This new entry also introduces a new human villain (after... Patrick Dempsey), with Kelsey Grammer being more of the operatives behind the shadows, who leaves Lockdown and his CIA cronies with the dirty work. The only shining light of the human characters here is Stanley Tucci, another inventor who seem to be the new John Turturro here. However, he exudes energy and provides a much better comic relief than horny Turtorro as the head of KSI, the company that takes in scrap Transformers to make new human-controlled ones using the creatively-named 'Transformium'.

As said in my Godzilla review, the reason we're throwing money at Michael Bay is to see more transforming vehicles (the titular creatures), and not the human distractions. While titular characters like Optimus Prime and Bumblebee return, the others have mostly been replaced by a new gang of robots. Paramount seem to have improved the budget for voice casting, with the introduction of John Goodman as a chubby robot with bullets for a moustache, and Ken Watanabe, who plays the Japanese robot for obvious reasons. Another robot has a green coat for no reason! Anyway, just like the new human characters, the new Autobots don't offer much as it is Optimus Prime who's the center of everything. Lockdown, transforming from an aweosme Lamborghini Aventador, seems bland when compared to Megatron and even Sentinel Prime, but plus points are given or having A BLOODY GUN TRANSFORMING FROM HIS FACE! As for the new man-made Transformers, without spoiling anything, are really just here to tease for things to come.

The movie should also be guilty of the shameless product placement dotted throughout the entire movie, which is already a movie franchise based on selling the Hasbro toys. From the blatant presence of Bud Light and Beats products, the movie now feels like a 'spot-the-product-placement' game, with China getting in on the act too. The scene in which Stanley Tucci is sipping on a Chinese carton drink for no apparent reason is downright shameful (FYI I don't blame Tucci for this). 

For a series that is 'more than meets the eye', we've pretty much seen 'more of the same', and some of us are getting tired of it. With a new trilogy already in motion, it doesn't seem like Michael Bay has right the wrongs of his previous efforts. If you enjoyed the previous installments (like me), you'll definitely enjoy this, as it's really just more of the same (also best enjoyed in an IMAX cinema room). But if you've despised Bay's treatment of the robots in disguise, don't fret, as this is still more of the same. Despite the many negative pointers mentioned earlier, this is not to say that the movie was horrible, but it is a movie that really REQUIRES you to turn off your brain to enjoy, namely for the action and special effects. Regardless of whether you love or hate it, the real winners out of the latest Transformers flick will be Hasbro, Michael Bay and the shameless product advertisers.