Please, do not waste your money (or give it to Michael Bay)

Rating: 3/10 (8 July 2007)

Please, do not go see this movie.
If you are a fan of the Transformers television show, or the original movie, you will be overwhelmingly disappointed.
The title of this movie should have been "Sam Witwicky" (the main character) because that was what the movie was about. It was not about the Transformers at all.
THE BAD:
-The first problem is that this movie was about humans, not transformers. In fact you don't really meet any transformers until 45 minutes into the movie, and when you do, they don't talk. The movie is about an awkward teenager, not Transformers. There are only a handful of transformers in the movie. (4 autobots, and about 5 decepticons)
-You don't get to know the transformers at all (autobots, or decepticons) They are introduced, by name only, and they give you a 10 second explanation of their individual jobs. They don't really have any lines, you don't get to know their personalities, and you don't see much of them in general. (I understand that there was a tremendous amount of cost and effort put into creating the actual transformers, and live action people are easier to shoot.....but come on. The movie is supposed to be about the Transformers.) -obnoxious product placement (Chevy, GMC, and Burger King just to name a few). These were shameless plugs that got annoying after a while.
-The "comic relief." It's an action movie, stop trying to make the audience laugh with stupid dialogue, and slap-stickey nonsense. It's frustrating when the writers are clearly trying to appeal to the 10-15 year old PG audience....
-Character development. At the end of the film, you'll know more about Sam's parents than you know about most of the main characters. They do not develop characters at all, and furthermore they had a few characters that served no purpose at all.
-Complete lack of nostalgia. If you're expecting to see some things that remind you of growing up with the Transformers TV show, you will be disappointed. Aside from the voice of O.P. nothing is similar.
THE GOOD:
-Best CGI/live action integration yet. This movie finally pulls off seamless CGI. It was beautiful. Just wait kids, now that they know how to do CGI properly, George Lucas will probably re-make Star Wars again...) -They got the original guy to do the voice of Optimus Prime. Awesome.
SUMMARY: If you're out to see a mediocre action movie laden with poorly written dialogue, and bad "humor," then go for it.
If you're looking for some connection to a fantastic show from your childhood, don't waste your time.
If you want to see how CGI should look from now on, take the time, but be prepared for an altogether awful movie.