History YMMV / TransformersAgeOfExtinction

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: One person, group or event does not speak for an entire civilization, nor does it justify hatred or harm. As in what happened in Chicago does not speak for the Transformers and what Attinger, Savoy and all of Cemetery Wind had done does not speak for all humans.

** Lockdown, a ruthless bounty hunter who holds himself and his status above the Autobot/Decepticon war and views both sides as squabbling children he has to reign in personally, and he is not too fond of other races and species across the galaxy (mainly humans). Despite this, Lockdown makes a deal with Cemetery Wind to hunt down and wipe out all transformers from Earth. He starts with Ratchet, who Cemetery Wind badly injures, and demands Optimus Prime's location from him. When Ratchet refuses, he rips out the Autobot medic's spark, killing him instantly. Lockdown later accompanies CIA and Cemetery Wind operatives to Texas where he destroys the Yeager family home, and kills Cade Yeager's friend Lucas while the family was escaping, throwing a grenade at the human and turning him into a lifeless statue of transformium. Lockdown soon becomes hellbent on capturing Optimus Prime and chases him until he, at last, captures the Autobot leader. He then gives Cemetery Wind the seed, an alien bomb that he knows will wipe out many innocent lives once they activate it. After Optimus escapes Lockdown's ship, Lockdown goes completely berserk in trying to recapture him. He uses various methods of trying this, including using a magnetic weapon on his ship to pull vehicles into the air before dropping them on the Autobots or whoever else happens to be within distance. Finally, he gives up on trying to capture Optimus alive and instead opts to kill him in a brutal duel to the death.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: One of the main complaints about ''Extinction'' is that it got TOO dark and serious. The supposedly heroic Autobots are turned into giant assholes who are content to let all humans die, to the point where [[spoiler:one of them deliberately allows Megatron to be resurrected as Galvatron because he knows he would kill all the humans!]]. Despite their declarations in the previous films that Earth was now their home and they would fight to protect it, even allowing the obliteration of their home planet Cybertron in ''Dark of the Moon'', in ''Extinction'', they want nothing more than [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere to get the hell off Earth as soon as possible]].\\\

%% * DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: One of the main complaints about ''Extinction'' is that it got TOO dark and serious. The supposedly heroic Autobots are turned into giant assholes who are content to let all humans die, to the point where [[spoiler:one of them deliberately allows Megatron to be resurrected as Galvatron because he knows he would kill all the humans!]]. Despite their declarations in the previous films that Earth was now their home and they would fight to protect it, even allowing the obliteration of their home planet Cybertron in ''Dark of the Moon'', in ''Extinction'', they want nothing more than [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere to get the hell off Earth as soon as possible]].\\\

* AlasPoorScrappy: Even if he was an annoying PluckyComicRelief character like Leo from ''Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen'' (and there's considerably fewer people who hate him than Leo), ''nobody'' was too thrilled to see [[spoiler:Lucas being burned into a metallic corpse by Lockdown's grenade]]. Even critics who didn't like [[spoiler:Lucas]] admit that it was a ''very'' [[CruelandUnusualDeath brutal scene]].

** To many fans of the original ''Generation 1'' [[BigGood Optimus Prime]]; they're ultimately scarred by the fact that Optimus, the '''''heroic''''' Autobot leader himself, actually killed a human in cold blood. No matter if [[CompleteMonster said human completely deserved it]] and it was to save another human.

* TheWoobie: All the Autobots could qualify, but especially Optimus Prime. He spent years fighting for them, gave his life for them (and was prepared to do it on at least one other occasion), helping protect them, teaching them to fend off the Decepticons, and being their strongest supporter even when his team had doubts. In return? The humans decided to wipe out Autobot and Decepticon alike, killing off many of Optimus' teammates and comrades, and forcing the survivors to go into hiding. Though, to be fair, it seems like it was less humanity than it was a secret cabal of CIA operatives and corporate bigwigs stonewalling the rest of the government and the general public to hide the fact that they were hunting down the Autobots as well. Even the president of the United States was under the assumption that Optimus Prime was still working with the CIA on undercover ops.

** Tessa gets a lot of flak for constantly blaming her father and the Autobots for nearly every bad thing that happens to her even when they are attempting to keep her safe from Lockdown. Being played by [[DullSurprise Nicola Peltz]] does not help.

