Transformers: Age of Extinction

I got back from seeing Transformers: Age of Extinction today, and I have to say that though it's still got the usual problems present in the franchise, this film is considerably better than the previous three!

It's almost a reboot, because though it begins four years after the last one, the tone is so different, much darker and grittier than the previous, it still has plenty of humor, but it's no longer dependent on sexual innuedo jokes, which I consider a great improvement on the franchise.

I also loved the characterization of the transformers, specifically the Autobots, I felt that they were much more fleshed out and relateable than in any previous transformers film. They all had their own personallity traits that made them all stand out far more than any previous film; Crosshairs is a self-serving jerk [I thought that he was the ex-Decepticon character that had been mentioned online, but apparently that's actually supposed to be Drift.], Drift is a pseudo samurai warrio [voiced by Ken Wantanbe, who played Dr. Serizawa in Godzilla!], and Hound is a gruff weapons nut with a love of cheesy one liners!

Even Optimus and Bumblebee have become significantly more interesting, Bumblebee being portrayed as more spunky and cocky [especially when it comes to his severe indignation in regards to his Vehicon doppleganger Stinger!], and for the first time we see a much more human side to Optimus, who shows genuine doubt and indecision about the Autobot's mission to protect humans, after how they basically turn on them, resulting in the deaths of many other Autobots.

The human characters are all new, there isn't even mention of the previous characters, and I found that the new cast of characters were at least as good as the previous generation, though unlike before they're less dependent on the cheesy comedy from before to prove entertaining, I certainly would like to see more of these characters in the next film!

And now to my favorite part... the Dinobots! Sadly, there are only four of the seven announced Dinobots in the film [I was afraid of that, not being able to fit that many giant metal dinosaurs into the story], but I still think that they were spectacular, almost kaiju like in nature! They tower over the other transformers in the story, whether in their robot or beast modes [they spend most of it in beast mode], and though they have no dialogue, they have plenty of character in their bestial performances!

Grimlock is the leader, a truly monstrous [dare I say even Godzilla-esque?] force, so savage and dominant that Optimus has to literally beat the living daylights out of Grimlock, just to convince him and the other Dinobots to help the Autobots! They're awesome to see in battle [a couple of my favorite moments is when Slug the Triceratops leaps up and tears through a low flying alien fighter, landing back on the ground with the fighter's cannon clutched in his maw like a dog carrying his favorite bone, the aerial battle Bumblebee has with Stinger while riding on the back on Strafe the two-headed pterasaur, and the scene were Scorn the Spinosaurus takes out several decepticons by simply flinging himself backfirst into them, skewering them on his three razorblade sails!]

My one complaint is essentially the same as that with Godzilla; it takes a long time to see them [much longer than Godzilla in fact, we don't see them until near the end of the movie, which is 2 hours and 45 minutes long! Thankfully the characters and action before hand are entertaining enough to carry through until the Dinobots make the grand entrance!] I sincerly hope to see them in future movies, and I'm crossing my fingers and hoping they'll bring in the other Dinobots Slog [Apatosaurus], Snarl [Stegosaurus], and Slash [Velociraptor]!