Transformers: Age of Extinction review

TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION: 

AN EXHAUSTING FOURTH ENTRY THAT'S MORE OF THE SAME! 

By Nico Beland 

Movie Review: ** out of 4

PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND HASBRO

Optimus Prime in Transformers: Age of Extinction

 

Director Michael Bay (Bad Boys 1 and 2, The Rock, Pain & Gain) and executive producer Steven Spielberg (Indiana Jones franchise, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park) return in the fourth installment of the popular Transformers film franchise, based on the Hasbro toy line. Truth be told, I didn’t really grow up with the Transformers as a kid though I was certainly aware of the franchise through cartoons on TV and various toy commercials. 

            It actually wasn’t until I saw the first Michael Bay Transformers movie from 2007 where I started to get into it because of how much I enjoyed the film. Even to this day I still stand by the first Transformers as a fun, silly albeit flawed action movie that was sadly immediately tarnished with its 2009 sequel, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen that despite having impressive effects and decently staged action sequences was a loud and preposterous mess that lacked much of its predecessor’s charm and imagination. 

            2011’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon I wouldn’t call a significant improvement over the second, but I found it entertaining and I respect the filmmakers for trying to make a better movie this time and removed (or at the very least toned down) a lot of the stuff that didn’t work in the last film; plus, the action scenes are pretty spectacular especially the climax in Chicago. 

Now we have the fourth installment, Transformers: Age of Extinction that also serves as a somewhat soft reboot where in place of the screaming Shia LaBeouf we have Mark Wahlberg (The Departed, The Fighter, Lone Survivor) who had previously worked with Bay on 2013’s Pain & Gain as the new human surrogate between the Autobots and Decepticons which I was onboard with given how obnoxious many of the human characters in the previous films are. So, I was at least hopeful that some new leads would bring some new energy to this repetitive and bloated franchise…Nope! 

Despite a better human cast and a few interesting ideas being explored, Transformers: Age of Extinction is more of the same and if you complained about the previous movies having long, tedious runtimes then brace yourself. This one is a near 3-hour onslaught of robots smashing into one-another with no real emotional weight to anything. 

The film follows Cade Yeager (Wahlberg), an inventor working on cars with his best friend, Lucas (T.J. Miller-Cloverfield, How to Train Your Dragon 1 and 2, Big Hero 6) and 17-year-old daughter, Tessa (Nicola Peltz-The Last Airbender) who discovers a rusty, old truck and decide to repair it in his barn. Turns out that truck is actually the leader of the Autobots himself, Optimus Prime (voiced once again by Peter Cullen) who went into hiding after a human strike force under command by rogue government official, Harold Attinger (Kelsey Grammar-The Simpsons, Toy Story 2, X-Men franchise) started targeting the Transformers in wake of the Chicago battle. 

On top of that, there is also an organization headed by Joshua Joyce (Stanley Tucci-The Terminal, Julie & Julia, Captain America: The First Avenger) that is making clones of Transformers with a sample of the metal that allows them to transform and salvaged body parts from the climax of the last movie which leads to the creation of the villainous, Galvatron (voiced by Frank Welker-Scooby-Doo, G.I. Joe: The Movie, Aladdin; who also voiced Megatron in the original Transformers cartoon series), a reincarnated version of Megatron made from his body salvaged from Chicago. 

Cade, Tessa, Lucas, and Tessa’s boyfriend, Shane (Jack Reynor-What Richard Did, Delivery Man) join forces with Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and the remaining Autobots, Hound (voiced by John Goodman-The Big Lebowski, Monsters, Inc., Flight), Crosshairs (voiced by John DiMaggio-Futurama, Kim Possible, Adventure Time), and Drift (voiced by Ken Watanabe-Inception, Godzilla (2014)) to put an end to Harold and Joshua’s operations, stop Galvatron and an intergalactic robot mercenary named Lockdown (voiced by Mark Ryan-Charlie’s Angels, The Prestige, Black Sails), and save the planet from total extinction. 

