< Transformers

Transformers/YMMV


Franchise-wide items

Transformers Film Series

  • Alternate Character Interpretation: 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 the change in his personal theme music to a minor key.
    • Not to mention no-one ever seems to pick on the fact that Optimus was the one who sent the Allspark into the depths of space, knowing full well that in doing so would eventually destroy Cybertron, simply because he didn't want Megatron to win. He condemned his entire race to a slow extinction simply because he wanted to take the Decepticon's down with him. This isn't to say that the Decepticons aren't evil, but simply that you don't become the hero just because you're fighting the villain.
      • On the other hand, if Megatron had gotten it, his plan was to use it to create an army of Decepticons to conquer the universe. On top of that, there's also the fact the whole war started over it in the first place, meaning the only way to stop the war at all was to get the thing out of there, and as shown in the movie, they did try to find it, so that might have been the plan from the start. So it may have just been "it's too dangerious to let Megatron get it, no matter what the cost". And considering Megs was in league with the Fallen to destroy populated solar systems, he was right.
      • And he didn't actually condem his species to extinction. Its shown in the second and third that alternate sources of Energon exist. Plus, its shown that most of the species has become Decepticons, so its more of condeming his enemies to death. It wasn't so much as doing it so Megatron wouldn't win, more of 'sacrificing the most powerfullest source of energon in the universe to stop it from being used for evil. Not really fas Morally grey as it seems.
    • Actually, the theme "Prime" from ROTF's score could refer to the other Primes and not just Optimus (minus The Fallen, obviously). On the brutalness, there's debate in that in the first film, Optimus is trying to lessen collateral damages (humans and buildings), whereas in the forest fight for ROTF, he can go full out.
    • As far as the "discarding Jetfire's parts" point goes, if you pay attention to the fight, a lot of those parts get damaged if not destroyed; discarding them may have simply been a point of expediency.
      • 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.
    • Blackout. Homicidal decepticon bent on ridding the universe of non-loyal life? Or an otherwise powerful but simple minded transformer, brainwashed by a well spoken decepticon leader?
    • And now for the latest Big Bad. Is Sentinel Prime a Well-Intentioned Extremist who goes too far but has still good intentions at heart? Or is he just an old bastard with a god complex, so hungry with power to give no value to friendship or loyalty, and who back in the days of the war on Cybertron, defected to the winning side only to hold his high position?
  • Angst? What Angst?: 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.
    • As far as Jazz's death is concerned Optimus did show a degree of sorrow when he was handed his friends' body, it's just that the movie didn't dwell on it particularly long.
    • And in the third movie, this seems to have been taken into account as Optimus shows a good bit more emotion. This include being extremely sorrowful when he's forced to kill his mentor turned traitor, Sentinel Prime.
      • Of course, he still kills his wounded and misguided friend. Geez, Optimus is a bit of a jerk in this series, isn't he?
  • Award Snub: The CGI (see Doing It for the Art below) lost to The Golden Compass at the Oscars.
    • ROTF wasn't even nominated for visual effects at the Oscars, possibly as a result of the film's negative buzz.
    • Dark of the Moon also lost Visual Effects to a lesser effects-wide production, Hugo.
  • Deconstruction Fic: Fans writing from a perspective of "the Decepticons were right". The most recent Transformers Animated starts to lean this way itself, as the high command seems a bit morally suspect and the Decepticons are basically rebellious freedom fighters whose leader happens to be Megatron. Then again, we see the kind of people who follow Megatron.
  • Badass Decay: Megatron in ROTF and DOTM. He has his moments in both, but the second movie portrays him as less of a threat and by the third movie Megatron's a shadow of his former self. This is pointed out in-universe and justified due to the fact he's still severely wounded from the final battle of ROTF, and it's worth noting that he does a real number on Sentinel Prime while still injured just before his death..
  • Complaining About People Not Liking the Show: Apparently, if you hate these movies, your either a whiny fanboy who can't accept any kind of change to the original show, or a prudish snob who wouldn't know entertainment if it slapped him in the face.
