Transformers 4 defies critics with the biggest opening weekend of the year


Transformers: Age of Extinction somehow managed to be the worst-reviewed movie in the franchise, dipping below Revenge of the Fallen's 19 percent positive reviews to an even more dismal 17 percent. But even that wasn't enough to dissuade American audiences from showing up over the weekend, earning Transformers: Age of Extinction $100 million (and the biggest opening weekend of 2014).
Meanwhile, proving that explosions are truly the universal language, Transformers earned a staggering $90 million in China — the country's highest opening weekend ever.
Transformers' massive opening was ahead of fellow blockbusters like X-Men: Days of Future Past (92 percent positive reviews), Edge of Tomorrow (90 percent positive reviews), and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (89 percent positive reviews). Of course, those movies didn't have a fire-breathing robot dinosaur.
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Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.
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