History YMMV / TransformersFilmSeries

** Bay knows how to film cars and taught everything he knew to the CGI animators. With only mild exceptions every shot of the robots look like they somehow animated these things live on the set with actual car parts.

** Anthony Anderson's cousin seems to think VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution can detect you doing 'Film/TheMatrix'... or did his hacker connections get him the world's first UsefulNotes/{{Kinect}}?

* IconicSequelOutfit: Played with by Megatron, in that it's his actual ''body'' rather than an outfit. Megatron has a new alternate mode in each film he appears in: in ''Film/{{Transformers}}'', he transforms into a [[CoolPlane Cybertronian jet]] with massive cannons on either side of the nose cone; a [[TankGoodness winged tank]] in the [[Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen second movie]]; a beat up tanker truck in the [[Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon third]]; and [[CallBack a more traditional yet still alien jet]] in the [[Film/TransformersTheLastKnight fifth]]. Hasbro itself seems to enjoy using the tank-based body design from ''Revenge of the Fallen'', while fans have latched onto his design in ''The Last Knight'' for its more humanoid appearance, [[Franchise/TransformersGeneration1 G1-aesthetics]], and general badassery (being voiced by original Megs actor Creator/FrankWelker instead of Creator/HugoWeaving certainly helps).

** Starscream is also this to an extent, particularly when it comes to his design and characterization; his unusually wide design is either a working example of PragmaticAdaptation to avoid the obvious scale issues[[note]]After all, someone who turns into a full-sized jet would absolutely ''tower'' over characters who become regular-sized cars - even Optimus Prime would not come close to his sheer size if Starscream's mass became height[[/note]], or his triangle-shaped body combined with bird-like legs is just ugly. On the characterization part, people still aren't sure if the AdaptationalPersonalityChange from his usual "ObviouslyEvil [[TheStarscream backstabbing schemer]]" to "Megatron's neurotic DeadpanSnarker {{Dragon}}" was a good choice or not.

** Interesting when you consider the character's young, hot-shot sort of portrayal in the video game. When faced with this new development, many fans decided to [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation give the darker brown variant of the action figure the canonical game persona and keep the lighter brown variant as]] [[FanNickname the Sadjet]].
* WTHCastingAgency:
** Hugo Weaving as the voice of Megatron. Drew criticism in general for CelebrityVoiceActor, but then fans found out that Creator/FrankWelker (the original Megatron himself) wanted the role and was turned down. Once again, this is the ''Transformers'' fandom, so this trope was soon in full force.
** And subverted when [[{{Narm}} Welker voiced Megatron in the first two video games]] [[VocalDissonance and animated prequel]]. At that point, all believed that he wouldn't have been a very good choice. Although Welker recently started voicing the extremely similar, still very demonic and menacing Megatron of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' and did a damn good job of it (as well as using the same voice for the Universal Studios ride, albiet electronically deepened), people don't seem to care much for [[WhatCouldHaveBeen him as movie Megs]] anymore as hype for the movie series in general has died down. [[spoiler: Then Welker played Galvatron in AOE and in doing so played Megatron in the films at last]].
** Another example does not rest with a casted actor, but a casted location. In ''Revenge of the Fallen'', the [[BigGood Autobots]] are based out of Diego Garcia. Diego Garcia is a U.S./British Military Base in the British Indian Ocean Territory. It's also the former home for a group of indigenous peoples who were rather underhandedly evicted from their home and have been petitioning both the U.S and Britain to get it back for years. This is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] to hell and back by [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Diego_Garcia the TF Wiki]].

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Creator/MichaelBay had already developed a controversial reputation among moviegoers, and being tapped to make a live action Transformers movie was seen by many as a surefire sign the movie would fail. But backed by Creator/StevenSpielberg, Bay reinvented the very concept of how Transformers would look and feel on screen. He used advanced cinematography, crafted complex action sequences with PracticalEffects that merged seamlessly with the visual effects and the VFX artists noted that before the movie the most complex CGI robot character made was [[Film/RevengeOfTheSith General Grievous]], which was blown away by the detailing in Ironhides' cannons alone. When the movie dropped the hype and box office success had vastly exceeded all expectations, and Spielberg stood by that Bay was the only person who could bring it to life the way it did.

* DracoInLeatherPants: According to some fans, the Decepticons are just misunderstood {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s who want to restore their home world and are oppressed by the [[RonTheDeathEater "evil"]] Autobots. They do want to restore Cybertron, but they're also violent genocidal maniacs who were the ones who rendered their planet uninhabitable in the first place. Note that people giving the Decepticons leather pants is franchise-wide and not exclusive to the film series.

