Transformers: The Last Knight

Transformers: The Last Knight is a 2017 American science-fiction action film based on the Transformers toy line. It is the fifth installment of the live-action Transformers film series and a sequel to 2014's Age of Extinction. Like its predecessors, the film is directed by Michael Bay, and features Mark Wahlberg returning from Age of Extinction, with Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, and Glenn Morshower reprising their roles from the first three films, as well as Laura Haddock, Isabela Moner, Jerrod Carmichael, Santiago Cabrera, and Sir Anthony Hopkins all joining the cast. Bay stated this would be his final film in the franchise.

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. The film was met with an unfavorable reception from critics and, with an approval rating of 16% on Rotten Tomatoes, it is the worst-reviewed film of the Transformers series. At the 38th Golden Raspberry Awards, it was nominated for ten awards, including Worst Picture, Worst Director and Worst Actor for Wahlberg, but did not win any. It grossed $605 million worldwide over a budget of $260 million, making it the lowest-grossing film of the franchise.

A spin-off/prequel/soft reboot, entitled Bumblebee, is scheduled for release on December 21, 2018.

Plot
In 484 AD, King Arthur and his knights fight a losing battle against the Saxons. Elsewhere, Merlin approaches the Knights of Iacon, a group of Transformers hiding on Earth, to help win the war. They hand him an alien staff, before transforming together into Dragonstorm and turn the tide of the battle, but warn Merlin that a great evil will come for the staff.

In the present, a year after the Hong Kong Uprising, Optimus Prime crash-lands on Cybertron, and meets his alleged creator Quintessa. She blames Optimus for Cybertron's destruction and brainwashes him into helping to gain Merlin's staff, which can absorb Earth's energy to restore Cybertron. Optimus is renamed Nemesis Prime. Earth is revealed to be the slumbering Unicron, the ancient enemy of Cybertron, and whose horns are emerging across the planet.

On Earth, Transformers remain unwelcome amongst humanity, apart from in Cuba, and are hunted by the Transformers Reaction Force (TRF), a paramilitary force manufactured from the fallen Cemetery Wind. However, the U.S. military, particularly those who had formerly worked with the Transformers, such as Colonel William Lennox, is secretly against the new policy. Cade Yeager, an ally to the Autobots, helps hide refugee Transformers from the TRF in his remote junkyard. In the war-torn Chicago, Cade, Bumblebee, young scavenger Izabella and her Transformer companions Sqweeks and Canopy help a group of children evade the TRF drones, but Canopy is killed by a fighter jet. Cade receives a mechanical talisman from a dying Autobot knight and has a brief standoff with the TRF, before being saved by Lennox. Cade returns to his junkyard with Izabella and Sqweeks with the talisman. Both Megatron and the U.S. government become aware of the talisman's value and power, reluctantly joining forces to obtain it. A group of Decepticon prisoners are released to aid in the mission.

The Decepticons and the TRF locate Cade's hideout with the help of a tracker previously planted on Bumblebee. Cade, his assistant Jimmy, Izabella, and Sqweeks flee from the Decepticons and the TRF to an abandoned town where the Autobots ambush their enemies and defeat them while Cade, Jimmy, and Izabella battle a unit of TRF drones. Cogman, a steampunk Transformer, appears and invites Cade to the United Kingdom to meet his employer, Sir Edmund Burton, who has connections to the Transformers. Burton also has another Transformer associate named Hot Rod find Viviane Wembley, a University of Oxford professor, and bring her to him.

Bringing Cade, Viviane, and Bumblebee together, Burton explains that Transformers have been aiding mankind in war for centuries, their existence hidden by a secret society of famed historical figures, the Order of Witwiccans, of which he is the last living member. The talisman can lead to Merlin's staff, buried with him in a Cybertronian spacecraft hidden under the sea. However, only a direct descendant of Merlin can wield it due to the knights encoding his DNA into it. Viviane is revealed as the last of Merlin's bloodline. The TRF and local authorities discover them, forcing them to flee. Following a series of clues while evading their pursuers, the group head to the Royal Navy Museum. There, Cade, Viviane, Bumblebee, and Cogman commandeer museum submarine HMS Alliance (P417), also a Transformer, to find the spacecraft. The TRF, after a failed attempt to stop the Alliance, pursuit them in DSV submarines.