Overall, Transformers: Age of Extinction is yet another bloated, thinly-plotted Michael Bay extravaganza that is entertaining at times, but for nearly 3 hours of repetitive action and recycled storytelling, it gets exhausting really quick. It’s constant robot punching, shooting, blasting, and clanking that we’ve already seen three times prior with hardly anything new added to them. 

I will give this movie a little bit of credit that (most of) the new human leads are perfectly fine with Mark Wahlberg being a far more endearing leading man than Shia LaBeouf in the previous films. Even though I thought Shia was fine in the first Transformers, his character didn’t really have much depth or emotional weight outside of “I just want to get a car so I can bone Megan Fox” and screaming “No, No, No, No, OPTIMUS!”. Wahlberg’s Cade is a single father whose wife passed away, he’s being evicted, and is trying to provide for his daughter; it’s nothing spectacular but Wahlberg does bring some stability and heart to this overblown blockbuster. 

There are a few story elements I found interesting and wished were expanded upon a lot more like humans turning their backs on the Autobots and them being targeted by a strike force; how much cooler would this movie have been if it was about Optimus Prime and his Autobots fighting for survival against the humans they once protected? I wish that was the movie I was watching. The other idea I was intrigued by were the human-made Transformers which I think alone could have made for an engaging and exciting movie where the Autobots have to fight Transformers created by humans and have to decide whether or not protecting Earth is worth it. Instead, these just feel like excuses for more Michael Bay fireworks explosion-filled action scenes with so much wasted potential. 

Despite a decent human cast, Transformers: Age of Extinction might be the worst Transformers movie at this point. As bad as Revenge of the Fallen is, I can at least watch that for some unintentional laughs and be fascinated by what a colossal train-wreck it is, this is just a dull, overlong slog that when the Dinobots finally arrive, you’re pretty much checked out. 

Maybe someday, the filmmakers will learn it takes more than just overblown action scenes, dumb humor, and rehashed stories to make a compelling Transformers movie and finally take the series in a new direction. But as long as these films are successful and there’s an audience for loud, CGI-filled action with no real substance, we’re gonna have to keep waiting. 

SPECIAL REVIEW!: The Boondocks: Season 4 review

THE BOONDOCKS SEASON 4:

NOT A VERY GANGSTA WAY TO END A GREAT SERIES, BUT IT HAS PLENTY OF FUNNY MOMENTS TO BACK IT UP!

By Nico Beland

Show Review: *** out of 4

SONY PICTURES TELEVISION

(From top to bottom) Robert “Jebidiah” Freeman, Huey and Riley Freeman, and Uncle Ruckus, No Relation in the fourth and final season of The Boondocks

            So it has come to this, the fourth and final season of the critically praised animated series on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, The Boondocks. Based on the popular comic strip by Aaron McGruder about two young African-American boys, Huey and Riley Freeman (both voiced by Regina King), living in a white suburbia with their grandfather, Robert “Jebidiah” Freeman, better known as Granddad (voiced by John Witherspoon-Soul Plane, Friday After Next).

            Granddad ends up going bankrupt and owes billions of dollars in debt, in comes Eddie Wuncler Jr. (voiced by Sam McMurray) the son of Mr. Ed Wuncler (voiced by Ed Asner), who makes a deal with Granddad to get his money back in a month. He then starts getting jobs to pay Wuncler back such as working at a car wash owned by self-hating black man with Revitiligo, Uncle Ruckus, No Relation (voiced by Gary Anthony Williams-Soul Plane), escorting women for crazy old bitches, working in a slavery themed amusement park called Freedomland, and facing off once again with his arch nemesis, Colonel H. Stinkmeaner (voiced by Cedric Yarbrough) who is back with a vengeance…again.

            Other situations in this season involve District Attorney and friend of the Freeman family, Tom Dubois (voiced by Cedric Yarbrough) standing tall against a rapper named Pretty Boy Flizzy (voiced by Michael B. Jordan-Chronicle) who is looking for “White Wife Booty” and plans to do Tom’s wife, Sarah Dubois (voiced by Jill Talley), Granddad, Huey, and Riley unintentionally selling themselves into slavery, making exploding hair care products in an homage to the hit series, Breaking Bad, Granddad dating a lost Kardashian sister with a huge ass (voiced by Grey DeLisle), and the true story of Robert Freeman as he fights for his rights during the Civil Rights Movement.

