Michael Bays Transformers franchise is no stranger to letting fans down: after a semi-promising start with the first film, the franchise nosedived into two horrible sequels that looked good in the trailers, but translated into horrific films. When Transformers 4 was announced, it was bad enough, but when it was touted as the start of a new trilogy, bad news became worse. And yet, with the first full trailer of Transformers: Age Of Extinction now out for the world to see, it manages to do something all the others didn't, promising a new angle that not only reinvents the franchise, but allows for more mature stories, which some might have considered unthinkable. Theres still time to be ultimately disappointed of course - and we've all had our fingers burned before - but (for the moment) there are reasons to actually be kind of excited to see Transformers: Age Of Extinction.
10. A Better Caliber Cast
While there was the occasional A-Lister cast in the first three Transformers movies (John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, and John Turturro in particular), it was basically the vehicle that launched Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox into the stardom that they both maintain today. (Well, at least they would have if Shia didn't have a plagiarising meltdown and Megan didn't break Godwin's Law when it came to discussing Michael Bay.) It's always been a young person's game in the Transformers series, which made it particularly interesting when rumours started to float around that Mark Wahlberg was going to be cast as the lead for the next chapter. After his confirmation, it looked like Bay and Wahlberg became bros during their Pain And Gain days, and Bay wasn't afraid of centring his latest film around an adult lead. With the further additions of Kelsey Grammer and Stanley Tucci to the cast, the King of Explosions further cemented the possibility that this time around, we might be getting something with a little more dramatic weight than we're used to. Albeit, Tucci looks to be picking up the comedic/hyperbolic slack that Turturro's absence would leave, but he still excels at that sort of thing when its put in front of him.
Mike Reyes may or may not be a Time Lord, but he's definitely the Doctor Who editor here at What Culture. In addition to his work at What Culture, Mr. Reyes writes for Cocktails and Movies, as well as his own personal blogs Mr. Controversy and The Bookish Kind. On top of that, he's also got a couple Short Stories and Novels in various states of completion, like any good writer worth their salt. He resides in New Jersey, and compiles his work from all publications on his Facebook page.