Burton contacts Seymour Simmons, both learning that Earth is Unicron, and the staff will be used to drain the planet's life, via an access point hidden under Stonehenge. Locating the ship, Cade and Viviane discover Merlin's tomb and obtain the staff. Viviane activates it, causing the spacecraft to become airborne, awakening the Knights of Iacon. As the TRF, now under Lennox, try to take the staff from them, Optimus arrives, forcing the humans to surrender the staff. Bumblebee, Lennox, and Cade confront Optimus who engages in battle with Bumblebee. Just as Optimus is about to finish him off, the formerly-mute Bumblebee begins speaking in his own voice, stirring Optimus' memories and freeing him from Quintessa's control. The Decepticons ambush Optimus and Megatron steals the staff from him. The Knights try to execute Optimus for his "betrayal," but Cade stops them when his talisman transforms into Excalibur. The Knights yield and join the humans and Autobots. Burton tries to stop Megatron from activating the staff at Stonehenge only to be mortally wounded, dying peacefully with Cogman at his side. At the same time, Cybertron's remains collide with Earth to begin draining energy from it, devastating the planet and killing millions. The Autobots, Dragonstorm, and human military forces converge on Stonehenge and Cybertron, attacking the Decepticons and Quintessa's minions, who either flee or are killed while Quintessa is defeated by Optimus and Bumblebee. The worlds are then saved upon Viviane removing the staff and the Autobots leave Earth to rebuild what is left of Cybertron. In a mid-credits scene, Quintessa, who has survived by using a space bridge to escape and is disguised as a human, approaches a group of scientists inspecting one of Unicron's horns, offering a way to destroy him.

Humans

 * Mark Wahlberg as Cade Yeager, a single father and inventor who helped the Autobots during the events of Age of Extinction.
 * Josh Duhamel as Col. William Lennox, former NEST commander and U.S. Army Ranger captain, who partnered with the Autobots prior to the events of Age of Extinction, and now a U.S. Army Special Forces Colonel and reluctant member of the Transformers Reaction Force (TRF).
 * Stanley Tucci as Merlin, King Arthur's wizard and Viviane's ancestor. Tucci was originally reported to be reprising his role as Joshua Joyce from Age of Extinction.
 * Anthony Hopkins as Sir Edmund Burton, 12th Earl of Folgan, an astronomer and historian who knows about the history of the Transformers on Earth.
 * Laura Haddock as Viviane Wembly, a Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford and a polo player, who turns out to be a descendant of Merlin. Minti Gorne portrays a younger Viviane.
 * Isabela Moner as Izabella, a street-wise tomboy who was orphaned with Sqweeks and Canopy, her only friends, until meeting Cade.
 * Jerrod Carmichael as Jimmy, a young man from South Dakota whom Cade hired through a want ad.
 * Santiago Cabrera as Santos, a former Delta Force operative and commander of the TRF, who seeks to eradicate every Transformer and their human allies regardless of faction.
 * John Turturro as Seymour Simmons, a former government agent with Sector Seven and NEST turned successful writer who hides out in Cuba, and was allied with the Autobots prior to the events of Age of Extinction.
 * Glenn Morshower as General Morshower, the director of NEST in Revenge of the Fallen and Dark of the Moon who now supervises TRF operations.
 * Liam Garrigan as King Arthur, the legendary knight who first fought with the Knights of Iacon. Liam Garrigan previously portrayed a version of King Arthur in Once Upon a Time.

Additionally, Mitch Pileggi, Tony Hale, and Gil Birmingham appear as a TRF group leader, a JPL engineer, and Chief Sherman, respectively. Former Navy SEAL Remi Adeleke also stars in the film as a TRF lieutenant working for Santos. Nicola Peltz has a vocal cameo as Tessa Yeager, Cade's daughter, who helped the Autobots during the events of Age of Extinction, while Shia LaBeouf is seen as Sam Witwicky, who allied with the Autobots in events prior to Age of Extinction, in a photograph spotted in Burton's mansion. Tyrese Gibson was cast to return as Robert Epps, but was unable to appear in the film due to scheduling conflicts with The Fate of the Furious.