            Overall, I wouldn’t say season 4 is as clever or outrageously funny as the previous three seasons, especially since this season was made without Aaron McGruder’s involvement, which is quite sad. But for what it is this season isn’t bad, in fact when the episodes are funny, they’re really funny.

            Good Times, Freedomland, and Breaking Granddad are three of my new favorite episodes of the series and are probably my favorite episodes in this season, along with the final Stinkmeaner episode, Stinkmeaner: Begun The Clone War Has. But aside from these episodes, the rest are pretty funny too like Pretty Boy Flizzy, Granddad Dates a Kardashian, and I Dream of Siri, which reminds me a lot of last year’s Spike Jonze movie, Her, except more psychotic.

            Unfortunately my main problem with this season was the last episode, it was a decent episode overall, but it was an underwhelming way to wrap the series up. The season finales from the previous seasons were funny, often epic, and rather emotional at times, The Passion of Reverend Ruckus (from season 1), The Story of Gangstalicious Part 2 (from season 2), and It’s Goin’ Down (from season 3) were all solid finales to those seasons, unfortunately this finale lacked the emotional drama, and intense dilemmas of the previous episodes.

            Aside from a disappointing finale and no involvement of McGruder, season 4 certainly isn’t terrible, it has plenty of funny and smart episodes and most of the characters we all know and love are back, and there’s more satire of what’s going on in the world.

            I heard about Aaron McGruder’s new series coming to Adult Swim, Black Jesus and honestly I’m curious to see how it turns out. Hopefully I’ll love it just as much as I did with The Boondocks.

            The Boondocks: Complete Fourth Season DVD is out today, so if you love the show (like me), I’d suggest grabbing a copy, enjoy all the episodes uncensored for generations to come, and "Do the Homie".  

How to Train Your Dragon 2 review

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2:

A BLAST OF FIRE BREATHING FUN THAT OUTSHINES ITS PREDECESSOR!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** 1/2 out of 4

20TH CENTURY FOX AND DREAMWORKS ANIMATION

Hiccup, Toothless, and his group of dragon flying friends in How to Train Your Dragon 2

            Everyone’s favorite Vikings and dragons are back in the highly anticipated sequel to the 2010 animated megahit, How to Train Your Dragon. Like the first film, How to Train Your Dragon 2 has creative dragons, beautiful animation, exhilarating high flying action and 3D scenes, and enough humor and emotional drama to please both kids and adults, and honestly I don’t think it’s as good as the first film, I think it might even be a little better.

            Don’t get me wrong, I adored the first one and it left a lasting impression on me, but I felt this one had more dragon action and a better plot to boot.

            The colorful cast of Vikings from the first film return like Jay Baruchel (This is the End, Robocop) as awkward Hiccup, the young boy who trained a dragon for the first time, Gerard Butler (300) as his father, the mighty Stoick, American Ferrara as his tough girlfriend, Astrid, Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad) as nerdy, Fishlegs, Jonah Hill (Superbad, 21 Jump Street) as showoff, Snotlout, and T.J. Miller (Cloverfield, Unstoppable) and Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids, Despicable Me 2, Paul) as fighting-happy siblings, Tuffnut and Ruffnut.

            Some time after the events of How to Train Your Dragon, we find all the Vikings on the island of Berk getting along very well with their new dragons that live with them in peace. Meanwhile the hero of Berk and the first Viking to ever train a dragon, Hiccup is testing out some new skills and dragon equipment with his pet dragon and best friend, Toothless the Night Fury.

            Everything seems to be going great in Berk, that is until Hiccup meets a person he has never met before but was very close to him; his long lost mother, Valka (voiced by Cate Blanchett-Blue Jasmine). It turns out that Valka has been rescuing dragons back when Hiccup was a baby and she wanted to solve the grudge between Vikings and dragons peacefully, but we all know how Vikings think, they either kill or be killed.