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: Zigzagged. It has a marginally better Website/RottenTomatoes score than ''Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen'' -- significantly worse than ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'' -- but debates about its quality compared to ''DOTM'' bring it more to ContestedSequel status. On the other hand, this is the first movie of the series that gives significant screen time and dialogue to the robots themselves (Optimus and Cade have entire scenes just the two of them talking), which is a step in the right direction according to the fans, although critics couldn't care less about that.

** [[spoiler:Lockdown himself]] gets a fair amount of this due to his atypically clean death and the fact that that his [[spoiler:face-gun's emplacement]] makes it difficult to know if Optimus actually hit any vital organs.

** People still argue about the details of Attinger's death; some believe that Optimus killed him for revenge in an OutOfCharacter moment, while others think he only wanted to save Cade but simply didn't have any other options, as he was already occupied by a CombatPragmatist who could use his every move to his own advantage. Note that the film never clarifies if Optimus even knew Attinger was behind his friends' deaths, and he ''did'' spare and forgive the people who recycled their bodies.

** After three previous movies of the female characters being sexualized, this movie heavily tones down the fanservice and is even parodied with Cade snarking at Tessa's shorts.

* AlasPoorScrappy: Even if he was an annoying PluckyComicRelief character like Leo from ''Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen'' (and there's considerably fewer people who hate him than Leo), ''nobody'' was too thrilled to see [[spoiler:Lucas being burned alive by Lockdown's grenade]]. Even critics who didn't like [[spoiler:Lucas]] admit that it was a ''very'' brutal scene.

** In addition, the movie's more serious approach is seen as a welcome change after ''Revenge Of The Fallen'''s infamous barrage of VulgarHumor. ''Dark Of The Moon'' was considerably better about it while including some non-vulgar comedy, but this movie's more serious approach has a broader appeal to older fans. You also have to wonder if [[spoiler:the particularly horrific and ''prolonged'' death of the main comic relief character is in reference to how badly his type went over before.]]

** Some people complained that fight scenes with the robot characters were difficult to follow due to the designs of the robots being too complex, not helped by their very muted color palette. This film [[ArtEvolution heavily simplifies]] the designs of the robot characters, and the colors were made far more vibrant to make them easier to tell apart.

** Shane is hated for reminding Cade of his relationship with Tessa even when they are under attack. The fact that he carries a card with a description of a law that authorizes his relationship with a seventeen-year-old girl in his wallet like a condom certainly rubbed viewers the wrong way. Saying lines like "I'm not here to save your daughter, you're here to save my girlfriend" make people side with Cade on wanting him away from Tessa.

** The blink-and-youll-miss-it scene as the car lands on the ramp from the factory clearly displays that the car hasn't been shaded very well.

* MoralDissonance: Optimus asks Cade how many more of his people have to die because of humans. He is one to talk as, even if their presence on Earth has good reason, his people have been responsible for the deaths of more humans that Cybertronians. In both cases it is only some, maybe a handful, of individuals responsible but both sides blame a whole race for their actions. Optimus is in a more knowledgeable position than the general public but still, if only briefly and pasafisticly, blames all mankind.

* MoralDissonence: Optimus asks Cade how many more of his people have to die because of humans. He is one to talk as, even if their presence on Earth has good reason, his people have been responsible for the deaths of more humans that Cybertronians. In both cases it is only some, maybe a handful, of individuals responsible but both sides blame a whole race for their actions. Optimus is in a more knowledgeable position than the general public but still, if only briefly and pasafisticly, blames all mankind.

** Some reviewers have argued that Creator/KelseyGrammar, despite the film being lackluster, is downright ''chilling'' as Attinger. Of those reviewers, many have said that he would have been better playing that character in a film such as ''Film/DieHard''.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Despite how idiotic it was the governments decision to turn on the autobots isn't completely unjustified. While the autobots have been defending humanity throughout the films, they are at least partially responsible for bringing the war to Earth in the first place. A war which has caused incalculable damage and cost countless human lives. After the last battle, during which the Decepticons, with the aid of a rogue Autobot, attempted to completely destroy Earth in order to rebuild their own planet, its easy to see just why they stopped trusting either side and decided to just KillEmAll.

* HamAndCheese: Like others such as John Turturro and John Malkovich before him, Stanley Tucci. In a voiceover role, John Goodman's BoisterousBruiser performance as Hound.

** Some reviewers have argued that Kelsey Grammar, despite the film being lackluster, is downright ''chilling'' as Attinger. Of those reviewers, many have said that he would have been better playing that character in a film such as ''Film/DieHard''.
** Lockdown is downright terrifying, in no small part due to his creepy and badass portrayal by Mark Ryan.

