‘Transformers: The Last Knight’ is Michael Bay’s version of ‘Armageddon’

It’s been 10 years since Paramount Pictures and Hasbro paired up with director Michael Bay to bring the world of "Transformers" to the big screen, and while there was critical backlash coming from the fans who grew up with the popular '80s toy line and animated series, the 2007 original film did give the public its first live-action depiction of the "Robots in Disguise" in the big screen.

Starring Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox, the first movie brought their war to Earth, and since then we've seen numerous sequels showing the seemingly endless fight between the Autobots and Decepticons (with the fate of the world hanging in the balance, of course). 

After directing all four previous installments and keeping together a signature roster of familiar characters such as Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Bumblebee in all the films, Michael Bay has released what he claims to be his final film in the franchise in “Transformers: The Last Knight.”

The fifth entry in the franchise delivers some more action, intensity, and a plot that promises to explain the “Secret History of the Transformers” and their connection to Earth.

While this is certainly done, everything connecting to previous films is lost amidst a wild assembly of plots and subplots that can only carry one’s attention for so long in a movie that runs two hours long. In other words, it’s a mad scramble for cohesiveness and attention.

Reprising his role from 2014’s "Age of Extinction", Mark Wahlberg’s Cade Yeager has successfully supplanted Shia LaBeouf’s Sam Witwicky as the de facto human ally of the Autobots.

Meanwhile, Anthony Hopkins joins the blockbuster franchise, appearing as Sir Edmund Burton — an astronomer and historian who knows why the Transformers come to Earth. English actress Laura Haddock stars as Oxford professor Vivian Wembly, and has a crucial part to play in the latest war between the Autobots and Decepticons.

For the Transformers themselves, there’s plenty of Bumblebee action to make the kids happy, but it’s unfortunate that there’s only a few scenes featuring the poster boy himself in Optimus Prime, who makes a "bad guy turn" in this film that is barely touched on save for the final act.

Overall, "Transformers: The Last Knight" doesn’t necessarily improve on its predecessors and sticks to the same formula that made them money making films in the first place.

It’s pretty to see in IMAX 3D and that’s the native format the film was shot on to boot. The plot isn’t exactly a priority and Michael Bay’s focus is eye candy visuals and lots of explosions (as well as to sell toys for Hasbro).

It's "more than meets the eye" only in name and presentation.

"Transformers: The Last Knight" is now showing c/o UIP Philippines and distributed by Columbia Pictures Philippines. — AT, GMA News