Regretful Throwback Review of 'Transformers: Age of Extinction'

I thought it would be nice for me to write this regretful throwback review of 2014's Transformers: Age of Extinction since today is June 27th. "Best Summer Movie of 2014"? "Better than TF 2 & 3"? What the heck was I thinking? Was the wait for TF4 worth it after Michael Bay finished Pain & Gain? As I compare and contrast this fourquel with the first three films that I remember were the real deal, it grieves me to say how disappointed I was. For a minute, I thought that TF4 would help me put aside all of the overwhelmingly upsetting complaints and flaws (such as cheap fan service of 'bots and 'cons) that I've had to go through in Revenge of the Fallen (my most disliked TF sequel since 2009) and Dark of the Moon, both of which I believe were not on par with the first ever live-action Transformers movie that changed my life forever. Once I knew that Shia LaBeouf's character is not set to appear in the 4th film, I thought that it would be a relief. From my first viewing of TF: AOE at Tysons Corner, I was sort of glad that most of the robot characters like Optimus Prime felt like actual characters than cheap visual props. With the addition of the Dinobots and Galvatron being revealed to be the same Megatron from TF 1-3, I thought that things were about to get very interesting for the movie franchise. But it's as though the weak domestic gross of $245 million, the meager $60 million DVD/Blu-ray sales, and the Rotten Tomato critical rating of 18% that AOE got were right all along. As do the mediocre-detailed TF movie toy figures (and lack of correct-sized toys regarding Lockdown and Galvatron) nowadays. For every repeated viewing before looking back at the original 3, I realized that my initial appreciation of TF4 was a big mistake. Which leaves me a question: Is the latest movie that stars Mark Wahlberg the post-DOTM epilogue I have been waiting for after finishing the final season of Transformers: Prime? Problem was, Age of Extinction lacked everything that I enjoyed about the Transformers movies, terrible or no, before the movie industry became dominated by even better ones like Marvel/DC superhero movies, Hunger Games and such. The outcome of the Chicago Battle we got instead are humans fearing and hating the Transformers, especially the Autobots that have fought everything by sacrificing their own home planet to save mankind from the Decepticons, which prompted the government to finally cut off military ties with the Autobots and thus allowing the hostile human task force Cemetery Wind to hunt down Decepticons AND Autobots across the globe! What happens to the post-DOTM Autobots (anyone NOT Optimus Prime or Bumblebee) minus newcomers like Hound, Drift, and Crosshairs? They were said to have been massacred. Every. Last One. Which may include Ratchet (check), Leadfoot (check), Roadbuster, Topspin, Dino/Mirage (Mattel, not Hasbro, owns Ferrari - so, he must be dead), and even Sideswipe. Not the personal "thank you" I wanted for the Autobots that may not participate in AOE. It just makes me feel so upset and angry that the Transformers brand is losing everything that made it so popular as if cheaply killing off Starscream, Soundwave, and Shockwave in TF3 wasn't bad enough! Seeing Ratchet, the last of the original TF1 cast, getting gunned down by Savoy's team and Lockdown was like seeing part of my childhood being destroyed! They should have let Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson come back to play Lennox and Epps again to provide some indication that the TF1-3 feeling is not gone for good and that there are still humans remaining loyal with the Autobots. It's almost like Dark of the Moon, although containing stuff that upsets me the most like Sentinel Prime's allegiance with the Decepticons and his role being a main TF3 villain instead of Megatron or Shockwave, could have been the final film despite the ending that I felt needed some extension to properly tie up loose ends. Even with the new human cast, they're just even more unlikeable and even worse than they were before like the movie crew and writer Ehren Kruger were either on drugs or completely desperate to make the movie per the studio's request without being concerned about the fans' complaints! And