** ''Dark of the Moon'' gives us [[spoiler:Sentinel Prime]], whose betrayal shook up the formula. His motivation also distinguishes him from the sometimes one-dimensional villains. It helps that [[spoiler:Leonard Nimoy]]does fantastic job voicing him.

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** The decision to cancel the sixth planned film and reboot the franchise (without Michael Bay directing) can be seen as this due to the declining quality of the films. On the other hand, the now final film ends on a cliffhanger and there will be no ending for the franchise.
** ''Film/{{Bumblebee}}'' is clearly trying to be one, with the change of director, a lighter tone and more G1-accurate character designs. See its own page for details. Critically, it has paid off big time.
** Throughout all the films there has been a certain dissonance between the toys that are released versus the characters that have time in the films, either those with smaller roles [[AdvertisedExtra get the large toys]] or [[DemotedToExtra vice versa]] or otherwise not looking much like the way [[ShowAccuracyToyAccuracy the character actually appears on screen]]. The Studio Series line released in 2018 became an enormous hit for introducing new, more accurate molds of popular characters from the films but also with an attention to relative robot mode sizes. This includes a larger Leader class version of Blackout[[note]]The previous version was a Voyager class that didn't do justice to the largest character in the first film[[/note]], larger Voyager class version of Bonecrusher[[note]]The previous deluxe class sold well but didn't scale properly to replicate his epic fight with Optimus on the highway[[/note]], what is considered the only genuinely good version of Grimlock [[note]]Whose previous toys had weird proportions for his T-Rex form[[/note]] and, eventually, ''eight separate Constructicons'' that will form Devastator[[note]]The ROTF line had a couple regular figures of the individual Constructicons but were never intended to combine, there was a larger combiner figure that had no individual robot modes and a much smaller legends-class figures with both robot and vehicle modes but were ultra-simplistic[[/note]].

** The CGI (see DoingItForTheArt below) of the first film lost to ''Film/TheGoldenCompass'' at the Oscars.

** ''Dark of the Moon'' gives us [[spoiler:Sentinel Prime]], whose betrayal shook up the formula. His motivation also distinguishes him from the sometimes one-dimensional villains. It helps that [[spoiler:Leonard Nimoy]] fantastic job voicing him.

** Starscream in ''Revenge of the Fallen'' and ''Dark of the Moon.'' In the first movie, Starscream is threatening and proves himself one of the Decepticons' best fighters, destroying Bumblebee's legs in an ambush and later sufficiently wounding Ratchet and Ironhide that they are unable to protect Sam, something Brawl and Blackout were unable to do. He also blasts the helicopter meant to evacuate the AllSpark out of the sky, allowing Megatron to catch up with Sam. However, in the next two sequels, he refrains from engaging any Autobots head-on alone, is frequently abused and berated by Megatron, and ultimately ends up being killed by ''Sam'' after chasing him and Carly. This is almost reflected in his voice; in the first film, he has a deep, gravelly, intimidating baritone, but in the next two movies, it's changed to a higher-pitched, more submissive tone.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:The Series as a whole]]
* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Prime has acquired psychotic tendencies since the first movie. After an apparent long lull in the war, he's suddenly thrust into a situation where his arch-nemesis is dead and he fights almost constantly for two years. This explains his fondness for brutal fight moves, the lack of an even perfunctory offer to a defeated enemy to surrender ''after said enemy indicates he might know something of a much greater threat'', his casual discarding of the parts of a fallen ally, and [[DarkReprise the change in the "Prime" line's main theme theme music to a minor key]].

*** In ''Dark of the Moon', Optimus has detachable wings, but it's unclear if he recovered Jetfire's parts, repaired them, and kept them for future use, or if it's a completely new harness that's part of his trailer.

* AngstWhatAngst: Optimus Prime has occasionally been criticized by certain viewers and fans for not showing as much emotion as expected when some of his closest friends (like Jazz) are killed in battle. Although, Optimus has been fighting in a war that has lasted more than 10,000 years, that destroyed their planet and has cost countless many friends, allies and innocents. Optimus even makes a point in the sequel that whole generations of their species had been lost because of the war.

* AwardSnub: The CGI (see DoingItForTheArt below) of the first film lost to ''Film/TheGoldenCompass'' at the Oscars.

