Reviews

Set five years after Dark of the Moon, Transformers: Age of Extinction sets out to continue the franchise, taking a new path in more than one way. Lots of explosions, action scenes and robots wrecking cities up and we've got ourselves the fourth one.

To begin with, there were a lot of weak points, the biggest challenge being the fact that the entire human cast was replaced. I felt that Wahlberg and Tucci did a good job, but the rest of them were terrible. A lot of it has to do with writing: the characters were shallow and didn't have any depth at all. At a running time of 2h45min you think it would be enough to flesh them out but no. Wahlberg's daughter just yells "Dad!" and screams her entire screen time. Her boyfriend is shoehorned in just to complete the clumsy romance but in the end is just a tool to move the plot. Sophia Myles, amongst others, is completely wasted. The fact that Bay chose to concentrate on the humans again, and failed with it again, speaks volumes.

It was, however, good to see how Cade (Wahlberg) first comes across Optimus Prime and being a mechanic/inventor, revitalizes the beaten leader. The focus also shifted from Bumblebee to Prime as the main link to the protagonist, but oddly it was never explained why Bee left Sam in the first place, being his most loyal protector.

Now, speaking of techs in the film, there was a lot of slow-mo. A lot. And it really took away from the action. It is okay to employ slow-mo sometimes, for example when the robots are transforming, but not at every single shot. Moreover, the transformings themselves were weaker than in the previous installments. I mean, in the first one when Starscream transformed into a plane in the middle of the flight or they were fighting/transforming in the narrow street, or in DotM during the fights, this depth was lacking in AoE. Also the fights weren't as good compared to the gigantic robot battles or human black ops tactics in previous films. Lastly, as cheesy as it may sound Optimus Prime riding Grimlock was pretty awesome. Even if Grimlock was in the movie for about ten whole minutes. And Lockdown the bounty hunter as the main villain was also done nicely.

The film is way too long, the beginning stretches a lot, the middle even more, the finale as well. We are treated to a lot of badly written human characters who just slow the movie down and stretch. Even the endless explosions got tiring (boom, boom, boom and slow-mo all the time, why oh why?). But honestly, going in I thought this would be loads worse. In the end though, not as good as the first or the third, but still better than the second (not that this should count for anything as that was plain awful). Altogether, too long, too stretchy, way too much slow-mo, too shallow characters, some decent fights and action, Prime riding Grimlock and Wahlberg being his usual self. Could have been worse but not by much.

Some spoilers so please, be advised. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is Peter Jackson's continual of the adventures of Bilbo and the company. A lot of changes to the book, a lot of liberties. Overall I think it works well enough.

The main storyline resolves around the company of the dwarfs and Bilbo, as they set their sight upon the Lonely Mountain and reclaiming Erebor, now that they have come Under the Mountain of the goblins. This is portrayed very well and there is more depth to the characters. It was particularly interesting to see how Thorin is slowly beginning to change, not too much, but with a glimpse of what is to come. He makes some heavy decisions in Desolation and grows darker the more they close in on Erebor. The rest of the dwarfs get a chance to shine themselves as well and Bilbo is steadily crafting a serious reputation among them as a burglar.

I was very glad to see that the elves were shown in greater light. I have read the book a dozen times and more and the one concern I had was that the book is a classic fairy tale: the side characters are terribly underdeveloped and used as mere pawns to move the plot. This, however, ran in odds with the importance the elves hold in the story and Peter Jackson nailed the execution. My point: there are only two elves named in the book: Elrond and The Elvenking. None of the other elves are pointed out, save the guard from whom Bilbo steals the keys in the dungeon. That is why I am happy to see Legolas and Tauriel. Legolas is the son of Thranduil, a couple of thousand years old and it makes more than sense to include him in the film. Seeing him before friendship with Gimli and his dislike for dwarfs is an intriguing notion. Tauriel is a side character and therefore I don't think adding her suffers the film, on the contrary, she is a great character (and brings a female perspective otherwise nonexistent; keep in mind that Jackson also expanded Arwen greatly in Fellowship). As long as they are left as side characters and don't steal too much screen time from the company, it's acceptable.

The third part of the plot follows Gandalf and his quest to Dol Guldur. Like the elves, Gandalfs character is not treated with much care in the book: he disappears without any explanation and resurfaces in the same sudden manner. Jackson approaches it with concern, we know from the LotR books that Gandalf had a major role to play in Dol Guldur and this is shown in Desolation (and will be furthered in the next film). Mackellen acts with grace and great presence and is backed up by Radagast, who is more serious in this film.

The scenery was absolutely astounding. Thranduils halls and Erebor are done perfectly. The realm of the wood-elves is shown as their kin is described: less wise and more militiant, just compare their fortress with Elrond's Last Homely House. Thranduils halls are engraved in shadows and the elves are more aggressive. Lake-town also surprised me to great extent, it was built fascinatingly to float on the water. The fighting scenes in there were as impressive as others.

