Actor Mark Wahlberg elaborated bit more on the backstory of Cade Yeager; his character for Transformers: Age Of Extinction. The following does not contain any robot info but a Spoiler warning is in order:
“With Transformers: Age of Extinction, did you agree to do that one for your kids?
Well, it was exciting because it was the first time my kids were really interested in a movie I was doing. Any time they see me with a gun, like Contraband or Pain & Gain, they want to see that, too, but they can’t because of the language and all that stuff. But I loved working with Michael Bay, and I thought he had a really interesting way to make it new, different, and fresh. Plus, being in movies that have the potential to be hugely successful allows me to make smaller movies that I’m really passionate about.
What’s going to make this Transformers different? The first one was OK, but then the sequels were a total mess.It was a tighter script, and its own stand-alone thing. I think the emotional core of it, the human element, is going to be extremely powerful. It’s an ordinary man trying to do extraordinary things to save his daughter and keep her alive—and this boyfriend he didn’t know anything about. He’d had a child when he was in high school and his wife passed away, and the promise he’d made to her was that she wouldn’t date any boys until she graduated and that she’d be at the graduation—because we weren’t due to the pregnancy. So there’s an anchor to it and a realness to it that I like a lot.
[Then, an assistant comes in and places a brace around Wahlberg’s neck.]
I hurt my neck in Hong Kong, and it hasn’t gotten better yet. I just woke up in the morning and couldn’t move, but still had to shoot 10 days of crazy action.”
MV95
English I meant. Unless you count "Driller Bot is thirsty" in the subtitles Otherwise it's Cybertronian, which according to roy is "mumbling" apparently.
Spunky
If it doesn't spend minutes focusing on someone's butt or ******ed potty humor scenes, it will be an improvement.
But I agree. It's another live-action TF movie where the robots are guest stars. Well, at least I'm not surprised.
Looking far more forward to the next animated series. Actually, I'm looking far more forward to the X-Files/Transformers crossover Conspiracy comic than TF4.
Chaos Muffin
Feel the vibrations
tonyformer
actually, he speaks more than once.
NotRamjet97
I actually like the idea, it's better than a dad and his manchild who both wear work clothes everyday even though they never go to work and can spend all their days with giant robots
jamjam101
the idea of this 'father figure' protecting his daughter and not trusting the boyfriend is really, reeallly lame. I mean, even if it is an original script, it seems very cliche… like Battleship and the role Liam Neson played.
The more I find out, the less excited i get. We need to get a trailer….FAST.
Hot Shot.
From what I remember of watching Bayformers 2007 on TV a few years ago, the action is primal. Whether or not that's a good thing, I still found the fight scenes unappealing to watch due to the ugly designs and the drawn-out lack of plot not bringing any excitement to the battles. The first part of the movie relied on "ohmygodgiantrobotafteryou", which did nothing for me since I'm one of those people who wants some motivation for the giant robot. The Mission City cube-football was too dumb in concept for me to enjoy.
Galvatron II
You say "primal", I say "sloppy".
PlanckEpoch
I think his action scenes are all that's good. They're pretty…primal. They hit at the core of what action is all about. Adrenaline, excitement, and the sense of rush. I think he's pretty good in the action department because he knows the formula well. However, I think that's ALL he can really do. I'd argue that there's other directors that can give you action yet still deliver other things. Del Toro proved that in Pacific Rim when it comes to mech based movies. Tarantino can also deliver a good action movie that has more than just that in it as well.
MV95
Oh, the Shockwave argument. One of my favorites.
Shockwave was essentially a tool to hide the Sentinel twist. Nothing more. It could've been any character but they just decided to call him Shockwave and make him appear to be Shockwave. Personally, I agree in a way with you. They shouldn't have wasted Shockwave like that, but it was their way of making the fans excited for the villain while at the same time hiding the fact that Sentinel would turn out to be a traitor.
Oh and he did speak. Once.
Galvatron II
Really? Because his action scenes are terrible.
jamjam101
This movie… Will be a revolution to cinema…
Fuck it. I'm out.
Gordon_4
I just don't give a fuck anymore. For all the god damned guff they made about the Autobots faces, all the moving parts and having them talk and shit, somehow I ended up getting more personality from Gipsy Danger and Striker Eureka in Pacific Rim.