once we were given an explanation that there were "Creators" that uses their "Seeds" to produce and harvest the metal "Transformium" from every organic material they destroy to build the Transformers, as well as the mention of "Knights" (albeit poorly-developed like it was an afterthought) given by Lockdown, that's where it becomes such a jumbled mess that we're unable to clean up. I was more used to the whole AllSpark/Sun Harvester/Moon history thing that I thought for sure that that was it in order to tie all 3 films together. But with the Creator-Seed-Knight issue, I'm not so sure if they do tie well with them. Plus, Optimus and Hound acted like they know so much about that even though Optimus doesn't know who these Creators are and how those Seeds work! I would have to assume that Lockdown might have told him off-screen while Tessa escapes from the drones! And does the AllSpark cube matter to that new plot detail in AOE that wasn't thought of to begin with, or does it not anymore when they say that TF4 is a "soft reboot" despite having an obvious connection with the Chicago Battle in the predecessor? Not only was Transformers 4 so entirely convoluted, but it was so full of very forced humor and unlikeable & unnecessary humans like Jack Reynor and Sophia Myles, and said to be too much of a product placement commercial as though it was for the sake of raising business in China hence why AOE was strongly successful internationally than in the U.S. As soon as we're introduced to Creators, Cemetery Wind, KSI (pointless as it is due to the uninspiring "transforming" sequences), Lockdown, and Galvatron's one-dimensional subplot of him leading his army to capture the Seed, there was just TOO MUCH GOING ON given the 2 hour 45 minute run time! I think I'm good with just the AllSpark origin. It's that simple! Why bother saying that the Creators were responsible for the birth of the Transformers 3 movies later? It was so much better when it was just Autobots vs. Decepticons. THAT is what the Transformers movies after 3 should have been about! Perhaps it was a bad decision to kill off our favorite Decepticons so soon which kinda explains the point with the KSI-made prototype robots. Are these guys out of ideas no matter how much amount of money they get from each film? This is why the first Transformers movie to me is the best one compared to the inferior sequels, like what Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is to the 3-4 sequels. If next summer's Transformers: The Last Knight does not breathe some life back into this 5-time Razzie Award-winning, critically-struggling 4-film franchise that grossed over $3.7 billion worldwide, then they are about to meet the same fate as the other shameful movie franchises (Resident Evil, Terminator, Ice Age, etc.) that have overstayed their welcome! Guess as Brains would put it, "You dumb greedy bastards just brought extinction to yourself." Paramount had better let Michael Bay be true to his word that The Last Knight would be the "last Transformers movie" he would ever direct to make fans very happy! Right now, the best place where I will truly appreciate the Transformers is not just in the 1st Michael Bay TF movie, but in the G1/Prime TV shows and the War for/Fall of Cybertron video games.
However, with the return of Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson and Megatron (not as Galvatron?) in TF5: TLK, it seems that my faith in the TF movies would have to remain intact before I jumped to conclusions too quickly about reminding myself that "the TF sequels always ruin everything." To remain positive rather than worry myself no matter how many awful comments I find in each movie update, I would watch the final TF4 scene of Optimus leaving Earth to find the Creators a couple times to make me feel anticipated for the 5th installment of the "Transformers Cinematic Universe". Even if, at the same time, I feel nervous about the franchise fatigue getting much worse since Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Terminator Genisys. Let's hope that the oh-so brilliant Writers' Room are successfully getting the Transformers movie franchise back on track with these "wonderful ideas" that they'll come up with for spin-offs (Bumblebee) and prequels (Cybertron).