Voices

 * Peter Cullen voices Optimus Prime / Nemesis Prime, the leader of the Autobots, who transforms into a blue and red 2014 Western Star 5700 Custom semi-trailer truck while searching for the truth about his Creators.
 * Gemma Chan voices Quintessa, a Cybertronian/Quintesson Sorceress, the "Prime of Life and the creator of Cybertronians who wants to destroy Unicron (and Earth) and rebuild Cybertron through whatever way possible. She appears on-screen briefly in the mid-credits scene as the disguised human form of Quintessa.
 * Frank Welker voices Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons, who possessed a KSI Drone in Age of Extinction and transforms into a Cybertronian jet.
 * Erik Aadahl voices Bumblebee, an Autobot scout and Optimus Prime's second-in-command, who transforms into a custom-built yellow and black 2019 Chevrolet Camaro with a body kit.
 * Jim Carter voices Cogman, a polite sociopathic, human-sized robot. He serves as the faithful butler to Sir Edmund Burton, and while despite not having a larger robot mode, he transforms into an Aston Martin DB11 in the toyline.
 * Omar Sy voices Hot Rod, an Autobot who transforms into a Citroën DS, before upgrading into a 2017 Lamborghini Centenario LP770-4. He is brother-in-arms with Bumblebee and speaks in a thick French accent.
 * Ken Watanabe voices Drift, a Samurai-motif Autobot tactician and former Decepticon who transforms into a black and red 2017 Mercedes-AMG GT R.
 * John Goodman voices Hound, a trigger-happy Autobot commando and field medic who transforms into an olive green Mercedes-Benz Unimog military tactical ambulance.
 * John DiMaggio voices:
 * Crosshairs, a cocky Autobot paratrooper and sniper who transforms into a green and black 2016 Chevrolet Corvette C7 Stingray, equipped with a custom split-spoiler. His ego lends him a misplaced belief in his future command of the Autobots.
 * Nitro Zeus, a showboating Decepticon hunter who transforms into an JAS 39 Gripen Fighter Jet.
 * Reno Wilson voices:
 * Sqweeks, a small Autobot and Izabella's closest friend who can't transform and only says "Chihuahua" due to prior damage.
 * Mohawk, a Decepticon foot soldier who transforms into a Confederate P51 Combat Fighter Motorcycle.
 * Jess Harnell voices Barricade, a Decepticon scout who transforms into a 2016 Ford Mustang police car, featuring a new robot mode.
 * Tom Kenny voices Wheelie, a former Decepticon turned Autobot who survived the Chicago battle in Dark of the Moon.
 * Steve Buscemi voices Daytrader, an Autobot scavenger who transforms into a cloaked rusty Mercedes-Benz LK Model 1920 dump truck.
 * Steven Barr voices Topspin, an Autobot Wrecker who resides in Cuba with Simmons that once transformed into a #48 Hendrick Motorsports Lowe's/Kobalt car. In the film he is credited as "Volleybot" and grew a metallic beard that resembles his fallen comrade, Leadfoot.
 * Mark Ryan voices:
 * "Bulldog", an Autobot veteran of World War I and World War II, and a sentry for Burton's castle, who transforms into an army Mark IV tank and suffers from 'robot dementia',
 * The Lieutenant, an elderly Autobot that transforms into a Hawker Hurricane fighter plane that cameos at Burton's castle.
 * Various uncredited actors voice:
 * The Knights of Iacon, a group of twelve Cybertronian Knights who protects the Staff and merge to form the three-headed dragon, Dragonstorm. They include Dragonicus, Stormreign, Steelbane, and Skullitron.
 * Canopy, an Autobot refugee and a friend of Izabella who camouflages into a shielding pile of rubble.
 * Berserker, a monstrous Decepticon commando who transforms into a Chevy Tahoe emergency vehicle,
 * Onslaught, a Decepticon tactician who transforms into a green Western Star 4900SF tow truck,

