Action-director Michael Bay returns to the big screen with the latest installment in super-successful Transformers franchise. The fourth film titled ‘Transformers: Age of Extinction’ opens this month and will see a new hero take over from Shia LaBeouf.
The film will reportedly pick up four years after the events that transpired in ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’ that dealt with the fall of Chicago. In previous films we saw the US Armed Forces join hands with Optimus Prime and his Autobots against Megatron’s Decepticons.
According to Screenrant, this time around the government will be using discarded technology to create Transformers of their own using ‘reverse-engineering’. While speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Bay says that they want to “wipe out all Transformers”. At the same time vehicle mechanic Cade Yeager, played by versatile talent Mark Wahlberg and his daughter stumble upon a critical finding that make them the target of Autobots, Decepticons as well as a suspicious government official.
Wahlberg replaces Shia LeBouf in the lead role after his appearance in the prior three films which means his ‘Sam Witwicky’ character will remain absent. However, his trusty sidekick Bumblebee returns for the fourth iteration.
Optimus Prime is once again voiced by fan-favorite Peter Cullen who has been the voicing the Autobot leader since the 80s animated series.
Decepticons expected to appear include Galvatron, Lockdown and Stinger. Galvatron was first introduced in the 1986 animated feature as the new body of Decepticon leader Megatron. Back then Leonard Nimoy, famous for his role as ‘Spock’ in the original ‘Star Trek’ series, voiced Galvatron. In ‘Age of Extinction’, he is re-imagined as a human-created Decepticon voiced this time by Frank Welker, who is well-known among fans of the original cartoons.
Talented actress Sophia Myles, Stanley Tucci and Kelsey ‘Frasier’ Grammer have all been cast in supporting roles. Comedian John Goodman voices the Autobot Hound.
The franchise has been popular with children and adults since the 1980s when Hasbro introduced a successful line of transforming action figures called ‘Transformers’. The toy-line would eventually be complimented by a hit animated show. In 1986, the animated feature film, ‘Transformers: The Movie’ became a cult classic with long-time fans.
The adventures of Optimus Prime and his group of do-gooder Autobots finally crash-landed on the big screen courtesy of Michael Bay around two decades later in the first ‘Transformers’ live action film. The box-office smash of 2007 gave way to two hugely successful sequels ‘Revenge of the Fallen’ and ‘Dark of the Moon’ respectively.
Some sections of the fan community have criticized Bay’s live action series for focusing more on action scenes and special effects instead of the source material. But despite the criticism, the film franchise has grossed over two billion dollars at the box office.
‘Transformers: Age of Extinction’ is expected to hit theaters June 27, 2014.