, in fact I hate it. The reasoning is so that the viewer gets the full resolution, nothing is compromised, but to me so much is compromised, it is jarring and just reminds you that you are watching something technical and man made, rather than allowing the viewer to truly escape. Nolan's films dont' have the brisk editing pace of Bay's films however, so it's not as jarring, and usually the ratio will change for a whole scene, rather than keep cutting back and forth, but in Transformers, it feels like 5 different formats are used within one quick scene or montage, it's really too much. I'd much rather have just seen the film on TV, where they would have been one consistent ratio and sacrifice the picture quality.
Besides this, the film was fun, Laura Haddock had a good rapport with Wahlberg, helping the 2nd half of the film keep some momentum. And it's the 2nd half I personally enjoyed the most, the story kicks in, and it's just fun, big and loud, and not overly silly or ridiculous. I was able to throw myself in for the ride and not be taken out by some idiotic dialogue or over the top illogical action scene. I was able to be a 10 year old kid again and just have fun. It's not a 1/10 film, it's not even a 3/10. It's just a solid film, I was most surprised with how big budget it was considering it's the 5th in the series, but it's turned a good profit worldwide, becuase it knows it's audience. They want to have some laughs, and see robots explode the crap out of stuff.
Maybe because I had such low expectations, but I went away satisfied. The film started real lazy, you could almost sense Michael Bay sleeping in his director's chair, as the rest of the team just took care of things. It did get better about a good half hour in though. My biggest complaint is scenes don't transition well, and the constantly changing aspect ratio, I get why Nolan does it, but I have never liked it, in fact I hate it. The reasoning is so that the viewer gets the full resolution, nothing is compromised, but to me so much is compromised, it is jarring and just reminds you that you are watching something technical and man made, rather than allowing the viewer to truly escape. Nolan's films dont' have the brisk editing pace of Bay's films however, so it's not as jarring, and usually the ratio will change for a whole scene, rather than keep cutting back and forth, but in Transformers, it feels like 5 different formats are used within one quick scene or montage, it's really too much. I'd much rather have just seen the film on TV, where they would have been one consistent ratio and sacrifice the picture quality.
Besides this, the film was fun, Laura Haddock had a good rapport with Wahlberg, helping the 2nd half of the film keep some momentum. And it's the 2nd half I personally enjoyed the most, the story kicks in, and it's just fun, big and loud, and not overly silly or ridiculous. I was able to throw myself in for the ride and not be taken out by some idiotic dialogue or over the top illogical action scene. I was able to be a 10 year old kid again and just have fun. It's not a 1/10 film, it's not even a 3/10. It's just a solid film, I was most surprised with how big budget it was considering it's the 5th in the series, but it's turned a good profit worldwide, becuase it knows it's audience. They want to have some laughs, and see robots explode the crap out of stuff.