Non-speaking characters

 * Grimlock, the leader of the Dinobots, who transforms into a mechanical horned, fire-breathing Tyrannosaurus.
 * Slug, the savage Dinobot destroyer who transforms into a mechanical spiked and bestial Triceratops.
 * Mini-Dinobots, the Mini versions of Grimlock, Slug, and Strafe.
 * A Transformer who turns into the submarine HMS Alliance (P417) appears, though not seen in robot mode as it can't transform.
 * Trench, an Autobot who resembles Constructicon Scrapper and transforms into an Cat 320 excavator.
 * Dreadbot, a Decepticon thug who transforms into a rusty Volkswagen Type 2.
 * Infernocons, Quintessa's demon-like guardians who combine to form Infernocus.
 * Unicron, a giant planet-destroying Transformer appearing in Planet Earth and six of his mechanical horns are seen.

Development
In March 2015, Deadline Hollywood reported that Paramount Pictures was in talks with Oscar winner Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind) to pitch new ideas for the Transformers franchise's future installments. The studio intends to do what James Cameron and 20th Century Fox have been doing in planning three Avatar sequels, and what Disney has done to revive Star Wars, with sequels and spin-offs. Paramount wants to have their own cinematic universe for Transformers, similar to Marvel's/Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe (which had been one of Paramount's previous film series), and DC Comics/Warner Bros.' DC Extended Universe. Goldsman is the head of the future projects, and worked with franchise director Michael Bay, executive producer Steven Spielberg, and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura to organize a "writers' room" that incubates ideas for potential Transformers sequels, prequels and spin-offs. The writers' room members include Christina Hodson, Lindsey Beer, Ken Nolan, Andrew Barrer, Gabriel Ferrari, Robert Kirkman, Zak Penn, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, Jeff Pinkner, and Geneva Robertson-Dworet. Kirkman left the room after just one day to undergo throat surgery. In July 2015, Akiva Goldsman and Jeff Pinkner were announced as the fifth Transformers film's screenwriters. However, on November 20, due to Goldsman's commitments creating a writers' room for G.I. Joe and Micronauts properties, Paramount began to negotiate with Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, as well as Ken Nolan, to write the film. Lindsey Beer and Geneva Robertson-Dworet were also brought aboard for writing duties.

After Transformers: Age of Extinction, Bay had decided not to direct any future Transformers films. But in early January 2016, in an interview with Rolling Stone, he stated that he would return to direct the fifth film, and that it will be his last Transformers film. Paramount Pictures spent $80 million on production in Michigan, in return for $21 million in state incentives, under agreements entered into before the state legislature eliminated the film office incentive program in July 2015. In April 2016, Paramount hired cinematographer Jonathan Sela. On May 17, Bay revealed the official title of the film to be The Last Knight on his Instagram account, where he also posted a production video showing a close-up of Optimus Prime's face with purple eyes instead of blue, and his face mostly discolored. The official Twitter account showed a 19-second short video in morse code that translates to "I'm coming for you May 31". On May 31, it was revealed that Megatron would return in the sequel.

