KARACHI: As children, youth and adults lined up to have a glance at Optimus Prime saving the planet Earth, the release of the fourth installment of the Transformers franchise, an action/adventure/sci-fi film, was very well received in Pakistan.

The Cinepax theatre at Ocean Mall in Karachi hosted the premier screening of Transformers: Age of Extinction on Tuesday, officially announcing its public release.

The turnout at the premier might not be encouraging — keeping the record of the business the sci-fi film franchise has done globally — but the initiative to reach out for a mass-appeal film to premier in local cinemas would surely act as a booster for a fast reviving film industry in Pakistan.

Osama Khattak, an architect by profession, was at the premier and described the film as something he was closely attached to. “I’m a big Transformers fan, been following it for quite a while now.”

Khattak was taught to visualise things people do not tend to think of. “It's all about visualising, and the Transformers franchise is a perfect example of visualisation,” Khattak said.

Michael Bay, the man behind the Transformers franchise, has satisfied the hunger an action-adventure flick craved by many.

Omair Alavi, a film critic, was as excited for the film to start as any true Liverpool or Barcelona fan would be to cheer his team on.

“I don’t know much about what the film has in store but I’m sure it will be good,” Alavi said adding, “After all, it is a Michael Bay film.”

However, not all shared the enthusiasm. Wajahat Noor, a business student, termed the film as “disappointing” as he exited.

Alavi may not have entirely agreed with Noor but admitted that the film was “a little too long”.

Bushra Masood, a film student, wasn't impressed by the story the film had to tell but admired the use of visual effects.

“As a film student, I like to watch different genres but action-adventure is not my thing,” Masood said adding that she was sure the action sequences depicted in the film were a treat for action-genre admirers.

Caution: Mild spoilers ahead

The story rotates around an automobile mechanic, Cade Yeager, living with his only daughter, Tessa Yeager, who tries to put in every effort to invent something which will make Tessa proud and resolve the financial problems the family has been surrounded with.

Yeager landed up with deactivated Transformer, Optimus Prime. On the other hand, the humans form an allegiance with another group of Transformers to get rid of Optimus Prime — but in secret the bigger plan was to get the planet Earth free from any alien interference.

The humans tried to create a force of Transformers for future war purposes — an attempt that was bound to backfire.

As the story moved on, an all-out war was coming and the planet Earth was on a verge of complete destruction. It was only then, Optimus Prime called out for his group of Autobots to fight for the safety of planet Earth.

Whether Optimus Prime succeeded in saving planet Earth or not, only the film would tell. For those action/adventure/sci-fi admirers, Age of Extinction is highly recommended.

Characters to look out for

Kelsey Grammer — in his best acting form one had witnessed in the now-cancelled TV series Boss.

Nicola Peltz — perfectly a well acted out role in full correspondence with the narrative. Not to mention, Peltz is beautiful.

Stanley Tucci — lifted up the film with untimely and unexpected one-liners.

And Optimus Prime — of course, there is no Transformers without “Optimus Prime”.