            So after some good old mother and son bonding, Hiccup and the rest of the Berk Vikings find out that an old enemy has returned, the dragon controlling madman known as Drago Bloodfist (voiced by Djimon Hounsou-Hotel Rwanda, Amistad, In America) who plans to control all the dragons and form an army to rule the world.

            So it’s up to Hiccup, Toothless, Valka, Stoick, and the rest of the Vikings and their dragons to battle Drago’s army and save their home before it’s too late.

            Overall, How to Train Your Dragon 2 is a very welcoming sequel, it does everything that a good sequel is supposed to do, work on the material from the predecessor and make it better, and this one succeeded.

            There is more dragon action this time around, and it’s an absolute joy ride if you’re watching it in 3D. Like the first film, the 3D is spectacular and you feel immersed into this world they created and during an action and flying scene, you feel like you’re really flying on the dragons, more 3D films need to do this.

            Besides the action, the character development has really improved over the last time, granted the first film had strong character development but I don’t think there’s a comparison between this one.

            Hiccup and his mother share an incredibly strong chemistry, and it’s just as touching and heartwarming as Hiccup and Toothless bonding together for the first time back in the last film.

            You want to see them get to know each other and make it through the terrible situation that is rising in Berk.

            If you enjoyed the first film a lot (I’m sure that’s pretty much all of you) then you will most likely enjoy the sequel just as much, if not more. With more dragons and high-flying action, comedy, emotional drama, creativity that’s through the roof, and extremely likable characters, this is a summer blockbuster that must be experienced and a very strong sequel, it’s up there with Shrek 2 and Kung Fu Panda 2 as one of the best sequels from DreamWorks and hopefully the formula will keep going forward with How to Train Your Dragon 3.

22 Jump Street review

22 JUMP STREET:

A BROMANTIC SEQUEL WITH MORE DRUGS, CAR CHASES, AND LAUGHS!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

COLUMBIA PICTURES/MGM

Jonah Hill (left) and Channing Tatum (right) going undercover again in 22 Jump Street

            “YOU TWO SONS OF BITCHES ARE GOING TO COLLEGE!”

            Jonah Hill (Superbad, This is the End, The Lego Movie) and Channing Tatum (Magic Mike, Side Effects, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) return as buddy cops, Jenko and Schmidt in the sequel to the 2012 comedy hit, 21 Jump Street. And honestly when I first heard about the sequel, 22 Jump Street coming out, I thought for sure it was going to bomb, because we’ve had several underwhelming and bad comedy sequels in the past like The Hangover Parts II and III, Grown Ups 2, the American Pie sequels, and pretty much the entire Scary Movie franchise.

            However, we’ve had plenty of decent comedy sequels too like A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas and more recently, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. And to my surprise, 22 Jump Street is one of those decent comedy sequels, it had pretty much everything we loved about the last movie like the crude and gross-out gags, witty dialogue, sex and drugs, and of course some good old shoot em up action.

            Two years after the events of 21 Jump Street, we find our favorite mismatched cops, Greg Jenko (Tatum) and Morton Schmidt (Hill) in pursuit of Mexican drug dealers and their leader, Ghost (Peter Stormare-Fargo, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters). Unfortunately the chase doesn’t end very well, and Schmidt and Jenko are called back in by Deputy Chief Hardy (Nick Offerman-Sin City, We’re the Millers, The Lego Movie) and sends them back into the Jump Street program, once again being led by the screaming Captain Dickson (Ice Cube-Friday, Ride Along), only this time, they’re going to college.

            It turns out there is another new drug going around the college, known as the WHYPHY (Work Hard Yes, Play Hard Yes, I know, clever name right?) and Jenko and Schmidt’s mission is to once again, infiltrate the dealers and find the supplier. They get their old fake identities back as Brad and Doug and search through the entire college, and hopefully find the dealers and the supplier.

            The film also features the return of fan favorites like the outrageous, Rob Riggle (The Daily Show, Saturday Night Live, Step Brothers) as Mr. Walters, the hilarious gym teacher/drug supplier from the first movie who got his dick shot off by Schmidt, and Dave Franco (Neighbors, Superbad) as Eric, the dealer from the last movie. Like in 21 Jump Street, Mr. Walters is absolutely hilarious and just about everything he says when he shows up will get a good laugh out of you.

