Needed more on-screen time for the robots... it is their movie.

Rating: 8/10 (6 July 2007)

This is an enjoyable "leave your brain out of the door" type of movie that tried to give an updated version of one of the loved cartoons of the 80s. For a "TRUE" fan of the franchise (and not just G1), the updates were impressive and grows on you (would you rather see them in their "Beast Wars" identities? ...shivering...). Besides, during the course of the cartoons, many changes were made along the way and some are bad, but some are also cool.
Going back to the movie. The robots should have have more on-screen time where the Autobots should have been the heroes saving the world and us humans from being obliterated by the Decepticons. The robots should not be subject to giving out too much comedic reliefs (respect, people!). Too much focus on Sam (Should have changed the title to Sam and the Transformers) and the "sentient being"'s side. That the plot was a rip off of Independence Day also added to the down side of the movie.
Respecting the source material, a good story, and awesome CGI pays more dividends. (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Spiderman 1..ok and 2) So I gave it a 6, because the effects were wicked; Shia's acting was impressive as well as John Turturro's; and Optimus Prime's voice IS Optimus Prime. Megatron would have been cooler if he was a tank and had more meaningful things to say.