Transformers: The Last Knight is a 2017 American science fiction action film based on Hasbro's Transformers toy line. It is the sequel to Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014) and the fifth installment in the Transformers film series. The film was directed by Michael Bay and written by Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, and Ken Nolan. Mark Wahlberg reprises his role from the fourth film, while Josh Duhamel, John Turturro and Glenn Morshower reprise their roles from the first three films. Stanley Tucci returns as a different character after also appearing in the fourth film, and Laura Haddock, Isabela Moner, Jerrod Carmichael, Santiago Cabrera, and Anthony Hopkins all join the cast. In the film, inventor Cade Yeager (Wahlberg) is gifted a Talisman by a dying Transformer knight. He is soon recruited by an eccentric British professor (Hopkins) to save the world from the impending threat of a Cybertronian sorceress, as well as Cybertron's ancient enemy, Unicron himself.
Transformers: The Last Knight premiered on June 18, 2017, at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square in London and was released in the United States on June 21, by Paramount Pictures. The film received generally negative reviews from critics, and grossed $605 million against a production budget between $217–260 million. Despite its high gross, the film became a box office disappointment, resulting in an estimated $100 million loss for Paramount on its theatrical release. It was followed by a standalone prequel, Bumblebee, in 2018. A sequel is in development.
Plot
In 484 AD, Merlin finds the Knights of Iacon, a group of Transformers hiding on Earth, seeking their help to aid King Arthur and his knights. They give him a staff and help Arthur defeat the Saxons, but warn Merlin to keep it hidden.
In the present day, following the events of Hong Kong, Optimus Prime arrives on the ruins of Cybertron and meets the Cybertronian goddess Quintessa, who brainwashes him into becoming Nemesis Prime and sends him to Earth to retrieve Merlin's staff, which will restore Cybertron by taking Earth's energy core, which is actually Unicron, also a Transformer and Cybertron's ancient enemy.
On Earth, a new paramilitary task force called the Transformers Reaction Force (TRF) continues to hunt Transformers. At the same time, some U.S. military personnel, including former NEST members Colonel William Lennox and General Morshower, reluctantly oppose its actions. Cade Yeager hides Transformer refugees in his junkyard. In a war-torn Chicago, Cade and Bumblebee meet a scavenger named Izabella and her Transformer companion, Sqweeks, before encountering a dying Transformer who gives them a talisman. The TRF confronts Cade, but Bumblebee and Hound stop them, then let them go.
Megatron (having abandoned his Galvatron identity), his remaining Decepticons, and the U.S. government learn of the talisman's value and reluctantly join forces to retrieve it and track Bumblebee to Cade's scrapyard. While the Autobots and the Dinobots fend off the Decepticons and the TRF, Cade, his assistant Jimmy, Izabella, and Sqweeks deal with a swarm of TRF drones sent after them. Cogman, a human-sized Transformer, appears and invites Cade to the United Kingdom to meet his employer, Sir Edmund Burton, the last living member of a secret society called the Order of the Witwiccans. Burton asks another Transformer, Hot Rod, to find Viviane Wembly, a University of Oxford professor.
Burton explains to Cade and Viviane that Transformers have been living amongst mankind for centuries, and the Order of the Witwiccans once guarded their existence. The talisman can lead to Merlin's staff, buried in a Cybertronian spacecraft under the sea. Viviane is revealed to be the direct descendant of Merlin's bloodline and the only one who can activate the staff. The authorities discover them, forcing the group to flee. Following clues, the group soon commandeers the to find the spacecraft while the TRF and the Navy SEALs tail them.
After locating the ship, Cade and Viviane find Merlin's tomb, and Viviane activates Merlin's buried staff, awakening the Knights of Iacon. The TRF and Navy SEALs ambush Cade and Viviane to take the staff, but Viviane is forced to surrender it to the arriving Optimus. Bumblebee, Cade, and Lennox engage Optimus, during which Bumblebee speaks in his voice for the first time after he is given a spare voice box, freeing Optimus from Quintessa's control. The Decepticons, revealed to have aligned themselves with Quintessa, ambush Optimus and Cade and steal the staff. The Knights arrive to execute Optimus but yield to Cade and join the humans and the Autobots upon seeing Cade's talisman turn into Excalibur. Burton tries to stop Megatron from activating the staff at Stonehenge, but Megatron fires a fatal blast at him.
As Cybertron ravages Earth, using its energy to reconstitute itself, the Autobots, Dragonstorm, and the humans launch a direct assault on Cybertron to defeat the Decepticons and Quintessa. Viviane removes the staff and stops the transfer. Optimus defeats Megatron while Bumblebee seemingly kills Quintessa. With both worlds saved but now attached, the Autobots leave Earth to rebuild Cybertron.