I'm coming for you.

My Overview and Reason for Lack of Blog Activity

Whoo! Finally! This is my first blog post since the Academy Awards from this February! I have not even touched Blogger because of my concerns for lack of physical activity at home (such as painting as suggested by my mom and the peers and clients who praises my painting skills) and my full commitment to another blog site called Writing for Designers for my Writing for Artists class with my kind and most understanding teacher Prof. Lynn Constantine. And believe me, I have had a good but difficult and challenging time at George Mason for spring semester this year. I was lucky to get an A in both Writing for Artists (Lynn Constantine) and Co Brand and Design (Jessica Rodriguez) classes, an A+ in Visual Voices Colloquium, and an A- in Paula Crawford's Painting III class. Although I got a B in 3D animation class with Prof. Jesse Cowan, which I thought was the most difficult class of the semester even when I was getting quite good with the tools in the Maya Animation program. But what matters most, is that I did great with that semester, as always, for all of my hard work and effort even when there are times when I kind of prefer to do things I love to do besides painting or working on computer stuff. Like watching movies, that is.

But as I prepare myself for hopefully an exciting summer, I've experienced some surprises and twists and turns that sometimes spawn in a consequential or controversial outcome. For example, Fox's Deadpool was an astounding hit for an R-rated comic book superhero movie, but Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice which is what I thought I was most excited for besides Marvel's Captain America: Civil War, sadly opened to very upsetting results which is not quite what the studio or fans had expected. To begin that subject, the Zack Snyder-directed blockbuster follow-up to Man of Steel is unfortunately filled with extremely out-of-character moments, particularly for the once proud "symbol of hope" Superman, and convoluted subplots that add nothing to what the "Batman v Superman" title really suggests. Why couldn't the trailers and TV spots be true to their word of what the final product will be like when deep down, it's as though they have NO CLUE of how to honor what made Batman, Superman, and all the DC heroes so popular in a comic book studio that must really think that being Batman is all they care about. I wanted to like the new takes on the most popular superheroes of DC Comics, mostly because of the praise on Ben Affleck's take on Batman, but because BvS has instead repeated the same bothersome mistakes found in Man of Steel, like making Superman too scornful and joyless because "dark and gritty works best", I'm not even sure if that means we should treat the Henry Cavill version of Superman as canon and act like the more heroic Superman (mainly Christopher Reeve and the DC Animated Universe counterpart) doesn't exist. They even made Lex Luthor (in name only even if he's "the son of the REAL (but dead... DEAD!?) Lex Luthor)!) a total loony thanks to Jesse Eisenberg! I would think that Captain America is the real Superman we deserve who is at least handled correctly and acted like a true American superhero and is actually willing to help people without any stupid morals. But that doesn't mean that every DC hero like The Flash or Aquaman should "be like Batman" as though DC thinks that darkness is always "fun"! I feel like the animated shows (mostly the '90s) are always gonna be better than the awful live-action movies (Green Lantern, Jonah Hex, Catwoman, even the DC Extended Universe films like Batman v Superman)! Although there's a 3-hr R-rated Ultimate Edition coming in DVD/Blu-ray that will change our we feel towards the critically-panned theatrical cut, is that going to justify how upset we are with the stuff that we feel didn't need (Justice League teasers, death of Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane's bullet investigation, nightmares including the Flash, reason that Batman and Superman fight each other is because of "Martha", the Kevin Costner cameo, last minute inclusion of Doomsday and Death of Superman storyline, etc.)? And with Suicide Squad coming this August and the announcement of Geoff Johns and Jon Berg being made as the "Kevin Feiges" of the DC movies, does that mean that there is "hope" for the DC Extended Universe, particularly correcting the way that Superman was terribly handled prior to next year's long-awaited live-action Justice League movie?

Hey, everyone!