So you know what, good for you Mark, hope you had a ball of a time and you and your kids enjoy the end result. Me on the other hand; brand loyalty assures at least a single viewing (after all I can't rip the movie a new arsehole if I haven't seen it) but I'm having trouble working up any enthusiasm. Maybe the teaser/trailer will change my mind.
PlanckEpoch
I think we're off on a good start. I agree that we could be better on the terms we use and I'm glad we've got that discourse going on!
I'm a little more cynical about Bay. I don't think he likes or cares about Transformers as much as he says he does. As far as I'm concerned, he's only interested in the superficial elements of the Transformers…the war, the combat, and the melodrama attached to war themes. I think he sees the Transformers more as living weapons with basic concepts of emotion. Personally, looking back at it now I think this was evident in 2007 but more and more apparent as the movies went on.
I think this was the plan from the beginning as the Transformers allow him to do what he does best…action scenes. I'm dubious of the idea that he had a higher concept for the characters that only failed in execution.
Scorpio
Practically every adaption of Transformers has found a balance between the human and robot element – keeping the robot element the focus. Sure we can have moments of character building for the humans or maybe every now and again a small focus on them – but it is not what we watch Transformers for.
The shows managed to find a balance between the human element and the transformers element and was always at its heart a story about humans being caught in the war – not how it affects them and their lives. Its about time the Transformers films found a better balance.
People wouldn't have minded a Sam Witwicky character as much if he didn't waste so much of the movie and detract from the robot characters.
TF:AOE seems to have at least part of the focus in the right direction – teaming up Cade with Optimus – but it wont be enough if the focus is always on the humans.
The core of the story should (As it always has been) be about the Transformers and their war. The emotional side of the story can come from how this affects those who fight (Autobots) and those who get caught in the middle (Humans)
Given its essentially a reboot with no human returning cast and almost complete redesigns for the robot cast – I doubt anyone is hoping to see more of the human element. Only thing people want to know is about the robots, battle scenes, Autobot cast, Decepticon cast, toy images.
Granted we don't mind receiving news about the humans – however Transformers fans generally expect the focus to be on the Transformers. Its a film series made to 'sell toys' and 'make money' and they are keeping the Transformers off screen or doing nothing for at least 3/4 of the film (In the case of TF2007, ROTF, DOTM)
—
In the case of TF:AOE we have a virtually fresh start – and it seems to have some potential with the Cade/Optimus situation – yet already knowing the ending I find myself questioning just what they will actually do with the characters through the film.
Ending provided for reference;
With Cade's story arc he just seems to be going from someone whose worry about his daughter forces her to lose her freedom (Demonstrated by not being able to date)
With the daughter it seems to be the obvious 'Disobey father, then realise he was right' situation with her finally accepting her dad was just trying to protect her.
With the boyfriend it just seems to be proving himself to the daughter and the father and he likely does this by saving them.
With Optimus's story arc he just seems to be going from someone who is worried about his team and how much he puts Earth at risk and ends up
to avoid putting them at risk.
With bumblebee he likely will become leader of the Autobots – given he is a marketable character in order to attract people to the potential fifth movie. He's had minor character development over the last few films – so I presume here he'll be shown capable of looking after the team.
… Just seems a little weak on the development of characters and pretty predictable.
Autovolt 127
I just hope he's actually right. I would like to enjoy one Transformer film.
Galvatron II
Woah! I think we've got a fatal misunderstanding here, because we're on the same side of that fence. I'm pointing out ways that the movies could be better, not saying that the movies are the way I'm suggesting.
Indeed they do. Perhaps the word "relate" is unfitting. You need to empathize with the characters, to understand them and be in their heads more than you need to be in the same mindset. For instance, the Punisher is insane, a terrible human being. But I empathize with him and his plight.
Yes, but good dialogue is a form of showing.
When I said "tell" I didn't mean it in the same sense as in that usage.
Definitely.
Absolutely!
AMEN!
PREACH IT BROTHER!
Indeed.
Transformers 4 is a soft reboot. And I don't think Bay is any more interested in making the Transformers good characters this time around than with the first three. He's sort of self-satisfied about it. I think he genuinely believes his movies are doing a good job with that.
Yeah, you've still got the issue of Psycho-Bots wage their battle to destroy the evil forces of tin-foil with anything in this continuity.
