Transformers: The Last Knight

Transformers: The Last Knight is a 2017 American science fiction action film based on the toy line of the same name created by Hasbro. It is the fifth installment of the live-action Transformers film series and a sequel to 2014's Transformers: Age of Extinction. Directed by Michael Bay, the film features Mark Wahlberg and Stanley Tucci returning from Age of Extinction, alongside Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, and Glenn Morshower from the first three films reprising their roles from the first three films and Anthony Hopkins joining the cast. Bay and Wahlberg have stated this film marks their final picture in the franchise. The film premiered at Odeon Leicester Square in London on June 18, 2017 and was released in the United States on June 21, 2017 by Paramount Pictures, in 2D, 3D and IMAX 3D. The film was panned by critics and fans, who criticized its screenplay, direction, runtime, plot, storyline, humor, characters, excessive recons, continuity errors, action sequences, editing, and frequent aspect ratio changes, however its visual effects and musical score received praise. It grossed only $605.4 million worldwide against a production budget between $217–260 million and losing Paramount an estimated $100 million with marketing and distribution costs factored in.

Plot[]

In the first millennium, King Arthur leads his 12 knights and his soldiers into a battle against the Saxons. However, the Saxons overpower them, giving the Saxons the upper edge. Having realized this, he enlists the help of the magician Merlin, who negotiates with a Cybertronian Knight. The Knight gives Merlin a staff that wields ultimate power, and transforms along with his other 11 Knights into a large dragon Transformer named Dragonstorm. Dragonstorm comes to the Knights' aid, wiping out their adversaries, and winning the battle in King Arthur's favor.

In the present day, after the Battle of Hong Kong, Optimus Prime has left Earth in search of his creators. All Transformers, regardless of faction, remain outcasts on Earth. However, more Transformers have been arriving on the planet recently in the years since Prime left. The Transformers Reaction Force dedicates itself to hunting down and destroying Transformers of all factions following the dissolution of Cemetery Wind. In the half of the war-torn area of Chicago, a group of kids stumble upon a crashed alien ship with a Cybertronian Knight inside. The kids are confronted by a TRF Walker, which is destroyed by Izabella, a survivor of the Battle of Chicago. Izabella and her Transformer companions, Sqweeks and Canopy, urge the kids to escape, but Canopy is shot by a TRF drone and dies. Shortly after, Bumblebee and Cade Yeager arrive and help the kids escape. Yeager finds the dying Knight, who gives him a metallic talisman. The TRF attempted to capture Cade, but the arrival of Hound, and Bumblebee's threat to Santos prevented them. However, a sniper attaches a tracking beacon to Bee.

Meanwhile, Optimus Prime crash-lands on his home planet Cybertron. Finding that Cybertron is dead, Optimus confronts his creator, a powerful sorceress named Quintessa. She restrains him, and relieves him of his Sword and Shield. Quintessa corrupts Prime, promising him a chance to save Cybertron, making Optimus believe that he was the reason why it was destroyed in the first place. Quintessa explains that Earth is actually a Transformer itself, named Unicron. She reveals that Unicron is Cybertron's enemy, and that she must use a hidden artifact on Earth in order to gain the energy to fix Cybertron. The artifact is Merlin's staff, and it was stolen from her by the 12 Knights of Iacon. The knights hid the artifact on Earth, and gave it to Merlin. She then dubs him "Nemesis Prime".

William Lennox, a former NEST commander who now works under the TRF, speaks with General Morshower, his superior, about the presence of an ancient alien technology on Earth. This technology can help bring Cybertron into Earth's atmosphere, but only through the use of the staff given to Merlin. The TRF makes a deal with Megatron, who demands the release of his fellow Decepticons - Onslaught, Mohawk, Nitro Zeus, and Dreadbot, except Berserker. The TRF teams up with Megatron's gang, with the TRF hoping to arrest Cade Yeager, and Megatron needing Cade's artifact given to him by the knight, Steelbane.

Yeager hides out at a junkyard, which serves as a sanctuary for many of the surviving Autobots - Bumblebee, Hound, Drift, Crosshairs, Grimlock, Wheelie, and many others. While there, Yeager finds that Izabella has followed him back; Yeager tells her to leave but Izabella wants to stay and fight. The next morning, Megatron's Decepticons arrive at the junkyard and Megatron briefly engages Hound. Meanwhile, The Autobots, Cade, Izabella, and Jimmy arrive in an abandoned city. Drift and Crosshairs kill Onslaught, while Bumblebee kills Mohawk. The TRF arrives, and shoots Cade in the chest. However, the artifact saves Cade. Yeager is confronted by a Transformer named Cogman, convincing him to go to England with him and Bee to find out about the artifact.

Meanwhile, an Oxford professor named Viviane Wembly is kidnapped by the Autobot Hot Rod. Both are brought to England and meet with Sir Edmund Burton, the last living member of the Witwiccan Order. Burton tells Cade and Viviane of the Transformers' origins, saying that the collision of Cybertron with Earth would spell certain doom. He tasks Viviane, the last descendant of Merlin, with obtaining his staff so they can prevent the impending apocalypse. Burton tells Yeager that, as a person defined by honor and dignity, he is the last knight. The talisman given to Yeager has wrapped around his arm by this point. The trio are forced to evacuate Burton's home when the MI6 and TRF arrives.

