I honestly don't know where to start with this movie. Almost every set up had me hoping I was about to see something awesome, but alas no payoff. I have been a fan of just about every Transformers movie. Yes, I do mean all four to include revenge of the fallen and extinction. I've been ok with Bay disregarding certain things from the movies that came before it but Last knight is ridiculous.
Character
Josh Duhumal is back in this one tying the previous trilogy to the new. However he is not the same character. The person that was developed in three prior movies makes choices that he wouldn't make. Would you really see this officer after go through hell alongside the auto bots team up with deceptions because the government tells him he needs to do it. The whole time I'm just thinking, oh he's undercover. Nope he's just an ass.
Later in the film we get a decent flashback to bumblebee taking out the nazis. With Hopkins informing Whalberg that Bee was the most vicious and brutal fighter back in the day. This means absolutely nothing and has no impact on the story other than stretching out the 2 1/2 hour run time.
What did I want?
There is a scene early in the movie when Duhumal is dealing with Megatron for the release of decepticons to form a team for the impending arrival of Evil Optimus. Every decepticon name was followed by a text and clip immediately invoking a set up of the movie Suicide Squad.
Would have been pretty awesome to see that. The government putting together a suicide squad of decepticons and autobots to fight side by side to take out the impending threat. Again a set up that goes no where and is used only to change the location from desert to England.
Evil Optimus
Oh how could you mess this up Bay. Optimus is only used in the last 20 min of the movie. He shows up says I'm the bad guy and then turns good in less than 5 min. I could think of an entire movie of Optimus rampageing across the earth is search of this films maguffin. Clashing with autobots and decepticons along the way. Why wasn't this the route chosen. The trailers even thought it would go this way.
Now that we re there lets talk about the fight. Bee vs Optimus and we get a BvS moment with Bee using his real voice stating "you have always been my friend" to shock Optimus out of his memory control. This is the moment I think Bay lost all chance of redemption from me.
It would have been epic and fit the flashback of Bee as brutal to utter this line and headshot Optimus knowing it's what needs to be done. At that moment the spark emerges from primes chest and transmits its power to bumblebee creating a new prime an Ultra Magnus to take on the rest of the villains in no holds barred brawl.
All of these moments that never happen are set up at length in the film and underutilized. The movie I envisioned and wanted I probably would never get. I am so glad that this franchise will be getting a new director ad hopefully come with some payoff. And speaking of pay of this 2 1/2 hour movie ends on a huge cliffhanger. Let me know your thoughts, ideas of what you hoped for, or what you hated in the comments below.