  • Complete Monster: The Fallen. He didn't have to destroy a populated solar system, the other Primes didn't want to and had a law against it. At least from the perspective of the movie, he didn't need to do so and could've just continued using uninhabited solar systems along with the other Primes. He chose to destroy Earth's system because he wanted to, the prequel comics comfirm that this was the case. The best motive the guy could actually have is spite for the other Primes for making a rule, the worst is just being Axe Crazy and wanting to commit genocide for no reason, which isn't a stretch as he's literally the original Decepticon and inspired all the others. Not to mention that he started the civil war that destroyed Cybertron and cost billions of lives and feels no remorse about it.
    • If Word of God is to be believed, Shockwave will certainly be this. See Moral Event Horizon below.
    • DOTM: It's hard to imagine Patrick Dempsey playing as a Complete Monster... until you see him as Dylan Gould. Initially portraying himself as a slimy, yet successful race-car driver turned insuranceman, he reveals to Sam that he is an agent for the Decepticons. He also forces Sam (both via Prisoners Dilemma and by forcibly placing a transformer watch on Sam that mentally and physically forces Sam to do what is commanded of him, a process that was implied to be quite painful when done.) to ask the Autobots about their plans for Dylan Gould, and then decides to kill the Autobots anyways during their launch despite the fact that they apparently had no other plans to revolt. Dylan then helps them take Chicago hostage and install pillars that would allow them to rebuild Cybertron and use people as slave labor. You heard that right: he's willing to betray HIS OWN SPECIES just to walk free when the Decepticons take over. On top of that, when he sees some Decepticons hold some of the Autobots (including Bumblebee) prisoner, he orders them to take no prisoners, effectively ordering the Decepticons to kill anyone on Optimus Prime's side. His reaction when Carly asks him if the Decepticon's told him about their genocidal assault firmly places him in this. Despite millions dying around him because of him, his response is all that matters is that he's safe. His father pretty much qualifies, seeing how he's the one who actually chose to align himself with the Decepticons in the first place (the only reason why Dylan Gould even ended up working for the Decepticons is because he inherited it from his father)
    • Laserbeak. The lengths he goes to in order to kill his target and the sadistic glee he takes in doing it is just horrible, even for Decepticons. The worst part is when he "befriends" a little girl to get into her house, then proceeds to ruthlessly slaughter the entire family in one go!
    • Depending on how you interpret his A God Am I speech, Sentinel Prime could qualify. He appears to be a Well-Intentioned Extremist, but his rant about how he was considered a God on his homeworld seems to hint that he has far more selfish reasons for what he does. On top of that, he murders fellow Autobots (and tries to kill them all) and launches a horrific attack on Chicago killing millions of innocent human lives, and then intends to enslave humanity, never showing any remorse about all this. It's also arguable that when he refuses to let Megatron command Cybertron, he's just seeking to have no competition instead of keeping his good intentions. He shows remorse when he is at Optimus's mercy just before Optimus kills him, but even then, he's already lied and manipulated everyone so much it's likely he was just saying what he had to in an attempt to save his own sorry hide. If you take his God complex this way, he did all this just to remain in power, putting him firmly in this territory.
    • Soundwave could be considered this as well. At the climax of DOTM, he holds a few of of Autobots hostage--evil robot execution-style--and fully intends to kill the everlasting shit out of them(which he and Barricade actually do to Que in a rather brutal fashion), with a gleeful Dr. Claw laugh thrown in.
    • Let's not forget Megatron himself in the first film. Sure he wants to restore Cybertron to its former glory, but is willing to kill anything and everything in his way in order to accomplish his goal. He rips Jazz in half For the Evulz, flicks a human in the air similar to an insect (likely causing death/injury) For the Evulz, tries to drop Sam off a building after he refuses to give Megs the Allspark despite his apparently posing no threat, and has an air of hammy enthusiasm about him during the entire final battle while he causes general chaos and destruction. Well-Intentioned Extremist my ass.