Meanwhile, Quintessa, who survived, disguises herself as a human, approaches a group of scientists inspecting one of Unicron's horns, and offers them a way to destroy him.
Cast
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 William Lennox: A former NEST commander and U.S. Army Ranger who partnered with the Autobots prior to the events of Dark of the Moon, and now a Colonel and reluctant member of the Transformers Reaction Force (TRF). Stanley Tucci as Wizard Merlin: A wizard who knew the secret of the Guardian Knights and called on them in a moment of need. He previously portrayed Joshua Joyce in 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 Merced as Izabella: A street-wise who was orphaned by the Battle of Chicago in Dark of the Moon and now lives in the city ruins 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. He also tries to capture or kill Cade Yeager as he knows he's working with the Autobots. John Turturro as Seymour Simmons: A former government agent of Sector 7 and NEST turned successful writer who hides out in Cuba, and was allied with the Autobots prior to the events of Dark of the Moon. Glenn Morshower as General Morshower: A former leader 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. Garrigan previously portrayed a different iteration of King Arthur in the fifth season of the TV series Once Upon a Time.
Additionally, Mitch Pileggi, Tony Hale, and Gil Birmingham appear as a TRF group leader, an arrogant JPL engineer, and Chief Sherman, respectively. Former Navy SEAL Remi Adeleke also stars in the film as an unnamed TRF operator working for Santos, alongside other Navy SEAL veterans who play TRF operators in the movie's climax. Nicola Peltz has a vocal cameo as Tessa Yeager, Cade's daughter, who helped the Autobots during the events of Age of Extinction and is seen in a photograph in Cade's trailer, 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 that Sam had used as his eBay profile picture. Stephen Hogan plays Viviane's father in flashback scenes.
Voices
Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime: The leader of the Autobots, who is searching for the truth about his Creators. In this film, he transforms into a blue and red 2014 Western Star 5700 Custom semi-trailer truck. Gemma Chan as Quintessa: A Cybertronian Sorceress, the supposed "Prime of Life", and the supposed creator of the Cybertronians, who wants to use the Staff of Merlin to destroy Unicron and, by extension, Earth, which was formed around Unicron's body, in order to revitalize a rebuilt Cybertron. Chan appears on-screen briefly as Quintessa in a disguised human form at the end of the film. Erik Aadahl as Bumblebee / ZB-7: An Autobot scout and Optimus Prime's second-in-command, who transforms into a custom-built yellow and black 2017 Chevrolet Camaro with a body kit. Jim Carter as Cogman: A polite but sociopathic human-sized Autobot. He serves as the faithful butler to Sir Edmund Burton and despite not having a larger robot mode, he transforms into a 2017 Aston Martin DB11 in the toyline. Omar Sy as Hot Rod: An Autobot who transforms into a 1975 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, which he's ashamed of and wishes to remove. Ken Watanabe as Drift: A Samurai-motif Autobot tactician and former Decepticon who transforms into a black and red 2017 Mercedes-AMG GT R. John Goodman as Hound: A trigger-happy Autobot commando and field medic who transforms into an olive green Mercedes-Benz Unimog military tactical ambulance. John DiMaggio as: Crosshairs: A cocky Autobot paratrooper and sniper who transforms into a green and black 2017 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 a JAS 39 Gripen Fighter Jet. Reno Wilson as: Sqweeks: A small Autobot and Izabella's closest friend who can transform into a blue Vespa and only says "Chihuahua" due to prior damage. Mohawk: A talkative and psychotic Decepticon foot soldier who transforms into a Confederate P51 Combat Fighter Motorcycle. His spark is in his head due to his body being skinny. Jess Harnell as Barricade: A Decepticon scout who was thought to have been killed in Dark of the Moon. He now transforms into a 2016 Ford Mustang police car, featuring a new, sleeker robot mode. Tom Kenny as Wheelie: An Autobot and former Decepticon who survived the Chicago battle in Dark of the Moon and transforms into a remote-controlled monster truck. Steve Buscemi as Daytrader: An Autobot scavenger who transforms into a cloaked rusty Mercedes-Benz LK Model 1920 dump truck. Steven Barr as 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 grows a metallic beard that resembles his fallen comrade, Leadfoot. Mark Ryan as: Bulldog: An Autobot veteran of World War I and a sentry for Burton's castle, who transforms into an army green Mark IV tank and suffers from 'robot dementia' 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 that 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 transforms into a shielding pile of rubble. Berserker: A monstrous Decepticon commando who transforms into a 2017 Chevy Tahoe emergency vehicle. Onslaught: A Decepticon tactician who transforms into a green Western Star 4900SF tow truck.