On the bright side though, is that after I finally completed my spring semester at GMU, I got the chance to be reunited with my sister Christine Mayuga and see Captain America: Civil War at Tysons Corner! It's a superhero movie that I believe that Batman v Superman should have ended up as instead when pitting two of our favorite heroes for all of the right reasons with no abrupt resolution. But the biggest highlight of all was being impressed with Tom Holland's long-awaited FAITHFUL portrayal of Spider-Man after having to suffer with the awful-to-mediocre, franchise-killing Spider-Man 3 and Amazing Spider-Man 1 & 2! For once, Sony made the right decision to allow Marvel handle everyone's favorite wall-crawler with care and bringing him back from obscurity! I have viewed the first two critically-acclaimed but overrated Sam Raimi films to prepare myself for Spidey's first debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since last year. I was glad that my wait for that was worth it. But for now, let's focus with the Captain America vs. Iron Man squabble. While it retains the awesome direction from Phase 2 game-changer Captain America: The Winter Soldier and proved to be a great start for Phase 3, I would think that it felt kinda too long for 145 minutes with all the fun humor and serious action which is sorta hard to balance each other without annoying Marvel and/or non-Marvel fans. Nevertheless, based on the box office research, it is already earning over $1.14 billion worldwide which is amazing! I knew that Civil War would mark a great start for summer 2016!

Now as far as I can tell, I also had a nice trip, albeit with some stressful struggles when it comes to being so far away from my beloved home Virginia while visiting places like Japan and the Philippines. I was excited to have arrived in Japan with my mom is because that Japan is, as I would call it, the birthplace of all of the famous properties that I was mostly familiar with! Godzilla, Power Rangers, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Hello Kitty, Transformers, Sony, you name it! Tokyo, Japan was such a big city! I never thought that I dreamt of coming there! The biggest gripe for coming to Japan though was all of the foods that I'm uncomfortable to eat with, since I am well picky. I still ate some pizza, chicken and burgers, which is a relief. But oh the places and beautiful sights you can find in Japan! And I almost bought many awesome Japanese toys due to how expensive they were! It is kind of fun to wander around, especially when I visit a place like the Tokyo Tower and the Tokyo Disney Resort! My mom and I even got to see Christine again who was already finishing her classes in this country! Onward to the Philippines!
The Philippines, as I know, is a birthplace of my mom and dad since the 1960s. It must be a very long time for them since they moved away to live in the United States to raise me in 1991. But when we got to Manila, I never expected the conditions to be so tightly full of traffic and full of dirty but poor and helpless people loitering in the streets. My family and I had a fun time, however. We moved to an apartment called Victoria Towers where we'll settle there for 2-3 weeks. We also would usually visit each of our closest relative to the Mayuga family, and we would always to special malls like SM Megamall, Robinsons Mall and Green Belt. I also got to see movies with my dad like Angry Birds and X-Men: Apocalypse, which were already out prior to their American dates! The moment that I never expect would happen was coming to the Philippine General Hospital, which is the building that I have seen before in the paintings that I made for my parents and their friends! It was like seeing a painting brought to life, with almost all of the EXACT details that I painted in every specific area of the canvas! My favorite relative that my parents, my sister and I have visited was Uncle Cito, who is of course the BROTHER of my Facebook friend Auntie Melody, and he was a huge fan of superheroes and Transformers! I was so surprised to see what kind of a fan he was! During the times in Manila, Philippines, life can be very stressful since I felt like I miss Virginia so much. Mostly because of all the foods that I had trouble coping with in every restaurant my parents wanted to go to honor their friends. Many times, they would find some helpful alternatives for me to have an effective lunch or dinner. I knew that coming to the Philippines wasn't always a bad place to come, even if there are some places that challenges my taste and views.

By the end of May and the beginning of June, we traveled to the beaches, where we would have a relaxing time splashing ourselves with seawater and explore other exotic islands and life in the Philippine waters. We visited the El Nido resort and stayed there from Thursday to Sunday where would take some special trips to somewhere where we'll snorkel ourselves beneath the salty waters. My sister was like the only one out of our family to have an amazingly fun time! Me? I just go along with how they're enjoying themselves. I even got to kayak with Christine and finally ride the tides on a surfboard along the beach water! Sure feels like summer!


So overall, that's what I was doing and why I haven't touched this blog since the start of GMU spring semester. But that's all I have to recap everything that I've done so far! I wonder what I can expect to see or hear before arriving back in George Mason this fall following my LOOOOONNG break this summer!