    • Even though he's only in the comics, Flatline proves himself to be just as vile as the rest of these Monsters by virtue of being Josef Mengele as a Decepticon. And before he started his career of performing horrible experiments on Autobot POWs, he tended to hatchlings. It's not hard to imagine some of his first "test subjects" were essentially baby Transformers.
  • Crazy Awesome: Agents Simmons in DOTM
  • Critical Backlash / Critical Dissonance: All three movies, but especially the two sequels. Other than GEEWUNNERS, fans in general received ROTF more warmly than critics, as indicated by audience polls and IMDb rating versus its Rotten Tomatoes or Metacritic score. DOTM, meanwhile, received mixed reviews from critics but very positive word-of-mouth from audiences.
    • DOTM has had critics complaining about an incoherent plot, wooden characters, and RHW being a worse actress than Megan Fox. It's also the 5th highest grossing film OF ALL TIME, just behind mega money makers like the last Harry Potter movie, Return of the King, Avatar, and Titanic.
    • Sure the movies are criticised for being shallow, mindless entertainment, but these movies are not meant to be enjoyed on an intellectual level, and are merely meant to be fun action flicks with lots of fireworks.
  • Dull Surprise: It is Transformers, after all.
  • Ending Fatigue: The second movie is 2 1/2 hours long so, odds are, you'd probably be waiting for the credits right in the middle of the film's climactic battle.
    • The third movie falls victim to this too.
  • Ensemble Darkhorse: See above, under "Franchise-wide items"
  • Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory: According to this analysis, Revenge of the Fallen is an Egyptian Myth with giant robots.
  • Evil Is Cool: The Decepticons, particularly Megatron (pre-injuries). Lampshaded in DOTM when a character remarks "how come the Decepticons have all the cool shit?"
  • Fan Dumb: Ruined FOREVER has ne'er been more applied. The "true fans" didn't like that the Cybertronians did not perfectly resemble their G1 counterparts, such as: Megatron's face; Megatron not being a gun; Optimus Prime being a different semi-truck, not having a trailer, and having flames; Bumblebee as a Camaro... the list goes on. The fact it is an Alternate Continuity does not deter the fury.
    • And they also complained about silly things like 99.9% of the robots looking like, to paraphrase what one reviewer said, crap Fred Sanford dug up in his junkyard. Oh, fans!
      • Though in their defense, several G1 characters (such as Starscream and Jazz), lose their distinct color schemes and personalities and become generic in comparison. Starscream became Megatron's loyal monkey, Jazz became cannon fodder. However, suggesting that Megatron should be nothing more than the G1 version, possibly the most generic-looking transformer EVER with an annoying screechy voice who turns into a GUN (that cannot aim itself) is taking it too far.
      • The worst part: Michael Bay actually had protests outside his office (which he wasn't in at the time) and even death threats from a small number of fans who didn't like the changes.
        • Those who support the movie are not immune to this, telling those with legitimate complaints (Such as the type of humor, the useless human characters, and some others) that they should just ignore them and enjoy the movie anyway. They also tend to proclaim that everyone who hates the movie just hates it for not being Gen 1, which is not true[1].
          • Those who dislike the movies, meanwhile, often exaggerate such things into a systematic persecution of dissenting opinions. And thus the cycle continues.
    • The second movie had a number of complaints about all the plot holes that viewers found in them... except they didn't exist. There were some plot holes in the film, but not many of the ones that were often complained about. There were complaints about the heroes not using the All-Spark to repair Optimus while the Decepticons used it to repair Megatron... except that Megatron's injuries were no-where near as bad, and the fans seemingly didn't notice they bit where the Decepticons killed one of their own for their parts to help Megatron get repaired. And a lot of people were confused by the Constructicons, as they combine to form Devastator but are fighting other Autobots as individuals at the same time. There are two sets of Constructicons, and some of them just look identical because they copied the same vehicles (behind the scenes, it was just easier because the computers they were using were having trouble keeping up with too mant different robots).