With Yeager's help, Viviane delves into her father's past, and finds that they must take the HMS Alliance into the sea to find the staff inside the Knights' sunken ship. Bumblebee, Yeager, and Viviane go to the Alliance with Cogman and Burton, who neglect to go on the journey any further. The Alliance heads for the machine, but is intercepted by a TRF submarine. The Alliance ventures inside the machine, where Viviane and Yeager find a chamber of Cybertronian Knights, as well as Merlin's staff. One Knight, Skullitron, awakens and attacks them. The TRF intervenes and attacks Skullitron, while Viviane activates the staff and the ship begins to rise towards the ocean's surface. As more Knights rise up to fight, Nemesis Prime intervenes, and takes the staff from Viviane with the intention of restoring his homeworld.

Bumblebee confronts and fights Nemesis Prime on top of the ship, as Yeager and Lennox struggle to step in. As Nemesis Prime is about to kill Bumblebee, Bee speaks, urging Prime to remember who he is. Optimus breaks free of Quintessa's control, but Megatron flies in and seizes the staff from Optimus, revealing that Quintessa also hired Megatron with finding the staff, knowing that Prime would be too "weak". As Megatron escapes, The Cybertronian Knights then attack Optimus for his betrayal. Before his execution, Yeager's talisman becomes the Excalibur sword, and he stops the fight. The Knights yield to Yeager, who urges Optimus to protect the Earth once more.

At Stonehenge, Megatron delivers the staff to Quintessa, who uses it to gain energy from Unicron/Earth, as Cybertron slowly begins to pull itself together. As the military intervenes, Megatron shoots Burton, who dies by Cogman's side. Optimus unites the Knights, the Autobots and the U.S Army. Using Lockdown's ship, they set off to Cybertron in order to stop it's collision with Earth. Optimus Prime kills the Infernocons, as the humans prepare to escape the battle. Viviane stays to retrieve the staff, and Cade follows. Optimus boards the ship, and aids the Autobots in fighting Megatron. Prime defeats Megatron, and Bumblebee seemingly destroys Quintessa. Viviane removes the staff, saving Earth.

The Autobots reunite after the battle, and Optimus declares that his faith in humanity is restored. The Autobots use Lockdown's ship to return to Cybertron.

Later, a group of scientists inspected a part of Unicron. Quintessa, disguised as a human, arrives and offers them a way to destroy the being.

Characters[]

Humans[]

Autobots[]

Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime
Erik Aadahl as Bumblebee
Omar Sy as Hot Rod*
John Goodman as Hound
Ken Watanabe as Drift
John DiMaggio as Crosshairs
Jim Carter as Cogman*
Reno Wilson as Sqweeks
Grimlock
Slug
Mini Dinobots
- Sharp-T
- 'Tops
- Pterry

Decepticons[]

Frank Welker as Megatron
Jess Harnell as Barricade*
John DiMaggio/Steven Barr as Nitro Zeus**
Reno Wilson as Mohawk
Dreadbot
Onslaught†
Berserker†
Starscream's Head
Decepticon Protoform

Non-Aligned[]

Knights of Iacon[]

The Creators[]

Gemma Chan as Quintessa

Infernocons[]

Infernocus

*Certain lines from these characters are not delivered by their credited actors, but the fill-in actors who performed the "scratch track" for the movie, whose recordings have survived into the finished film.

**Nitro Zeus' voice actor varies depending on the version of the film. The "finished" version shown in English-speaking countries features John DiMaggio, and the other, shown internationally, features Steven Barr. Both the home video and digital releases of the film credit both actors.

†Denotes a character who speaks, but has no credited voice actor. The internet has popularly attributed these roles to DiMaggio, Barr, and Welker, variously, but often incorrectly, and with no proof; more likely, at least some are performed by scratch track actors and were not replaced for the finished film.

Errors[]

It’s possible how Trench should be seen in England however you cannot see him.

Reception[]

Box office[]

Transformers: The Last Knight grossed $130.1 million in the United States and Canada and $475.3 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $605.4 million, against a production budget of $217–260 million. The film reportedly lost Paramount over $100 million and was deemed a commercial failure due to competition from Despicable Me 3, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man: Homecoming, War for the Planet of the Apes, and Dunkirk with the latter making the least in worldwide earnings when comparing the five films but Transformers: The Last Knight had the least total in North America.

Critical response[]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 16% based on 256 reviews and an average rating of 3.5/10, the lowest of the seven films in the Transformers series. The site's critical consensus reads, "Cacophonous, thinly plotted, and boasting state-of-the-art special effects, The Last Knight is pretty much what you'd expect from the fifth installment of the Transformers franchise." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 27 out of 100 based on 47 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, the same as Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave a 75% overall positive score and a 55% "definite recommend".