* FauxSymbolism: The thirteen Primes, one of whom did a FaceHeelTurn, and who are heavily associated with a character who has heavy [[MessianicArchetype Messiah]] connections. [[Literature/TheBible Hmm...]]
** The very first transformer-on-transformer fight in the film series alludes to the history of their alternate modes, with bumblebee being a Chevrolet Camaro and Barricade a Ford Mustang. In the 60s The Chevrolet Camaro was introduced by GM in 1964 to compete with the Ford Mustang from two years earlier. Unlike the movie, the Camaro lost.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: While the film series is still heavily-criticized by many American fans, the franchise is still very successful in Asian countries like Malaysia. No, [[http://www.screendaily.com/malaysian-box-office-boom-continues-as-transformers-sets-new-record/4033877.article seriously]]. One of the reviews for ''Dark of the Moon'' even claimed that he would watch the movie '''10 times'''.

* MoralEventHorizon: In the ''Dark of the Moon'' ''Foundation'' prequel comics, Shockwave crosses it at least once an issue. He starts issue 2 off by killing Chromia, finishes off issue 3 by [[spoiler: killing Jolt, Knock Out, Dune Runner, Longarm, Salvage, and Galloway]] and then in issue 4 [[spoiler: he kills Elita-1, then mocks Optimus about it. [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge He didn't think the last part through]].]]

* ParanoiaFuel: Anything could be a Transformer. That car, that toaster, that cell phone, that policeman in his car, [[spoiler:the [[ArtificialHuman hot chick]] who can't keep her hands off you]]...

* {{Sequelitis}}: The first film in the Michael Bay-directed batch was received fairly well as a fun SummerBlockbuster. None of the sequels were. Although in the cases of ''DOTM'' & ''AOE'', it's hard to tell how well-received they would have been received without the backlash associated with the franchise since ''ROTF''.

* SpecialEffectFailure: Face it, the final fight between Optimus and The Fallen in ROTF looks unfinished. Though that's the least of the movie's problems.

* {{Squick}}: [[spoiler:Imagine an entire room filled with rotting Decepticon fetuses, covered in hideous slimy green goop. Now, imagine seeing that in IMAX format!]]

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: While the first movie is generally considered the best overall movie in the franchise, each sequel has minor changes that better align itself with the general elements of the Transformers mythology and stories. ROTF, despite being considered the worst in the series, expanded the robot roster and has larger and more complex action scenes. DOTM has a more involving story where the robots themselves have a say in what is happening. AOE gives some extended {{Action Film Quiet Drama Scene}}s to the robots themselves, letting them be actual characters instead of just awesome special effects, and also gets rid of a lot of the VulgarHumor from previous installments.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Fans of the [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers original Generation One cartoon]] tend to complain about the films drastically reimagining the ''Transformers'' universe as opposed to making a straight adaptation of the 80s show. This a subject of BrokenBase for other parts of the franchise, as [[OlderThanTheyThink installments that make huge changes from Generation One have been made before,]] but whether or not a medium the general public gets more exposure to than individual shows should do the same is another debate entirely.

* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Bay knows how to film cars and taught everything he knew to the CGI animators. With only mild exceptions every shot of the robots look like they somehow animated these things live on the set with actual car parts.

* WTHCastingAgency: Hugo Weaving as the voice of Megatron. Drew criticism in general for CelebrityVoiceActor, but then fans found out that Creator/FrankWelker (the original Megatron himself) wanted the role and was turned down. Once again, this is the ''Transformers'' fandom, so this trope was soon in full force.

** Another example does not rest with a casted actor, but a casted location. In ''Revenge of the Fallen'', the [[BigGood Autobots]] are based out of Diego Garcia. Diego Garcia is a U.S./British Military Base in the British Indian Ocean Territory. It's also the former home for a group of indigenous peoples who were rather underhandedly evicted from their home and have been petitioning both the U.S and Britain to get it back for years. This is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] to hell and back by [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Diego_Garcia the TF Wiki]].

