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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Has ‘Transformers’ finished Michael Bay?

Dan Webster

It's fairly apparent that many, if not most, people pay little attention to what critics think. So reporting that critics don't think much of the new — and reportedly last — Michael Bay-directed movie, "Transformers: The Last Knight," isn't likely to affect anyone's movie-going intentions.

Still, it's not all that often that a multi-million-dollar film that is so well publicized attracts barely a 15 percent approval rating on the critics' website Rotten Tomatoes. So I thought it worth pointing out.

And though I haven't yet seen Bay's film, I have seen its predecessors. So the negative reviews don't surprise me one bit. Here is a sampling:

Stephanie Merry, Washington Post: "A movie that's cut like the world's longest and most tedious trailer, pinballing from scene to scene and rarely spending more than a few seconds on any single shot."

Johnny Olelsinski, New York Post: "Watching an actor of (Anthony) Hopkins' caliber swear at his robo-butler and attempt to wring out laughs by uttering the word 'dude' is painful — even for a 'Transformers' movie."

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: "Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop."

Oh, and the fans aren't reacting much better. Rotten Tomatoes reports only a 56 percent approval rating among regular moviegoers. Contrast that to the 92/91 percent approval rating that "Wonder Woman" is getting and you have to wonder: Has Bay finally lost his way?