      • According to many, the plot holes were indeed there. The Fan Dumb aspect here comes from those who refuse to acknowledge that most of ROTF was written during a massive writers' strike, and blame the whole thing on Bay. As of 2012, the strike has been all but forgotten, and Bay (and sometimes Shia LaBeouf) receives 99% of the blame for what's wrong with the movies.
    • Fans who strongly support the movies tend to vent their spite towards - no, not G1 - Harry Potter. Each of the three Transformers movies has had to compete with a Potter film, with the Potter movie getting better box-office returns (at least outside the US, except in DOTM's case) and much better reviews than the Transformers movie. Needless to say, this results in a fair bit of backlash from people who prefer giant robot battles over characters and plot, who seem to pointlessly accuse criticism and negative hype towards the Transformers movies as being Harry Potter-related.[2]
      • Poor poor POOR Rosie. (The girl who played Carly in the 3rd movie)...apparently its all her fault that Megan Fox was fired. Apparently she's a moron for accepting the part in a movie that makes millions and a chance for her name to get out there. HOW DARE SHE! For shame, she should think about what only Megan Fox fanboys want instead of her career. And how dare they fire Megan Fox even though she's been disrespectful, anti-social towards everyone in the cast, or call the director "Hitler"! Steven Speilburg what a sissy-I mean he should totally get over the fact that millions of his people was killed at the hands of Hitler! They're all evil and MORONS! Also apparently Rosie, a very beautiful Victoria's Secret Model is "ugly" and "disgusting"...according to fanboys of Megan Fox and SamxMikaela fangirls.
  • Fan Nickname: Transformers: Rolling On The Floor
    • The human/Transformer hybrid known as Alice is being called "Deceptislut".
    • "Bayformers," while starting as a pejorative (and to some still is) has gone on to be an affectionate name for the series and the robot designs in general.
      • Sadly, the designs are one of the main reasons why some people hate the movies, from Fan Dumb (Prime having a mouth, and the robots not looking exactly the same as G1, the former of which being serious Fan Dumb since he's able to activate a mouthplate to take on the "mouthless" look), to good reasons (many minor Decepticons look the same, although minor Mooks in Transformers always have).
    • Due to Optimus' dramatic sacrifice and resurrection, many have been calling him "Optimus Christ". There is even a Facebook group devoted to his honor. And why not? He died for our sins.
    • In the first movie, Bumblebee projecting an Autobot signal into the clouds = the Bot-signal.
  • First Installment Wins: The first film of this series has received far better critical praise than either sequel did, which were respectively panned and got a tepid response.
    • Subverted in the audience polls and at the box office, where its something like First <= Second <= Third.
  • Fetish Retardant: Alice's reveal. Some people might be into it, but terrifying.
  • Harsher in Hindsight: The whole Sam & Mikaela "Tell me you love me" subplot in ROTF, considering that Megan Fox didn't return for the third film, her absence explained by her having dumped Sam.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: Try watching Megan Fox in Jennifer's Body while keeping in mind Alice's real nature.
    • Anthony Anderson's cousin seems to think Dance Dance Revolution can detect you doing 'The Matrix'... or did his hacker connections get him the world's first Xbox 360?
    • One of the many TF fansites ran a regular poster-girl-of-the-week section, declaring them to be Spike's past girlfriends before Carly. Now that Megan Fox's been replaced with a Carly Expy...
    • That girl who mistakes Ironhide for the Tooth Fairy actually has two different My Little Ponies. Their colors correspond to Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie.
  • Hope Spot: DOTM keeps pulling the rug out from the audience. Oh, good, they're going to stop the pillar from firing. Except they can't from the ground. Too bad 'Cons are attacking. Good, they made it to the height they need. And then 'Cons knock over the building. Good, they're safe--and then Shockwave decides to send the giant Decepticon digging worm to take down the building. Meanwhile...
