Not being a big fan of films spun off from comic books or toys, I was pleasantly surprised with “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” the next chapter in the never-ending Michael Bay special effects franchise. This one picks up five years after “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” with Autobots and Decepticons all but vanished from the face of the planet … but not for long. Spurred on by an intergalactic Transformer bounty hunter and one of the original Decepticons, a secret agency is hunting down and killing the Autobots. When a Texas small-time mechanic and inventor (Mark Wahlberg) saves Optimus Prime, he teams with his daughter, her boyfriend and the Autobots to rescue the world from destruction. The appealing nature of Wahlberg (can he do no wrong?) and the spectacular special effects make up for a bumbling and basically lame storyline riddled with silly dialogue and weak supporting actors. Blu-ray extras: “Bay on Action” in-depth interview with Michael Bay; seven-part “Evolution Within Extinction” documentary: “Drive Like Hell,” “Small Town, Big Movie,” “Shadow Protocol Activated,” “The Last Stand,” “The People’s Republic,” “Rise of the DINOBOTS,” “The Finishing Touch”; “Just Another Giant Effin’ Movie” featurette; “A Spark of Design” featurette; “T.J. Miller: Farm Hippie”; “KRE-O TRANSFORMERS Take Us Through the Movies!”; “The Angry Birds TRANSFORMERS: Origin Story”; trailers. Vitals: Director: Michael Bay. Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Titus Welliver, Sophia Myles, Bingbing Li, T.J. Miller, James Bachman, Thomas Lennon. 2014, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 164 min., Action, Box office gross: $241.206 million, Paramount.