Casting
In December 2014, Mark Wahlberg confirmed that he would return in the sequel. In February 2016, there were casting calls for new lead and supporting roles in Los Angeles and London, and Peter Cullen was announced as returning to voice Optimus Prime. Approximately 850 cast and crew were hired, 450 of whom were Michigan residents, equating to 228 full-time positions. Additionally, 700 extras were hired from among Detroit residents, as part of Paramount's incentive deal with the state. On April 13, TheWrap reported that Isabela Moner was in talks to star as Izabella. The site also reported that Bay was eyeing Jean Dujardin, Stephen Merchant, and Jerrod Carmichael for supporting roles. On May 17, 2016, it was confirmed that Josh Duhamel would reprise his role in the film, and Jerrod Carmichael was cast. In June 2016, Anthony Hopkins, Mitch Pileggi, Santiago Cabrera, and Laura Haddock joined the cast, and Tyrese Gibson stated that he will return as Robert Epps. In August 2016, Liam Garrigan was confirmed to play King Arthur, a different version from his role as the same character on the television series Once Upon a Time. On September 4, 2016, Stanley Tucci confirmed his return. On October 14, 2016, Bay announced that John Turturro would reprise his role as Seymour Simmons from the first three films, and that John Goodman would return to voice Hound. A month before the film's release, Bay revealed that the character Cogman would be voiced by Downton Abbey actor Jim Carter, at the request of co-writer Matt Holloway, who is a fan of the series. On June 9, 2017, Reno Wilson confirmed via Twitter that he would have a voice role in the film. On June 16, 2017, Gibson revealed that despite closing a deal for the film, he was unable to appear as Epps due to scheduling conflicts with The Fate of the Furious.

Filming
Principal photography began on May 25, 2016, in Havana, Cuba, with a few scenes shot by a "small team". Filming continued on June 6, 2016, in Phoenix, Arizona, and on June 19, 2016, in Detroit, Michigan, under the working title E75, with additional filming taking place in Chicago, Illinois. In Detroit, filming took place in the Michigan Motion Pictures Studio, Packard Plant, Michigan Central Station, Cafe D'Mongo's Speakeasy, and MGM Grand Detroit. Production moved to Europe on August 21, and filming commenced on August 22 in Scotland and Wales. In England, filming took place in North Yorkshire, Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, London, Gosport and Stonehenge. Between August and October, filming occurred in Northern Ireland, and Preikestolen, Trolltunga and Atlanterhavsveien in Norway.

In early September 2016, filming took place in Alnwick Castle in Alnwick Northumberland in England, including car chase scenes. Production continued at St Aidan's Church, Seahouses, where Walhberg spent an hour inside the church and reportedly donated £200. Rev Father Des McGiven said: "I didn't even know he was in church until he left. One of my parishioners, Danielle Love, recognised him and explained who he was. It's great that we had him in for the service, and we appreciate his generosity towards our church." Car chases were also filmed at the Monument area of Newcastle upon Tyne, where Josh Duhamel was filming, while Wahlberg and Sir Anthony Hopkins continued at Alnwick, Seahouses and the Bamburgh Region of Northumberland. In late September 2016, filming was spotted in Gosport, Hampshire at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum. On October 5, 2016 filming was spotted at St Bartholomew-the-Great, London. London filming wrapped on October 27, 2016. Principal photography wrapped on December 4, 2016.

Effects
As with previous Transformers installments, Industrial Light & Magic served as the main visual effects company for Transformers: The Last Knight. In early 2016, the company showed Bay an underwater rendering of a crash-landed alien spaceship and a new dump-truck Transformer with a cloak.

Music
On September 27, it was confirmed that Steve Jablonsky would return to write the score, having composed the music for the first four films. The score was released digitally on the film's original release date, Friday June 23, 2017, and a limited-edition two-disc CD set of 3,000 units will be released by La-La Land Records on July 25, 2017. Unlike the previous films' scores, which contained anywhere from fourteen to twenty-three tracks, the film's soundtrack contains thirty-four tracks, amounting to over two hours of music.

On the score, Jablonsky said, "I met with Michael before he started shooting 'Transformers: The Last Knight.' He showed me some amazing concept art and explained how the story connects the history of Transformers all the way back to the times of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. I loved the idea because it gave me the opportunity to explore new musical ideas. The storyline allowed me to write melodies that are a bit more 'classical' than I've written for the other Transformers films, which was a lot of fun for me. Another important aspect of the story revolves around massive skyscraper-sized 'horns from hell' that start emerging from the Earth. They look like gigantic animal horns, but no one knows what they are or why they have appeared. I wanted to create an unsettling sense of mystery and tension with the music." The film also featured the song Torches by X Ambassadors.

Release
Transformers: The Last Knight was released on June 21, 2017, after being moved up from its original June 23 release date. The teaser trailer of the film was released on December 5, 2016, and was later attached to Rogue One.