  • HSQ: Aside from the usual robots and explosions, DOTM gives us Sentinel Prime's betrayal. Closely followed by Carly's boss's reveal as The Quisling. Followed by the Autobots getting kicked off Earth. Followed by the Decepticons killing the Autobots in their spacecraft before they even break atmo. And then it really kicks into gear, with the Decepticon invasion of Chicago, followed by a climax that lasts the better part of an hour.
  • Idiot Ball: The plot of the entire second second half of ROTF would have been derailed if the humans had been smart enough to check Jetfire for a faction symbol before waking him up. On the other hand, a jet is rather large.
    • The Decepticons could have just bought Archibald Witwicky's glasses from Sam anonymously on eBay and avoided the whole battle.
  • Internet Backdraft: There are still many fans who scream Ruined FOREVER.
    • Even more so after Revenge of the Fallen, now with more Michael Bay hate.
  • It's Not Supposed to Win Oscars: Oh dear God...
  • Just Here for Godzilla: Many people who went to the movie watched it solely to see giant robots beat the crap out of each other... and for Megan Fox.
  • Like You Would Really Do It: In DOTM, all of the autobots (including both Optimus Prime and Bumblebee) are apparently killed as their ship takes off. They have no chance to defend themselves, their "deaths" accomplish nothing, and although there was a moment of drama it clearly wasn't played up to the degree you'd expect from the simultaneous deaths of so many important characters. We all knew they'd be back by the end of the film.
  • Malaysians Love Transformers: Oh so very much. No, seriously.
  • Love It or Hate It: The film series has pretty much become a Spear Counterpart of Twilight in this respect.
  • Memetic Mutation: Bonecrusher hates everything. (Taken from his toy biography.)
    • Optimus Prime: GIVE ME YOUR FACE.
    • SHUT UP, GRANDMA!
      • DRINK YOUR PRUNE JUICE!
    • Anything Jerry Wang says or does. Also, Dylan telling Laserbeak: "Not the couch! It's Ralph Lauren!" As you might of guessed, Laserbeak is not amused.
  • Misblamed: Type 5. Shia La Beouf and Ehren Kruger have gotten a bit of it, but for the most part the quality of the films is attributed just to Michael Bay.
  • Moral Event Horizon: 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 killing Jolt, Knock Out, Dune Runner, Longarm, Salvage, and Galloway and then in issue 4 he kills Elita-1, then mocks Optimus about it. He didn't think the last part through.
    • The Fallen choosing to wipe out a populated star system because he wanted to probably lands him pretty far on the other side of this.
    • "Is your daddy home?"
    • Sentinel Prime has several possible ones. Killing Ironhide is a strong contender for this, but he appears to truly cross the point of no return by setting up a trap to kill all the Autobots, proving any loyalty he had towards Optimus is dead.
    • Towards the end of DOTM, Gould, after repeatedly claiming his position as The Quisling is just "business" [3], tells the Decepticons that they should just kill the Autobots instead of making them prisoners. He specifically says it's personal now, and has no objections when Soundwave muses "No prisoners. Only trophies."
  • Nausea Fuel: The little interrogation thingy that Scalpel shoves down Sam's throat.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Optimus, how can you possibly wonder why the Decepticons keep showing up on Earth's doorstep? You keep broadcasting your location to them during your end-of-movie speech! You could argue that its meant to be sent to the Autobots on a secure channel, but if thats true, the fact Decepticons show up shortly afterwards implies that there's one hell of a leak somewhere?!
  • Nightmare Fuel: DOTM has the invasion of Chicago. For years, some of the more vocal human hating fans have been demanding humans be slaughtered en mass by the Decepticons. They get their wish...and it's horrifying. People running for the lives being reduced to skeletons and whole sections of Chicago reduced to flames. And it's heavily implied that a lot of what the Decepticons were doing was for fun, and had no real significance to securing Chicago.
  • Off-Model: In quite possibly a rare, non-Asylum case, there's three in Revenge of the Fallen. Most noticeably whenever ILM's CG predator drone is featured looking nothing like the real-life counterpart also used. And when Ironhide's ejected gun can be seen on his arm in a later scene during the desert battle. The page explains these in more detail.