I don't want anymore movies in this continuity. If they gave it to anyone other than Bay the first thing they would do is reboot. I genuinely believe reboots should be saved for continuities that are utterly unsalvageable, and Bayverse certainly is.
PlanckEpoch
Exactly. Because Wall-E is a well written character with the intent of us the human viewer connecting with Wall-E. I'm going to establish why I feel the Transformers as per the Bay movies, aren't.
My dog has body language. I can tell by his body language and his ear position, as well as his tail what my dog is feeling and what he probably wants. He emotes to me with his vocalizations, which adds to my interpretation of his feelings. I love my dog, and he's a part of the family.
My point with this is that…yes…living things emote. But that doesn't make them RELATABLE to us. Do you relate to a tiger? Tigers emote pretty well. Howabout a pig, or a horse? Octopus are some of the most emotive creatures in the ocean yet can you say you relate to an octopus?
Which violates a core tenant of GOOD storytelling, "Show not Tell." If you have to TELL your audience what X feels or thinks, then you simply aren't doing it right. Any cursory study of good literature will show you what I'm talking about. Hell, best movies, games, books, and comics are good because they show us emotion, rather than telling us what we should feel.
These are all great emotions if you actually feel them. I've given each movie 3 goes just so I could ultimately finalize my thoughts on them. I ain't just some mindless fan or hater. I'm pretty serious when it comes to critique and analysis. I'm not a pro but I think I know what I'm looking for, what I'm feeling here. If the Transformers felt any of this stuff then I couldn't really see it. Perhaps Sentinal Prime was the only character that was overtly relatable. He was homesick and he wanted Cybertron back.
The problem is every other character. We never felt for their struggle or how the war has made them weary. In fact the whole thing just felt business as usual. The Autobots wanted to defend Earth but as it stood it just felt like any other warzone for them.
We don't see the Autobots deal with grief or mourn. WE don't see the the effects of killings and trauma upon them despite the fact that they're intended to have emotion. We never see any Autobot grieve for Jazz. It's as if he was just an expendable nobody. What about Ironhide? Optimus never enraged or shed a tear for him, despite them being best buddies for a long time.
The audience shouldn't have to "find" emotion. The point of emotion is there to hook the audience in the first place. Again I refer to how IDW does this. They portray the Transformers in a very human sense. There's strife, there's grief, despair, joy, happiness, desire for recognition, acceptance, all those things and more. They run the gamut and each character feels distinct and different. THe best part? You don't have to "find" this. It's just there and we see it from start to finish. We feel for characters in IDW. We feel for Megatron in his Spotlight when he sees his legion battered and invalid.
I can hardly say the same for the Transformers characters in the Movies. They're either stock heroes or stock villains, and very few of them, if any, deviate from that.
It's not hard at all. However, I think there's too much going against the movies at this point. I think by choosing to continue after 3 rather than starting afresh, Bay shot himself in the foot when it comes to writing the robots better. The robots will need a change in personality that will be probably very different than the portrayals in the other movies that it might be a disconnect. It will be sort of like how even though GI Joe Retaliation was a sequel to GI Joe Rise of Cobra, the characterizations and the personalities were so different that it felt much like a reboot.
TF4 was an opportunity to really set a new path but I think it was ultimately squandered with a continuation rather than a reboot. A more Transformers centric story will necessitate a re-boot or retelling the story at at time before it came to Earth.
MasterZero
I like the movies.
Galvatron II
They're extremely human!
I don't know what it's like to be a living trash compactor in love with a scouting droid. But, he loves her despite his programming, and the pursuit of love and nature vs nurture are very human themes.
To start off, Transformers have body language. Even inhumanoid Transformers are capable of this, look at Beast Machines.
Secondly, they have expressive eyes and faces, and the ones who don't are lacking those for a reason.
And, most importantly, they have voices! If all else fails, they can TELL us how they feel.
And, you just have to find the human elements. A four million year war might be a bit hard, but longing for home, the desire to protect others from evil, especially evil that the protector has suffered from, and regret are all very relatable ideas.
And, depending on the robot, personal vendettas, assorted small or short term goals and patriotism are also things humans deal with.
It's not that hard. You don't need to be James Roberts to pull it off.