Review: ‘Age of Extinction’ improves on ‘Transformers’ but not enough

Posted on July 4, 2014

The “Transformers” series is one which has led me to expect the worst from each installment, mixing admittedly fun action with scripts that range from generic to terrible. I do try to go into movies with as few expectations as possible–good or bad–but I have to admit that I had already written two or three beginnings to this review in my head should the movie be as bad as I was expecting.

Fortunately, I couldn’t use any of them, however, as “Transformers: Age of Extinction” was not terrible and was actually almost decent in places, which sadly places it in the better half of the franchise–which says enough right there.

Unfortunately, “Age of Extinction” is still not a good film, even though it is very much a long one. Clocking in at two hours, 45 minutes, the movie is filled with too many characters, too many storylines and way too many villains, overstaying its welcome before half of the action scenes shown in the trailer actually happen.

Fans of the franchise will find enough to enjoy (perhaps too much), but if you’ve already been turned off the series, the modest improvements here will most likely not be enough to bring you back into the fold.

The movie is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, language and brief innuendo.

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