    • The third movie also has one instance when Ironhide, Sideswipe and the Dreads face off without any weapons. In one shot, the Ironhide CG Model has his recently dropped guns on his back. Said guns disappear in all other shots afterwards.
  • Offscreen Moment of Awesome: In the first movie, Bumblebee defeats Barricade, offscreen. We see them fighting and grappling each other, and the next we see of them, Bumblebee is walking away from the fight, towards Sam and Mikaela, whilst deactivating his arm cannon. Barricade himself, is lying heavily damaged, in the same ditch where he was last seen fighting Bumblebee.
    • In ROTF, during the final desert battle, Ironhide was seen under heavy attack from a group of Decepticons and the next, just barely managing to make it out of the blast-zone of "Operation: Firestorm". Meaning that not only did Ironhide manage to fight off his attackers, he also managed to do it just before he was out of time to get to the safety zone. Badass Grandpa alright. Too bad we didn't get to see it.
    • Some fans see Mikaela dumping Sam after ROTF, (presumably after realising she has nothing in common with Sam aside from routinely running away from Giant Robots), as one of the only positive things she actually did.
  • Out of Focus: Many people complain that the Autobots suffer from this and the films focus entirely too much on the Muggles and military.
  • Paranoia Fuel: Anything could be a Transformer. That car, that toaster, that cell phone, that policeman in his car, the hot chick who can't keep her hands off you (You better hope she just wants to rape you)...
    • Reedman (The combined form of Ravage's nanobots) is a razor-thin 'Con who killed a man by jumping through his torso and bisecting him. Given the right lighting conditions and viewing angle, he's basically invisble.
    • At the end of the sequel Soundwave is still there, hooked into a military satellite... what if he gets bored?
      • Not helped at all by his toy bio which states that Soundwave can pretty much destroy civilization if he wanted to, due to all the satellite's he's hacked.
    • The paranoia factor arguably isn't played up nearly as much as it should be in such a scenario, but then, Transformers is an action movie, not a horror film.
      • Until Laserbeak, who milks this for all the Nightmare Fuel it's worth and uses it to ruthlessly murder his targets in all sorts of horrible, terrifying ways.
  • Replacement Scrappy: Carly is becoming this for Mikaela, with critics claiming that her actress is an even worse actress than Megan Fox.
    • However, some people who liked the movie, or heck, people who just hate Megan Fox... think Carly is an improvement, and Megan is The Scrappy. So I guess Carly is a more Base Breaker... just like this entire movie franchise, really.
  • Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Agent Simmons was not well liked in the first movie, largely due to being a Smug Snake and Obstructive Bureaucrat. In Revenge of the Fallen he becomes a helpful and heroic (if still crazy) character who manages to get things done. He gets even better in the third movie, where he jumps completely into Crazy Awesome.
    • Wheelie was better received than in the second movie because A) no leg humping and B) he actually helps in the climactic battle. Along with his partner, the even more quirky Brains, they manage to liven up the mood without being too obnoxious.
    • Sam also earned the respect of some when he Took a Level in Badass and killed Starscream.
  • Ruined FOREVER: Hey it's the Transformers Fandom.
  • The Scrappy: Sam (Shia LeBeouf seems to naturally play Scrappies). In his defense, the fandom usually reacts this way to any human main.
    • the main reason people cite for Sam being this is that he practically does nothing in the film. he provides the Mcguffin, sets up the groan inducing humor, and acts the rest of the film like a whiny, cowardly, stupid 8 year old. other than continuity, there is actually very little reason why he should be in the film (she might get a lot of flak, but megan fox on her own would probably make a better lead).
      • this is toned down in the sequals however, especially DOTM, where he acts more mature, takes responsability and actually does something (like killing Starscream).