** Some people complained that the Autobots and Decepticons were very difficult to tell apart due to what were felt to be needlessly complex designs and muted colors. This film tones down the complexity and uses more vibrant colors, making the characters more readily recognizable.

** The unsettling age gap romance between Tessa and Shane is probably one of the only things that some of the fans remember about the movie.
** To many fans of the original ''Generation 1'' [[BigGood Optimus Prime]]; they're ultimately scarred to the fact that Optimus, the '''''heroic''''' Autobot leader himself, actually killed a human in cold blood. No matter if [[CompleteMonster said human completely deserved it]] and it was to save another human.
* OlderThanTheyThink: People only familiar with the live-action ''Transformers'' franchise at times complained about robots having human faces, cloth-like kibble, chewing on cigars, samurai robots, dinosaur robots, and all sorts of things that have been a part of the brand for ages. It provided for a nice HilariousInHindsight-moment, as back when the first movie was in the works, the insect-like Transformers designs had lead to such a huge counterattack from older fans that some had to be redesigned mid-production.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: A major source of complaint about this film -- specifically, the constant teasing of what seems like build-up to some good character moments -- and then cut to the next scene before there's any payoff. For example, any ''real'' arc of Cade warming up to Shane, or of Cade having a nice heart-to-heart with his daughter, or of Optimus and Cade discussing their common problems, etc. are sadly relegated to offscreen.

* CompleteMonster: CIA agent Harold Attinger is the creator of "Cemetery Wind," a black-ops group taking it upon itself to wipe out all Transformers upon the planet regardless of faction, all out of nothing more than Attinger's FantasticRacism. Attinger entered a deal between himself, [[BountyHunter Lockdown]], and Joshua Joyce's Kinetic Solutions Incorporated where Lockdown gives the remains of any Transformer he murders to Joyce for production into man-made Transformers, and Attinger would trade Optimus for the Seed needed to create more man-made Transformers to sell to the U. S. Army. At first, [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist Attinger]] may come across as well-intentioned, but given that he worked with Lockdown, wanted to create Transformers of his own, would have millions of innocents killed by The Seed, along with his own attempts to kill any humans who could get in his way-such as Tessa Yeager by proxy of his Dragon Savoy and Cade Yeager at his own hand--and ordering Savoy to murder witnesses of his presence in Hong Kong, it is clear Attinger is a {{hypocrite}}, if not merely a StrawHypocrite, out to get rich.

* AlasPoorScrappy: Even if he was an annoying PluckyComicRelief character like Leo from ''Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen'' (and there's considerably fewer people who hate him than Leo), ''nobody'' was too thrilled to see [[spoiler:Lucas being charred alive by Lockdown's grenade]]. Even critics who didn't like [[spoiler:Lucas]] admit that it was a ''very'' brutal scene.

** Drift, as described [[http://fantomdranzerx.tumblr.com/post/90482059081/drift-in-aoe here]]. Given that Drift's backstory is said to be basically the same as his IDW counterpart, it's not too hard to look at his treatment of Lockdown's alien specimen (see HypocriticalHumor on the main page) as a sign that his Decepticon habits haven't died just yet. As explained in the link, Drift's samurai-like appearance and attempts of being virtuous can easily be read as him trying to move past his 'Con persona; the fact that he slips up shows that it isn't easy to just change when one switches sides.

* CompleteMonster: CIA agent Harold Attinger is the creator of "Cemetery Wind," a black-ops group taking it upon itself to wipe out all Transformers upon the planet regardless of faction, all out of nothing more than Attinger's FantasticRacism. Attinger entered a deal between himself, [[BountyHunter Lockdown]], and Joshua Joyce's Kinetic Solutions Incorporated where Lockdown gives the remains of any Transformer he murders to Joyce for production into man-made Transformers, and Attinger would trade Optimus for the Seed needed to create more man-made Transformers to sell to the US Army. At first, [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist Attinger]] may come across as well-intentioned, but given that he worked with Lockdown, wanted to create Transformers of his own, would have millions of innocents killed by The Seed, along with his own attempts to kill any humans who could get in his way-such as Tessa Yeager by proxy of his Dragon Savoy and Cade Yeager at his own hand--and ordering Savoy to murder witnesses of his presence in Hong Kong, it is clear Attinger is a {{hypocrite}}, if not merely a StrawHypocrite, out to get rich.