            Overall, for a comedy sequel, 22 Jump Street manages to be not just as funny and memorable as its predecessor, but it may have been a little funnier. Sure the concept is similar to the first film, but it manages to still stay fresh and new with the jokes and gags and more of the likable chemistry between Tatum and Hill we loved from the previous movie.

            Of course, if there’s one person who was funnier in this film than Rob Riggle, it’s Ice Cube, good lord this dude is hilarious here. Sure he had a lot of funny moments in the first one, but I don’t think there’s a comparison between him in this film. Just about every time he’s on screen, it’s followed by hysterical laughter from the audience.

            You can tell, for the most part I enjoyed this sequel, but there was one thing that I was disappointed with. This movie doesn’t include the running gag with the exploding cars from 21 Jump Street; I would have loved to see a new take on that hilarious moment.

            If you enjoyed 21 Jump Street, there’s a very strong chance you will love the sequel either just as much as the first, or more. Boosting the over the top car chases, gun-slinging action, and witty writing and jokes; it will most likely lead to more sequels, all the way up to 2121 Jump Street.

            

Edge of Tomorrow review

EDGE OF TOMORROW:

A VISUALLY STRIKING AND ACTION PACKED VISION OF TOMORROW, WITH A RESET BUTTON!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: **** out of 4

WARNER BROS. PICTURES

Tom Cruise in a never-ending war in Edge of Tomorrow

            Director Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Jumper) returns with his latest action thriller, Edge of Tomorrow. Based on the Japanese light novel, All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka and stars Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible franchise, Minority Report, Oblivion) and Emily Blunt (Looper, The Young Victoria, The Adjustment Bureau) as soldiers fighting in an unstoppable war.

            Set in the near future, where an alien race known as the Mimics have invaded the world and conquering most of Europe. Major William Cage (Cruise) is called in by Sergeant Farrell (Bill Paxton-Aliens, Twister, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) to join the army and fight in an unbeatable war between humans and the Mimics.

            Cage soon realizes that every time he is killed in battle, he can reset the entire day before he was killed and live it all over again.

            He then meets Secret Service, Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt) who also has the ability to reset. She agrees to help Cage learn how to be a better soldier and to survive longer in the battle.

            After countless times of training and dying (This happens a lot in the movie!), they soon come up with a strategy to help them fight off the Mimics and save the world from total annihilation.

            Overall, Edge of Tomorrow is a brilliant sci-fi adventure; sure it has some goofy dialogue and cockiness from Cruise and over-the-top action, but the concept is executed very well and it keeps you guessing until the end. I love sci-fi thrillers that have concepts like this, it reminded me a lot of Inception…except with aliens and more CG effects.

            The special effects during the fight scenes and animation on the Mimic creatures and absolute eye candy; if you can get past the motion sickness of some of the action.

            The Mimics’ designs are very creative and crazy-looking, reminds me of the Sentinels from The Matrix, except with the glowing blue mouths of a Pacific Rim Kaiju, every scene that showed one of these, I got hyped.

            Besides the effects, action, and concept, Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt surprisingly share very strong chemistry together. You can feel the pain they’re going through and you’ll want them to get through the war, who would have thought a current Tom Cruise movie could have strong character development between him and another character?

            I guess my only problem is they don’t really go into much detail on the Mimics’ backstory, their motivation, how did they find us, what caused the invasion to begin with? It’s a small problem I have with the film, it doesn’t destroy the film, and besides it has strong character development with Cruise and Blunt to make up for it.

            So if you’re a fan of big budget summer blockbusters with lots of explosions, creativity, and strong characters, along with a ridiculous but engaging premise, this movie is fantastic and consistently entertaining throughout. It's easily the best summer blockbuster I've seen this year so far and hopefully Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Guardians of the Galaxy will continue this trend. 

            In the meantime, I will gladly reset the day and watch this movie over and over again because this is pure sci-fi popcorn fun with a dose of intelligence and wit to boot.