Marketing
The first teaser trailer aired on Monday, December 5, during ESPN's Monday Night Football, and was released online shortly thereafter. With 24 hours of its release, the trailer garnered a record-breaking 93.6 million views from social media platforms, such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram, making it the third-highest-viewed trailer of 2016, falling behind Disney's Beauty and the Beast remake (127.6 million views) and Universal's Fifty Shades Darker (114 million views in 24 hours), but surpassing Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 trailer, which scored 81 million views in its first 24 hours online. Following the trailer's release, the film trended on all major social media sites, including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit. It was Weibo's No. 1 trending topic in China, where the preview was viewed 16 million times its first day of release. Television spots for the film started airing ahead of the Super Bowl spot on February 3, 2017. An extended TV spot for the Super Bowl aired during Super Bowl LI, on February 5, 2017. On March 11, 2017, a new TV spot and clip were shown at Nickelodeon's 2017 Kids' Choice Awards. A new trailer aired with the release of Beauty and the Beast on March 17, 2017, while the third trailer was released on April 13, 2017. The international trailer was released on May 17, 2017, and a smaller trailer was released shortly after, on June 4, 2017. After that, various TV spots were released.

Home media
Transformers: The Last Knight was released on Digital HD on September 12, 2017, and on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 4K, Blu-ray 3D and DVD on September 26, 2017 in North America. It was also released in a collection with the four previous films.

Box office
Transformers: The Last Knight grossed $130.1 million in the United States and Canada and $475.2 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $605.4 million, against a production budget of $217 million. It is the lowest-grossing film of the Transformers film series.

United States and Canada
In North America, The Last Knight was originally projected to gross $70–75 million from 4,069 theaters over its first five days, which would have been the lowest debut of the franchise. However, after the film grossed a franchise-low $15.7 million on its first day (including $5.5 million from Tuesday night previews), opening estimates were lowered to $60–65 million. On Thursday, it grossed $8.1 million, potentially dropping the five-day debut to under $60 million. It ended up having an opening weekend of $44.6 million, the lowest debut of the franchise by $25 million (and lowest since the first film's $70.5 million). The film's five-day gross of $68.4 million was also lower than every three-day opening of the previous four films. The film grossed $16.9 million in its second weekend, dropping 62.2% and finishing third at the box office, and $6.4 million in its third, dropping an identical 62.2% and finishing 5th.

Outside North America
Internationally, The Last Knight opened in its first 42 foreign territories alongside its United States debut, including major markets China, the UK, Russia, Australia, Germany, Italy, South Korea, and Hong Kong, and was projected to have an opening of $167–200 million. Due to its predecessor's success in China, expectations were high for the film in the country. Box office observers and trackers believed the film would open to $80–100 million, and end its run there with anywhere between $290 to $400 million. The film ended up having a global debut of $265.3 million ($196.2 million from overseas), including $123.4 million from China, representing 63% of the film's foreign opening. In the film's second week in China, it fell 76% and had a running cume of $147.6 million. The film's largest markets outside North America were: China ($228.8 million), South Korea ($19.2 million), Russia ($15.9 million), Germany ($15.4 million), Mexico ($15.3 million), U.K. ($12.2 million), Brazil ($13.7 million), Indonesia ($11.7 million), Japan ($15.7 million) and France ($11 million). In India, the film was given an adult certificate and, hence, it was not successful at the box office ($4.9 million) as compared to Age of Extinction ($10.2 million) and other Transformers films (3.01 million TF1, 2.80 million ROTF, 6.88 million DOTM).

Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 16% based on 224 reviews, and an average rating of 3.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Cacophonous, thinly plotted, and boasting state-of-the-art special effects, The Last Knight is pretty much what you'd expect from the fifth installment of the Transformers franchise." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 28 out of 100, based on 46 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, the same score as the second film, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave a 75% overall positive score and a 55% "definite recommend".

