With a brand new cast and a large part of the story involving China, plus the hiatus of three years instead of two between previous parts of the franchise, the fourth installment of Transformers almost appears to be a reboot.

Clearly, it is not.

All photos are from IMDb’s gallery

Transformers 4 is no different from the previous three parts and joins the list of movies that cater to the taste of teens: Harry Potter, Twilight, Percy Jackson, Beautiful Creatures, even The Hunger Games, not to mention a dozen of fairytale adoptions. Yes, the lead role played by masculine Mark Wahlberg is no longer a teenage boy, but a hot and perpetually leg-baring female, prolonged fighting scenes that don’t need much of a storyline to buttress are a permanent part of the ingredients.

For a brief moment, Michael Bay seems to have returned to the style in his early movie-making days. A military operation is neatly rendered in the beginning: a team of agents raids a shipyard with highly coordinated efforts. It’s delivered through clean-cut shots and a smooth transition of scenes, accompanied by fast-paced and gritty music in the background. (Remember the part in 1996’s The Rock when the marines storm the weapons depot?)

Well, that doesn’t last long. A while in, Bay’s usual tricks kick in: excessive car chasing, bombing and explosions that leave almost everything in ruin, as if the audience would never get tired of that much carnage; overly used slow motion; a couple’s silhouette with the sunset as the backdrop… As a slight improvement, there isn’t that much schmaltz that sometimes makes the audience cringe. (Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, anyone? Or even the previous Transformers movies.)

The story continues with the aftermath of the doomsday that befalls Chicago in the third part. Instead of destroying another great American city, the robot aliens decide to disfigure Hong Kong this time. (Hey, if the Chinese are paying for this, why not?) By the way, Hong Kong actors Ray Lui Leung-wai and Michael Wong, boxer Zou Shiming also made cameos in the film.

A robot dragon flies over the city of Hong Kong

The Chinese actress Li Bingbing plays a decent supporting role in the movie, with a cold appearance and cool fighting skills. Unlike the character of Fan Bingbing in the X-Men: Days of Future Past, who merely speaks two words “Time’s up” in a 131-minute movie, Li has plenty of lines. But still, Bingbings’ jobs are pretty much the same: winning a bigger chunk of the share in the second largest movie market in the world, other than serving only as a porcelain.

Li Bingbing in Transformers 4

For the same reason, the Chinese element in the movie has gotten into the extent of extravagant. Every few moments, there is a blatant product placement with a Chinese brand clearly shown to the audience: C’estbon water, Lenovo computers, Construction Bank of China and Yili milk.

It would have been fine if Bay hadn’t presented it so awkwardly. Of all places, a Construction Bank of China ATM appears in a Texas town, where the main scenery includes corn fields and ranches; Last minute the role played by Stanley Tucci is running for his life, the next he is seen drinking Yili milk while taking shelter at a rooftop; And the loud declaration by the Chinese defense minister that “the central government will defend Hong Kong at all costs” has got to draw some sniggers.

Nevertheless, the movie is a box-office hit. Box Office Mojo’s statistics show that it became the first movie of the year to break US$100 million at opening weekend in North America. In China, it brought in an impressive US$92 million at its debut weekend, the first foreign movie to ever achieve such a big success.

According to TIME, as of July 8, the movie had pulled in US$222.74 million in China and officially become the highest grossing film in the country. For the Chinese producers, including those for the movie and the products featured in the show, it is an investment absolutely worth making. Though Michael Bay may not be seen as a good director, he’s certainly good at picking out the right tools to make money.