Now, there are some amazing scenes in this film, my favorite being the Barrel-ride. In the book it was quiet, the company escaped and then moved on. The stakes are much higher in the film which is not necessarily a bad thing. I won't even start with Smaug. Absolutely stupendous. Cumberbatch's voice gives shrills. Smaug is strong beyond words. The other adversary, Sauron, also portrayed by Cumberbatch, shows the strength that is to come and what we can expect from the third part. There is also humor in this film, and romance, but less and subsidiary. The world itself is wonderful and we feel like a part of it when watching the film. This is further helped by Howard Shore's amazing score.

In the end I would say that The Desolation of Smaug is a decent portrayal and improves on the first film. The changes to the book, the lot of them - everyone has their own opinions, mine is that they served the film well, the addition of Legolas and Tauriel is welcome and the increase of Bard's role as a man of Lake-town is as important. The dwarven company and Bilbo have reached the Mountain and unleashed the dragon. Next winter will conclude this epic adventure and this world and looking at how good The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is, we will be right to await it eagerly. I for one, am looking forward to watching Desolation many and more times before and after that.

Spoilers in here, read if you've completed the game.

I looked forward to ME3 like a madman, got it and played (lived) it. I can honestly say that the Mass Effect series is the best i've played: the story is beyond imaginable and the characters are so dimensional and likable. I don't think that lately there has been a more captivating game, book or film where i have grown so into the characters and the world. The fact that i was able to import all my character development and vital decisions through all the franchise is already a sign of how really grande the game is.

First of all, a bit about the gameplay: i liked that the movement was more dimensional, you could sprint a lot (which saved me many a times when i needed cover), using ability combos - again fantastic, and the game was generally a lot faster. New squad members, James and EDI were interesting and brought something new to the table. Soundtrack was very well composed and the atmosphere whilst playing the game was of something significant. That's that, top notch.

The characters... amazing. To see a portrayal of them through all three games was fantastic, because even if you used some of the squadmembers more than others (f.e. i didn't use Liara or Tali in my ME1 playthrough very much, i relied on Ash and Garrus mostly; we all have our favorites), you could still see how they all grew and what the world was like for them. Seeing how Ash reacted to Shepard through different times or how their romance went, how friendship with Garrus grew, how Thane interpreted the world and the meaning of life, what Tali felt in her suit, what was it like for Liara, how Jack opened up, and all about the other characters, all that combined was so heartwarming and astonishing, something i haven't encountered in other games (even in Dragon Age it wasn't that close).

So yes, the thing that enraged me the most was the ending. Massive, massive letdown which bitters the whole saga for me because now we know that ME3 was the last. All the decisions, all the character development, all the romance, all the build up was made irrelevant by the Catalyst god who offered Shepard three choices: control, synthesis or destroy. All the endings were basically the same: energy takes out the reapers, mass relays blow up, Shepard dies, Normandy crashes and galactic army is stuck around Earth with no way to get back home without the relays. The lack of choice and variety was the worst problem. For example, in ME1 you had the choice to save the Council, in ME2 you had the choice to destroy the station and which characters survived (why engaging the characters was so important in the game) but in ME3 whatever you do, with all the endings you get the same cutscene and Shepard dies (even if you see the little scene where he draws breath it's not good enough, because it's the matter of your hopeful interpretation and it's not fair to demand the loyal fanbase to "make up our own interpretations of what the ending means for us"). All the good we can see or make up is just our imagination because Bioware didn't give us clear and different endings (the good, the bad, the ugly and everything in the middle, as in 16 different endings they promised). That leaves literally no point to play the game again (you cannot alter the main ending path like in 2 where you could alternatively help the Illusive Man) because you cannot either return to Ash (or whoever you chose) or to Normandy or to anywhere else. You have three basically identical (save for the color of explosions) choices, none of which are satisfactory. Reading all the other reviews/thoughts, i'm not the only one who would have preferred a more clear, an alternate ending. Bitter, bitter, bitter.

All i can hope for is a DLC which makes a clearer ending or offers a new one which sees Shepard reunite with Normandy and it's crew. The reason i love ME series is because the choices you make feel real, they reach out to you, you fall in love with amazing characters and the world, you're a part of the story, but none of this matters with an ending we have no control over. Sad.

The main concept of Mass Effect is the freedom of choices, creating your own path, living the game as Shepard. Everything you do influences what comes next (f.e. if you sacrifice the Council in ME1 then in 2 and 3 other races see you as someone who puts humanity over the galaxy, therefore it's more difficult to get their support; if you get high approval from squad mates in 2 you get better defense for Normandy, etc.). If you are able to choose every little part of the story for yourself in the matter of choice-consequence way, it is only fair that you should be able to choose the ending as well. Otherwise, what's the point? This ending however doesn't give us a chance to make none of our choices matter (it even doesn't give us a chance to defy the child/god) and abandons the reason why Mass Effect is so great to play and why it differes from everything else.

In the end all i can say is that i loved the series very much. One of the most outstanding sci-fi and fantasy worlds with incredible story and characters. I'll just pretend that the ending was something different, something to my own liking.

10 for the franchise, gameplay, story in general, outstanding characters and the world itself. Thank you for reading.