Mike Ryan of Uproxx gave the film a negative review, criticizing its running time and incoherent plot, writing: "I have no proof Transformers: The Last Knight will kill your brain cells, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it does and I'd proceed with caution just in case. But I can say with absolute certainty that after watching, your head hurt." Alonso Duralde of TheWrap was also critical of the film's sloppiness, saying, "...fear not, fans of the franchise: if you're here for the director's trademark chaos editing (where fights go from points A to D to Q), comedy scenes rendered tragic (and vice versa), and general full-volume confusion, you'll get all those things in abundance."

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film a zero-star review (as he did to the previous films), saying "Every time Michael Bay directs another Transformers abomination (this is the fifth), the movies die a little. This one makes the summer's other blockbuster misfires look like masterpieces."

Variety'' gave the film a lukewarm review stating, "The fifth time may not quite be the charm, but the latest entry in Michael Bay's crunched-metal robot-war mega-series is badder, and therefore better."

The New Yorker acknowledged the film's flaws but noted there was almost something impressive about them, saying: "The absolute tastelessness of Bay's images, their stultifying service to platitudes and to merchandise, doesn't at all diminish their wildly imaginative power." The Times of India gave the film 2.5 stars out of 5 stars.

Controversy
On September 21, 2016, shooting for a particular scene took place in Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire in England, the home of Sir Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister during World War II. The mansion was dressed as a Nazi swastika-draped headquarters for Adolf Hitler for filming. This evoked both anger and criticism for being "symbolically disrespectful to Churchill", according to Colonel Richard Kemp, who said Churchill "will be turning in his grave", while Tony Hayes of the UK Veterans Association stated that surviving World War II ex-servicemen and women would be "appalled". Churchill's grandson and British Parliament member Sir Nicholas Soames dismissed the controversy entirely, stating, "They've no idea what my grandfather would have thought!" Churchill was buried less than a mile away, at St Martin's Church, Bladon.

Prequel and future
A spin-off or prequel/soft reboot entitled Bumblebee, starring Hailee Steinfeld and John Cena, is set for release on December 21, 2018, and will be set in 1987, twenty years before the events of the original and other possible reboot transformers films Transformers live-action film. The film's working title was Brighton Falls; it wrapped up shooting on November 10, 2017.

In March 2015, it was reported that Akiva Goldsman had been hired by Paramount Pictures to establish a "writers room" style brain trust in order to pitch ideas for future Transformers films with the intention of creating a bigger cinematic universe. At least 12 films were to be pitched for the "Transformers Cinematic Universe" with Goldsman overseeing development of a multi-part sequel storyline as well as prequels and spin off films that were to follow. In May 2015, Deadline reported that Robert Kirkman, Zak Penn, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, Jeff Pinkner, Andrew Barrer, Gabriel Ferrari, Christina Hodson, Lindsey Beer, Ken Nolan, Geneva Robertson-Dworet, and Steven DeKnight were hired to write the spin-offs potentially titled Transformers: Beast Wars. On September 17, 2015, Deadline reported that Barrer and Ferrari were writing a film that will explore the origins of Cybertron, with the working title Transformers One. During the New York Toy Fair on February 12, 2016, Hasbro revealed plans for a direct sequel to The Last Knight, an untitled Transformers 6 with a release date of June 28, 2019.

However, several months before the release of  Transformers: The Last Knight in June 2017, Michael Bay confirmed that it would be his final film in the franchise but expressed interest in remaining as a producer should they wish to continue the series with another director. Bay confirmed in April 2017 that out of the writers room, at least 14 stories had been completed for potential future Transformers films. After Transformers: The Last Knight disappointed at the box office and failed to outperform any of the previous installments, the future of the series was uncertain. By August 2017, Akiva Goldsman announced he had left the series and was no longer involved with the writers room.

On February 16, 2018, senior designer for the brand John Warder confirmed that Hasbro's plans for the sequel had been postponed and by May 2018, Paramount Pictures had removed the sequel from its release schedule, leaving the future of the franchise in question.

In a interview with Slash Film on 10 December 2018, producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura announced that there will continue to be further films in the series following the release of Bumblebee. Acknowledging the sequel trilogy will continue, he stated that the franchise will make some changes in their tone and style.