    • The sequel introduces Skids and Mudflap for basically the same reason. Bay described them as being "goofy and stupid but still heroic." Yeah, they're mostly just stupid. But at least they can fight, if their Colossus Climb is any indication.
      • Bay has stated that they were removed from Dark of the Moon, and is offering a 25,000$ reward to anyone who can catch even a small glimpse of them in the final cut. (Strange, given that they are visible in a couple of wide group shots.)
    • Also from the second film: Sam's mom and Wheelie. Combined, these two and the Twins make up two-thirds of the groaner humor and three fourths of the padding in ROTF, though the latter was Rescued from the Scrappy Heap (see above).
      • And yet, Wheelie was still less annoying than the version in the 1986 animated movie.
    • And Leo. Some audiences erupted with applause when Agent Simmons tasered him.
    • It's early to say but it's a good bet that Bruce Brazos[4] and Jack Wang will contend the title of DOTM's most hated characters. At least Scrappies do not get too much screen time this round.
    • Devastator gets this treatment too from quite a few fans, due to his ugly design, his overall disappointment as a villain (he literally does nothing other than free up the Sun Harvester), his absolutely terrible action figure, and (worst of all) the gag involving his wrecking-ball "testicles".
  • Sequelitis: The first film in the series was received fairly well as a fun Summer Blockbuster. Both sequels no. Although in DOTM's case, it's hard to tell how well-received it would have been without the Hype Backlash associated with the franchise since ROTF.
  • Shout-Out: Alright, who else saw the scene where Cybertron was first being brought into the Earth's area and went 'Look! Its Doctor Who's The End Of Time episode!
    • Think about it, the final Megatron/Sentinel/Optimus three-way was basically the same way they resolved that particular Doctor Who Episode.
  • Special Effects Failure: 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 first movie's not immune either, with some CG elements not matching up with the live action ones.
    • In the third film, there are CG heads of Richard Nixon and JFK at the beginning... Let's just say the results are unsatisfactory.
  • Spotlight-Stealing Squad: A major complaint against the film series is that the humans, particularly Shia Labeof, get way too much screen time and more attention should be paid to the robots.
  • Squick: Imagine an entire room filled with rotting Decepticon fetuses, covered in hideous slimy green goop. Now, imagine seeing that in IMAX format!
    • Also, Bumblebee's defeat of Ravage.
    • Let's not forget Sam being pinned down, whilst a small Decepticon enters and exits his head!
    • For some unknown reason, Ex-Sector 7 agent Simmons seems to prefer wearing a thong.
  • Tear Jerker: Optimus Prime's death.
    • And nobody else's.
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks: TRUKK NOT MUNKY in full force, or rather, GUN NOT JET.
    • Megatron's new tank form has been better received, if anything because it is the more acceptable non-gun form and he has the traditional cannon arm. And, in the film, can still fly.
    • Even though this is Megatron's 2nd or 3rd time as a plane (and his 3rd as a tank.)
    • Also, the designs. Oh, God, the reaction to the designs...
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Mikaela Banes. She surprisingly has more characterization than just being the Designated Love Interest, holds her own fairly well against smaller Decepticons, and is overall an intriguing character. Then the second movie tosses most of that aside to focus on her relationship with Sam (and gratutious Fan Service), and then she barely even gets a mention in the third.
  • Trapped by Mountain Lions: Reams of this. The movies really don't have to be as long as they are. The hackers from the first film stand out, in particular.
  • Ugly Cute: Wheelie. Voiced by Tom Kenny, as well.
  • Unfortunate Implications: The twins in the second movie can easily be interpreted as such. Whether it was knowing or not is very hotly debated, but at the absolute least a large number of people walked away feeling offended, black or otherwise, at what has been seen as racial caricatures due to facial designs and speech patterns that resemble negative stereotypes. While the official words is that they were intended to mimic "wiggers"[5].
    • That all said, the twins process information at a much quicker rate than any other Autobots (similar to the MTV generation in real life).
    • According to Tales of the Fallen #6, their processors were screwed around with by Decepticon Flatline, essentially implying that they are brain damaged. Any comedy derived with these two becomes a bit more uncomfortable.
