July 7, 2014 -- This latest film in Michael Bay's “Transformer” franchise is bigger, louder and way longer than the previous films in the series, one writer, Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle, wrote that watching the Transformer series is like listening to the songs of a recording artist who keeps putting out the same material over again, just making them louder each time.

One thing for sure. If you go to see a “Transformer” movie by Michael Bay, you know just what to expect. I knew what to expect, and that is just what I got. I'm not sure if this is better, or worse than the last two films (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen -- 2009 -- and Transformers: Dark of the Moon -- 2011) in the series, but I am sure not going to go back and watch these three films just to see which is the worst one. It's not that these are bad films, they are just mediocre. The stories and the characters are weak, while the special effects are great-looking. I think most people agree the first “Transformers” (2007) movie was the best one by far.

This new film is a kind of series reboot with new characters, taking place farther in the future, when mankind has moved beyond the age of the transformers to the point where they can start building their own breed of shape-shifting, sentient robots. There are evil alien robots (Decipticons) who have a secret deal with the CIA, headed by the psychopathic Harold Attinger (Kelsey Grammar of “X-Men the Last Stand”). There is also money behind this arrangement. KSI, a robotics company, headed by Joshua Joyce (Stanley Tucci of “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”) stands to gain from advances in robotics technology through a secret arrangement with Attinger.

The conspiracy theories are piling up here, but it is pretty easy to see where all this is going, despite the chaos built into the meandering plot. This film also introduces a whole new band of human heroes headed by Mark Wahlberg (“Lone Survivor”) who plays low-rent robot designer Cade Yeager, who just happens to have (surprise, surprise) a hot teenage daughter, Tessa (Nicola Peltz of “The Last Airbender”). Tessa, 17, is in a kind of statutory rape relationship with an adult rally car driver, Shane Dyson (Jack Reynor of “Delivery Man”) that her father doesn't approve of for some reason (he is so square!). Unfortunately, one of the best characters in the film, Lucas (T.J. Miller of “Unstoppable”) is dumped from the story early on.

Basically, it is up to Cade Yeager, his daughter and her boyfriend to save the earth because everyone else to too stupid to see what is going on, or are involved in some conspiracy with the enemies of earth. Wahlberg, Tucci and T.J. Miller are all very good in this film. They make you believe in their characters, even as the plot unravels around them. The more I think about the plot, the less sense it makes, but in truth, it wasn't all that hard to follow while I was watching the film. It works, but doesn't hold up to examination afterwards.

The special effects, and the 3D effects are very good in this film. There are lots of explosions and spectacular battles between robots. The problem is, as stated earlier, it is too long. It could have been cut by an hour without missing anything important. It is just bloated with junk, including excessive product placement. Much has been made about how sexist this movie is, and it is. The women in the movie are mere sex objects. In this regard, the movie is a reflection of our culture. Our society, the Supreme Court (corporations have religious freedom, women do not) and the rest of government are all sexist (I believe the states still haven't passed the equal rights amendment). Sad, but true. This film rates a C.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

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