Age of Extinction – Criticisms

With Transformers Age of Extinction upon the brink of release in the UK, I have read all the early reviews for the film and have been left fairly flustered. The film, and the whole series, has come under fire for the “lack of realism” and the “cheesy” nature of the films. In my eyes, these types of criticisms are void because the film in inherently cheesy and isn’t supposed to be grounded in any sense. I’ll have to come clean and say the Transformer movies are one of my guilty pleasures, but even so they seem to be getting progressively worse and longer, I’m hoping the new one can redeem the dignity of the franchise. But the early reviews are mixed, with some saying its the best sequel to others saying it’s longer, boring and “the same nonsense”. After reading these reviews, I genuinely believe critical criticisms of the film are made redundant due to the films light-hearted and fun nature. Essentially, the film doesn’t seek praiseworthy criticisms and doesn’t aim to be great – it’s sole purpose is to deliver light-hearted fun through the attractive spectacle of large-scale, unrelenting robot wars. If the film is viewed like this, then of course any criticism of the film being “cheesy” or nothing but “mindless action” becomes void as the film is meant to incorporate mindless action and be cheesy.

Whilst criticisms such as plot points and weak characters are perfectly valid, attacking the film for excessive action and “corny-ness” is nonsensical as this is the nature of the film. I’m looking forward to watching the new film, regardless of the negative reviews. Most of the early reviews have completely sidelined and misunderstood what the film is actually meant to be; a fun, a cheesy, action packed extravaganza.