Transformers: Age of Extinction is the most immersive movie experience of the year when seen in 3D and the full giant IMAX format.
And this is the best Transformers episode of the series since the first one, thanks in large part to the gravitas of Mark Wahlberg.
At the AMC Burbank 16 theatre, your seats will shake as the giant mechanical alien robots rumble across the screen, and you will hear them coming before you see them as those and other sounds come from behind and above you.
The creatures and their cool car incarnations then explode on the enormous screen with even more than impact than usual in IMAX 3D. About 100 minutes nearly three-hour movie of the movie is presented in the full IMAX aspect ratio, meaning that the only way to see the entire film frame is to see it in a giant IMAX 3D theater. Otherwise, you will miss up to 26% of each of these scenes.
<Review continues following the short behind-the-scenes video with director Michael Bay and short video specifically about the new IMAX Digital 3D camera…>
Unlike other films such as “The Dark Knight” and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol,” which featured one or two selected sequences utilizing the full IMAX aspect ratio for maximum impact in those scenes of a few minutes each, “Transformers” cuts back and forth from full frame to standard frame seemingly at random and often every few seconds throughout the entire movie. While this lessens the impact and will probably be subliminal for most viewers, it does present a subconscious impact and offers a greater tonnage of eye candy.
The 3D conversion by Legend 3D and Prime Focus is for the most part flawless, although there is some blurring during some scenes where objects move fast horizontally across the screen. This can create some eye and brain discomfort (small headaches) for some viewers, especially after a couple hours of a typical Michael Bay visual onslaught. (Did I mention the movie is 2-hours and 45-minutes long? Another Michael Bay trait of indulgence.)
There is so much noise and action as Optimus Prime and his autobot buddies (including an ovder-the-top robot version of cigar-chomping, bearded John Goodman) attempt to get back into circulation after being rendered nearly obsolete by newer and better transformers built by a coporation, not to mention some far bigger alien invaders, that one can barely notice any of the music provided by heavyweights Hans Zimmer and Imagine Dragons.
Luckily, just as all the action is growing tedious about 90-minutes to 2-hours in, Stanley Tucci’s cold, uptight and bull-headed corporate charactersuddenly turns into welcome comic relief with some hilarious lines.
Despite being at least an hour too long, you have to hand it to Bay for pushing the envelope yet again and delivering a visual tour de force that hopscotches from destroying the skyline and the giant Cloud Gate art sculpture in Chicago to chasing through exotic parts of Beijing and Hong Kong.
— By Scott Hettrick