hasn't aged well

Rating: 5/10 (8 February 2018)

Transformers, whatever you may think, became a successful franchise spawning four sequels and has grossed billions of dollars. While the movies went
down terribly with critics, particularly the sequels, audiences rushed to see the spectacular action despite the films having stereotypical characters and basic blockbuster storylines.
I used to think the first movie was fine, nothing groundbreaking but I did admire the action and sound design. I didn't think it was the next Star Wars or Spielberg masterpiece, just acceptable blockbuster entertainment.
I decided to watch the film for the first time in ages and while it isn't the worst, it hasn't aged well either. Many issues critics highlighted with the sequels are also present in the first, just to a lesser extent. There's stereotypes, shouty characters, inappropriate sexual innuendos and voyeurism in addition to excessive action.
On the positive side, the story is straightforward and the Transformers themselves are entertaining. The effort the CG people went into putting every detail of the transformations is astounding and the sound design is also top notch.
While it does have a comprehensible story and isn't as awful as the sequels, I can't say this is a good or underrated movie amidst an infamous franchise, even though I'd like to. I do think there was effort put into this first one and wasn't made solely to get a check, but regardless it's a dumb movie which was fun back in the naughties but not so much nowadays.