    • Jerry Wang. The one Asian character has numerous moments of being way too awkward, annoying and is there to help with gay jokes. Even with him being super parnoid he acts way too over the top. Naturally there is a bit of a Base Breark case with him being an Ensemble Darkhorse.
  • Villain Ball: To build a Solar Harvester the Primes demanded to use solar systems that did not support life, Earth was originally believed to be uninhabited and the Solar Harvester was already complete when humanity was discovered. The Fallen refused to look for another planet and tried to activate the Havester without their consent, just because he didn't like having to start over.
    • The comics published by IDW would go on to explain that the Fallen had been displeased with this rule for some time, and had been preparing to betray the other Primes over it. This was simply when he chose to do so.
  • Villain Decay: Megatron. He gets less and less intimidating with each passing film. By the end, Carly even lampshades to his face what a total joke he's become.
    • To specify: In the first movie, he was an entity more than willing to exterminate an entire species just to get the All Spark, and was a force that took several autobots and a human to take down, and even then by sheer luck in regards to absorbing the All Spark. In the second movie, he can be beaten by various tanks, and had a hard time trying to kill Optimus Prime, although his genocidal desires were still intact. In the third, apparently even his genocidal tendencies were gone, as when he first appeared within Africa and transformed, he didn't even bother killing any of the animals nearby, and in the aforementioned scene with Carly, he just seems to have a chat with her, and only comes close to killing her when she tells him that he basically became "Sentinel's bitch", and then stayed his hand when he realized that Carly actually has a point there.
      • Possibly justified in DOTM. Megs still has his grievous injuries from the previous movies, and the Decepticons come close enough to victory so that he pretty much considers it "mission accomplished" as he peacefully watches Cybertron ready to be rebuilt. He spends most of the movie commanding his Mooks from the sidelines rather than going and killing things himself and risking to worsen his condition even further, and also wishes to enslave (not exterminate) the human race, which probably explains why he doesn't kill Carly (he even calls her "slave"). Though the ease with which Optimus kills him is inexcusable.
    • In the first film, Starscream destroyed three F-22s in a matter of seconds and his entry into the battle seriously worries Ironhide. In the second film, he helps kill Optimus Prime. In the third film he's killed in close quarter combat by Sam.
    • Let's bear in mind that his "helping" in the forest fight is pretty much distracting Optimus by getting his arm ripped off long enough for Megatron to make a move. The decay was already in effect in the second one.
      • Not if you look at what happens to everyone else who has fought Optimus Prime. Really, not dying within the first 30 seconds is a major accomplishment.
    • In fairness, in DoTM he does still destroy the Autobots' ship and rip into the Ospreys transporting Lennox and his team. And Sam used Cybertronian tech given to him by Wheeljack to kill him.
  • Visual Effects of Awesome: 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.
    • One of the computers being used to animate Devastator actually melted. Also, Devastator reportedly got Steven Spielberg to drop a Precision F-Strike when he first saw it.
      • Holy crap!
  • The Woobie: Toyline-only jet Breakaway, thanks mostly to his robot mode's face (which looks sort of forlorn) and some help from at least one image board's toy board.
  • What the Hell, Casting Agency?: Hugo Weaving as the voice of Megatron. Drew criticism in general for Celebrity Voice Actor, but then fans found out that Frank Welker (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.
  1. ↑ it's not uncommon to see people rip on the movies and to then find out that they're fans of decidedly non-GEEWUN Transformers franchises such as Animated and Prime
  2. ↑ For example, when ROTF was nominated for numerous Razzies, one person on a message board accused the Razzie organizers of being Potter fans.
  3. ↑ He inherited the 'Cons as "clients" from his dad, doesn't want to die, and they've made him fantastically rich, and have promised him a position as the administrator of the human slaves on Cybertron.
  4. ↑ a John Malkovich character
  5. ↑ white people acting like stereotypes of black people because they think it's cool
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