TRANSFORMERS : THE LAST KNIGHT 2017

Title : Transformers The Last Knight

Language : English

Release Date : June 18, 2017 (Odeon Leicester Square)

June 21, 2017 (United States)

Directed By : Michael Bay

Distributed By : Paramount Pictures

Transformers: The Last Knight is a 2017 American science fiction action film based on the Transformers toy line created by Hasbro. It is the fifth installment of the live-action Transformers film series and the sequel to 2014's Transformers: Age of Extinction. Like its predecessors, the film is directed by Michael Bay, featuring Mark Wahlberg returning from Age of Extinction, with Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, and Glenn Morshower all reprising their roles from the first three films, and Laura Haddock and Anthony Hopkins joining the cast. Bay and Wahlberg have stated they will not return for another sequel.

The film premiered at Odeon Leicester Square in London on June 18, 2017, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 21, 2017, by Paramount Pictures in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D. Like its predecessors, the film received negative reviews from critics and, with an approval rating of 15% on Rotten Tomatoes, it is the worst-reviewed film of the series. Although under-performed domestically, it has grossed over $604 million worldwide, making it the tenth highest-grossing film of 2017 but also the lowest of the franchise.

A spin-off/prequel, entitled Bumblebee, is scheduled for release on December 21, 2018. An untitled sixth film, a direct sequel to The Last Knight, is set to release on June 28, 2019.

Plot

In 484 AD, King Arthur and his knights struggle in a battle against the Saxons. Meanwhile, Merlin begs for help from the Knights of Iacon, twelve Transformers who have hidden on Earth. They give Merlin an alien staff and combine into a huge dragon to help Arthur triumph over the Saxons, but not before warning Merlin that a great evil will come for the staff.

Present day, years after the Hong Kong Battle. Transformers are declared outlaws by all governments on Earth, to which end the Transformer Reaction Force (TRF) is formed to eradicate the alien robots, despite more Transformers continuously arriving on Earth. In the half of the ruins of Chicago, a group of kids find a ship with a knight inside before being caught by a TRF drone. Izabella, a survivor of the Battle of Chicago, saves the kids along with her Transformers companions Sqweeks and Canopy. The TRF mistake Canopy for a Decepticon and kill him before Bumblebee and Cade Yeager arrive and help the kids and Izabella escape. Cade finds the knight in the ship, who gives Cade a talisman, an act observed by Decepticon Barricade, who reports this to Megatron. Cade then returns to his junkyard in South Dakota, where the remaining Autobots are hiding, including Bumblebee, Hound, Drift, Crosshairs, Wheelie, Grimlock, Slug, Daytrader, Trench, and three Mini-Dinobots.

In deep space, Optimus Prime crash-lands on Cybertron, discovering that it is heading directly for Earth. He encounters Quintessa, the self-proclaimed creator of the Transformers, who places Optimus under her control. Quintessa charges Optimus with recovering the staff from the Knights who stole it from her. Earth, she reveals, is actually Cybertron’s ancient enemy Unicron, and she intends to drain its life force using the staff, so that Cybertron can be restored.

TRF member and former Autobot ally William Lennox brokers a deal between the TRF and Megatron so he can find Cade and recover the talisman. In exchange, Megatron demands the release of a squad of Decepticons, including Nitro Zeus, Dreadbot, Mohawk, and Onslaught. Megatron and TRF find Cade and the Autobots. In the ensuing chaos, Dreadbot, Onslaught, and Mohawk are all killed by Grimlock, Crosshairs, Drift, and Bumblebee, forcing Megatron, Nitro Zeus, and Barricade to retreat. Cade is then approached by Cogman, a Transformer envoy who takes him and Bumblebee to England to meet his master, Sir Edmund Burton. There, Burton arranges a meeting between Cade and Viviane Wembly, an Oxford professor, who was just shortly been kidnapped by the Autobot Hot Rod. Burton introduces himself as the last living member of the "Witwiccan" order, an ancient brotherhood dedicated to guarding the secret history of Transformers on Earth. He also reveals that Viviane is Merlin’s last descendant, and that she must find and use his staff to prevent the impending destruction of Earth by Cybertron.

Fleeing the TRF, Cade and Viviane follow clues left by Viviane’s father that lead them, Bumblebee, and Cogman to take the submarine HMS Alliance into the sea to find the Cybertronian Knights' sunken ship while Burton meets the Prime Minister to engage the military at Stonehenge, which he deduces is the access point to Unicron. In the ship, Cade and Vivian discover the tomb of Merlin and the staff. Viviane activates the staff, and the ship rises to the surface. The TRF confronts the group before a mind-controlled Optimus intervenes and takes the staff away. Bumblebee chases after Optimus and the two Autobots fight, but Bumblebee is no match for Optimus. Before Optimus can kill Bumblebee, the mute Autobot finally speaks, freeing Optimus of Quintessa’s control. Megatron, revealed to be conspiring with Quintessa, arrives to steal the staff and flees while the Knights attack Optimus for his betrayal. Cade stops the Knights with the talisman, which transformed into the sword Excalibur, and the Knights yield to Cade, who then urges Optimus to fight for Earth once more.

Megatron, Nitro Zeus, and Barricade deliver the staff to Quintessa, who begins draining the life force of Earth from Unicron. Burton and the British military intervene, and Megatron shoots Burton, who dies with Cogman at his side. The Autobots arrive to join the fight with the TRF, landing on Cybertron and battling against Megatron and Quintessa’s minions, the Infernocons. Vanquishing their foes with help from the Knights as the dragon, the Autobots reach the chamber where the staff and Quintessa are. Optimus defeats Megatron by kicking him through the Ignition Chamber's wall, sending him flying through Earth, while Bumblebee kills Nitro Zeus. Together, Optimus and Bumblebee seemingly kill Quintessa. Viviane removes the staff, stopping Cybertron's destruction of Earth but leaving both worlds connected. Optimus declares that humans and Transformers must now work together to rebuild their worlds, and sends a message calling any surviving Autobots to come home.

In a mid-credits scene, scientists inspect one of the horns of Unicron in a desert. Quintessa, who has survived and is disguised as a human, arrives and offers them a way to destroy Unicron.