[[/folder]]
[[folder:The 2007 Movie]]
* AuthorsSavingThrow: In response to heavy backlash to [[https://tfwiki.net/wiki/File:Movie_Megatron_olduglyface.jpg leaked photos of Megatron's head design]], his head was tweaked for the final film.
* BestKnownForTheFanservice: Infamously the sequence of Michaela fixing the car while the camera [[MaleGaze shamelessly ogles her]].
* FanNickname: Bumblebee projecting an Autobot signal into the clouds = the [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Bot-signal]].
* {{Fanon}}:
** The fact that the planes that attack Megatron in Mission City happen to be identical to Starscream's alt-mode has resulted in the idea that the latter [[PragmaticVillainy blended in with them to take some shots at his boss]]. Nothing in the film ever suggests this, nor is it particularly fitting to Bayverse Starscream's character, but the idea persists.
** Some have theorized Megatron was fully-aware and sentient during his frozen imprisonment in Hoover Dam by Sector 7 and that his immediate hatred of humans comes from being dissected for almost a century and being aware the whole time.
* FirstInstallmentWins: It is universally agreed that, while not flawless, the first of Michael Bay's ''Transformers'' movies is definitely the best of the ones he made.
* FranchiseOriginalSin:
** The main character, Sam Witwicky, was never a particularly well-liked character, but his use in the first film is generally seen as the only one where he was tolerable. While he had a lot of ThisLoserIsYou traits, this was counterbalanced by the fact that he had some attempt at a character arc and even a few sincere moments that implied [[ComingOfAgeStory those traits were a passing thing.]] Later films not only kept those traits, but seemingly had him get worse, and gave him nowhere near as much as a clear arc in favor of him being a PinballProtagonist, putting his increasingly wretched personality in the spotlight.
** The [[HumanFocusedAdaptation extensive focus on humans]] was one of the biggest sore spots of the series, due to the characters not being considered particularly interesting and taking away focus from the robots. The first film itself had three sub-plots (Sam and Mikaela discovering Bumblebee's nature as an alien robot, William Lennox and his crew surviving against Scorponok, and Maggie and Glen trying to figure out who has been hacking into the US government), that all intersect by the second act, but even then could be seen as attempting to preserve much of the mystery of the Cybertronion race. By the sequels, however, the human characters continued to get focus at the expense of the titular characters, which caused many fans to believe they had overstayed their welcome.
** Optimus Prime in the first film was involved in a few surprisingly brutal action scenes, including driving a sword through Bonecrusher's head, but these moments were fairly brief and mostly counterbalanced by his many [[WarriorPoet thoughtful speeches]] that gave the impression that he wasn't just a killer. By the second film, though, said speeches are a lot rarer and seemingly every fight Prime gets in has at least one person [[CruelAndUnusualDeath having their head ripped apart]], and the series didn't exactly improve in that respect from there, to the point that Prime has become the biggest MemeticPsychopath in the franchise.
** The film series has gained a reputation as LowestCommonDenominator blockbuster for its shallow characters, gratuitous fanservice, and recycled story. However, while the first installment had these problems, audiences and critics were able to ignore them since the film did offer spectacle on an unseen scale that successfully masked most complaints. However, as the series progressed, the film's creators did nothing to improve the film's reputation and the spectacle proved less effective when newer films, most notably the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, offered similar types of bombastic action while also providing better writing and characterization.
** The films have been criticized for its needlessly sexualized portrayal of women most notably through Bay's use of the MaleGaze. However, although the female sexualization started with the first film's female lead Mikaela, most audiences were more forgiving since she is an actual character. As noted by Creator/LindsayEllis, Mikaela was written sympathetically with actual character depth as a WrenchWench trying to atone for her criminal history, while also contributing to the plot by helping destroy several of the Decepticons. In contrast, the other female characters are depicted as eye candy for male viewers yet have none of Mikaela's charisma or HiddenDepths. Tessa from ''Age of Extinction'' is particularly hated by fans for being a whiny, bratty teen who doesn't actually contribute to the plot.
* HarsherInHindsight:
** A funny moment happens in which When Sam's dog Mojo pees on Ironhide in the first film he worries about rusting. Cut to two films later in DOTM, [[spoiler: and it's not so funny anymore when he rusts to death after being shot by Sentinel Prime, during the horrifying and jarring scene of the latter revealing his betrayal.]]
** The blatant sexualization of Mikaela has become extremely uncomfortable to watch once awareness increased of what Megan Fox had to put up with when working with Michael Bay; having been previously a FanserviceExtra at only fifteen in ''Film/BadBoysII'', her 'audition' for ''Transformers'' was basically washing the director's car, and she had to gain weight for the second film because he "doesn't like skinny girls".
* HilariousInHindsight:
** Creator/MichaelBay taking the criticism against him in response to the film [[SelfDeprecation in stride]] makes his cameo in which Megatron calls him "disgusting" before flicking him away all the more amusing.
** Creator/HugoWeaving voices an EvilOverlord with a demonic face who plans on using the energy dispensed by a cube-shaped MacGuffin to TakeOverTheWorld, and is killed by said MacGuffin when he makes direct physical contact with it. [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger Four years later]], Weaving would play ''another'' EvilOverlord with [[ComicBook/RedSkull a demonic face]] who plans on using the energy dispensed by a cube-shaped MacGuffin to TakeOverTheWorld, and is [[spoiler: seemingly]] killed when he makes direct physical contact with it. Both characters even have an ArchEnemy with a red and blue color scheme, to boot.
** On July 19, 2022, not long after the film's 15th anniversary, a big fire broke out at Hoover Dam (leading to no injuries, thankfully) that made many fans of the movie to make references to Megatron breaking out of Sector 7. Funny enough by itself. The source of a fire turning out to be a burst ''transformer''? Hilarious.
** Creator/TravisVanWinkle plays Trent [=DeMarco=] in the film, who is a JerkJock who was Mikaela's boyfriend until she breaks up with him. He's then PutOnABus in the sequels. In ''Film/FridayThe13th2009'', he plays another JerkJock also named Trent, and people involved with both franchises claim they're the same character. If this is true, then it explains [[KilledOffForReal why he made no appearances in the sequels]].
* MemeticLoser: Let's just say that Jazz's reputation has been torn into ''two'' pieces.
* MemeticMutation:
** Optimus Prime saying [[ProductPlacement eBay]].
** Bonecrusher hates everything. (Taken from his toy biography.)
** Optimus Prime: '''GIVE ME YOUR FACE'''.
** '''SHUT UP, GRANDMA!'''
*** '''DRINK YOUR PRUNE JUICE!'''
** The scene where the FBI conducts a raid on Glenn’s grandmama’s house while he’s working his magic on the stolen government intel is edited to have him researching benign things such as illegal Lego building techniques, [[DisproportionateRetribution prompting the FBI to break in]].
** "[X] but if it came out in 2007" [[labelnote: Explanation]]In August 2022, the Internet [[https://twitter.com/blurayangel/status/1562511750355767301 rediscovered]] the movie's ending with the chorus of Music/LinkinPark's "What I've Done" hitting right as the credits roll and have applied it to [[https://www.avclub.com/transformers-linkin-park-2007-michael-bay-the-godfather-1849462224 a number of other movies]] such as ''Film/TheGodfather'', ''Film/CitizenKane'', etc[[/labelnote]]
* OneSceneWonder: Colonel Sharp, the commander of Lennox's base, doesn't survive his first scene. Nonetheless, he's pretty memorable for the alert stance he takes when Blackout arrives and how he uses an ax to destroy the computer server Blackout is trying to access. He was such a favorite that his actor, Glenn Morshower, was brought back for future films to play basically the same character but with a different name - named after him, no less.
* {{Padding}}: The movie is already lengthy with three major plots - the race for the Allspark, Sam's coming of age, and soldiers fighting alien robots - which all come together in a climactic battle bursting at the seams with awesome. Then there's the aforementioned "signal decoding" subplot, which starts off totally inconsequential, then fizzles out altogether with shreds of exposition that the viewers ''already learned'' forty minutes earlier.
* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: The movie was fairly well-liked at the time, mostly for its [[SoOkayItsAverage decent]] plot and RuleOfCool thanks to large-scale special effects bringing realistic transforming robots to the big screen. While the special effects have held up rather well, considering how other action blockbusters made since then, such as the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, offer equally extravagant visual effects as well as much better acting, plotlines and characterization, the full package of the movie can come off as dated.
* SignatureScene:
** Blackout's attack on the Qatar military base is best remembered for just how horrific and chilling it is, from the build-up to his arrival with the higher-ups noting the chopper he's impersonating had already been destroyed some time ago to the absolute carnage he inflicts on the base [[CurbStompBattle as the humans are helpless to stop him]]. It sells the Decepticons as a real, unstoppable threat, with many viewers calling it the epitome of the film's, if not the whole series', NightmareFuel.
** The Arrival to Earth scene, held in strong regard due to the epic scale of the scene and providing a big, memorable introduction for Optimus Prime, TheHero of the franchise, in live action. The score for this scene is often regarded as the best piece composed for the entire film series as well.
** The ending with Optimus Prime’s ending speech, in which he invites new Autobots to join his team on Earth and gets viewers hyped for the sequel, set to Linkin Park’s “What I’ve Done” became iconic, as evidenced by the massive surge of memes around it for the movie’s fifteenth anniversary in 2022.
* SoOkayItsAverage: The movie has a barely positive 57% rating on Website/RottenTomatoes, with a comparatively coherent plot contained in a more manageable running time while benefiting from impressive special effects and set pieces. Some people considered it the ''only'' watchable movie in the series until the SoftReboot ''Bumblebee'' came along.
* SpaceWhaleAesop: Protect your internet privacy or alien cars will come after you.
[[/folder]]