* CriticalDissonance: Critic reviews for ''Age of Extinction'' are quite negative; its Rotten Tomatoes score is similar to ''Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen'', but the reviews themselves aren't ''quite'' as vitriolic in tone (in fact, many reviews give the film an average score, [[FourPointScale but RT counts them as rotten]]). It also became the first live-action ''Transformers'' movie to receive zero UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nominations. However, it has seen quite a bit less backlash from the fanbase than previous films, mostly due to AuthorsSavingThrow and PanderingToTheBase as well as lower audience expectations than for ''ROTF''.[[note]]A perfect example is how the HumanFocusedAdaptation aspect is handled this time around; while critics dislike how the [[InvertedTrope robots have more characterization than the humans]], fans have been clamoring for ''that very thing.'' Though there isn't quite a fan consensus on that count.[[/note]] The film was also successful at the box office so far.
%% * DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: One of the main complaints about ''Extinction'' is that it got TOO dark and serious. The supposedly heroic Autobots are turned into assholes who are content to let all humans die, to the point where [[spoiler:one of them deliberately allows Megatron to be resurrected as Galvatron because he knows he would kill all the humans!]]. Despite their declarations in the previous films that Earth was now their home and they would fight to protect it, even allowing the obliteration of their home planet Cybertron in ''Dark of the Moon'', in ''Extinction'', they want nothing more than [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere to get the hell off Earth as soon as possible]].\\\

** The Dinobots deserve special mention. Despite their WolverinePublicity, they only appear during the last 15 minutes or so and [[TheVoiceless don't even speak]]. However, many have said that they're one of the best parts of the movie, even for some people who don't enjoy the movie in general.

** Tessa gets a lot of flak for constantly blaming her father and the Autobots for nearly every bad thing that happens to her even when they are attempting to keep her safe from Lockdown. Being played by [[DullSurprise Nicola]] [[Film/TheLastAirbender Peltz]] does not help.

*** Several scenes with the Autobots also look unfinished and wrongly lit. This is most obvious during the scenes of Prime in Cade's shed and Drift transforming into his helicopter form.

** The blink-and-youll-miss-it scene as the car lands on the ramp from the factory the car hasn't been shaded very well.
** The Sears Tower is not edited out of the background in one shot supposedly set in China.

* CompleteMonster: CIA agent Harold Attinger is the creator of "Cemetery Wind," a black-ops group taking it upon itself to wipe out all Transformers upon the planet regardless of faction, all out of nothing more than Attinger's FantasticRacism. Attinger entered a deal between himself, Lockdown, and Joshua Joyce's Kinetic Solutions Incorporated where Lockdown gives the remains of any Transformer he murders to Joyce for production into man-made Transformers, and Attinger would trade Optimus for the Seed needed to create more man-made Transformers to sell to the US Army. At first, [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist Attinger]] may come across as well-intentioned, but given that he worked with Lockdown, wanted to create Transformers of his own, would have millions of innocents killed by The Seed, along with his own attempts to kill any humans who could get in his way-such as Tessa Yeager by proxy of his Dragon Savoy and Cade Yeager at his own hand--and ordering Savoy to murder witnesses of his presence in Hong Kong, it is clear Attinger is a {{hypocrite}}, if not merely a StrawHypocrite, out to get rich.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Again, Drift for several reasons.

** Embodied with [[spoiler:Ratchet and Lockdown.]] Fan outcry at their deaths was ''huge''.

** At least [[WebVideo/CinematicExcrement one fan]] invoked this in regards to the decision to make the Dinobots TheVoiceless.

** The movie as a whole is very divisive among fans and casual moviegoers: it's either a ''huge'' improvement over the previous two (or all three), or ''the'' worst of them all. Supporters point out the somewhat darker tone, lack of gratuitous potty humor, a strong villain and overall better characterized robots, and Wahlberg being a better lead than [=LaBeouf=]. Haters claim that the action brings nothing new to the table, the humans are only marginally better but still not good, the movie is simply ''far'' too long, and that most of the previous films' criticized aspects (flat story, pointless scenes, immature humor, offensive stereotypes, shaky-cam) haven't been improved upon.

* ContestedSequel: Almost nobody considers ''Age of Extinction'' "the worst ''Transformers'' movie of all" (which would be really saying something), but consensus among most critics is pretty much "it's ''Transformers'', so it sucks". A few critics (and a few more fans), on the other hand, believe that the numerous retools make for a better movie than its predecessors, and the general public having lower expectations also helps. However, a point of debate is how well it holds up to the other movies in the series, especially the first and third.