** Starscream is also this to an extent, particularly when it comes to his design and characterization; his unusually wide design is either a working example of PragmaticAdaptation to avoid the obvious scale issues[[note]]After all, someone who turns into a full-sized jet would absolutely ''tower'' over characters who become regular-sized cars - even Optimus Prime would not come close to his sheer size if Starscream's mass became heigth[[/note]], or his triangle-shaped body combined with bird-like legs is just ugly. On the characterization part, people still aren't sure if the AdaptationalPersonalityChange from his usual "ObviouslyEvil [[TheStarscream backstabbing schemer]]" to "Megatron's neurotic DeadpanSnarker {{Dragon}}" was a good choice or not.

* {{Narm}}: The Autobots and Decepticons discovering Sam's trying to sell a MacGuffin on [[ProductPlacement eBay]] is supposed to be funny. The complete seriousness the robot cast has over it and this being the catalyst of a ''massively destructive war'' takes it from funny moment to unintentionally being hysterical movie-wide.

** ''Age of Extinction'' has Lockdown, a badass bounty hunter not part of any pre-existing faction, who not only matches Optimus Prime in fighting skill but also uses his ability to transform to [[CombatPragmatism fight dirty]]; Fans were sold the moment he turned his head into a BFG.

* AccidentalAesop: Protect your internet privacy or alien cars will come after you.

* AlternativeeCharacterInterpretation: Prime has acquired psychotic tendencies since the first movie. After an apparent long lull in the war, he's suddenly thrust into a situation where his arch-nemesis is dead and he fights almost constantly for two years. This explains his fondness for brutal fight moves, the lack of an even perfunctory offer to a defeated enemy to surrender ''after said enemy indicates he might know something of a much greater threat'', his casual discarding of the parts of a fallen ally, and [[DarkReprise the change in the "Prime" line's main theme theme music to a minor key]].

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Prime has acquired psychotic tendencies since the first movie. After an apparent long lull in the war, he's suddenly thrust into a situation where his arch-nemesis is dead and he fights almost constantly for two years. This explains his fondness for brutal fight moves, the lack of an even perfunctory offer to a defeated enemy to surrender ''after said enemy indicates he might know something of a much greater threat'', his casual discarding of the parts of a fallen ally, and [[DarkReprise the change in the "Prime" line's main theme theme music to a minor key]].

* ItsTheSameSoItSucks: The first movie was generally well received by critics and fans alike. A common major complaint about ''each'' of the sequels however is that they basically repeat the first film from the plot-points to the character types. It's gotten StrictlyFormula to the point where when watched simultaneously, ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Rfup0XKx7o they sync.]]'' This is why ''DOTM'' is considered to be slighly better than the other sequels; it actually surprised people with [[spoiler:Sentinel Prime's]] betrayal.

* SpecialEffectsFailure: Face it, the final fight between Optimus and The Fallen in ROTF looks unfinished. Though that's the least of the movie's problems.

** The Transformers film series has gained a reputation as LowestCommonDenominator blockbuster for its shallow characters, gratuitous fanservice, and recycled story. However, while the first installment had these problems, audiences and critics were able to ignore them since the film did offer spectacle on an unseen scale that successfully masked most complaints. However, as the series progressed, the film's creators did nothing to improve the film's reputation and the spectacle proved less effective when newer films, most notably the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, offered similar types of bombastic action while also providing better writing and characterization.

* OneSceneWonder: Colonel Sharp, the commander of Lennox's base, doesn't survive his first scene. Nonetheless, he's pretty memorable for the alert stance he takes when Blackout arrives and how he uses an ax to destroy the computer server Blackout is trying to access.

* SignatureScene: Blackout's attack on the Qatar military base is best remembered for just how horrific and chilling it is, from the build-up to his arrival with the higher-ups noting the chopper he's impersonating had already been destroyed some time ago to the absolute carnage he inflicts on the base [[CurbStompBattle as the humans are helpless to stop him]]. It sells the Decepticons as a real, unstoppable threat, with many viewers calling it the epitome of the film's, if not the whole series', NightmareFuel.