It's not more than meets the eye.

Rating: 5/10 (3 July 2007)

This movie shares some character names with the cartoon series of the same name, but no more.
With the possibly exception of Optimus Prime, none of the characters are true to their originals. Not in appearance or personality. I can understand changing Bumblebee if you couldn't get the rights to use a VW, but giving Prime that horrendous flaming paint job? I've read many comments implying Michael Bay tried to stay true to the "Myth" of the Transformers, but I found none of this to be a Transformers film. It's a disappointing action film, cashing in on a name from our childhood.
That aside, it's still a disappointing film. There is little if any character development or even a developing relationship between the Transformers and their human co-stars.
Even as an action film it's a disappointment, the camera is so close to many of the action scenes you can't actually see any of what's going on. Slow motion scenes abound, but not in the John Woo (slightly excessive) good way to build tension, they simply mean you get to watch things explode slower.
-- Massive spoiler -- And then there's the plot... The premise is good, if a little weak. The secret to creating all Transformer life is lost on Earth, and Megatron followed it here.
From that premise however, the movie deteriorates into a series of short term goals that don't add up to a story. There is an ongoing sense that the Autobots have no plans beyond find the Cube. This really shows through at the end.
The goal of the final battle makes no sense at all. Why are the Autobots trying to get the Cube onto the Air Force chopper? Surely they'd have been better off grabbing it and making a run for it as soon as they had it - Which was long before they battle in the city. Anything would have made more sense than driving deliberately to a city, to give the cube back to the defense forces they'd just recovered it from. -- End spoiler --
Save your money, watch it on DVD if you must - just don't pay for it. This movie simply shouldn't have the name Transformers, it doesn't deserve that. Michael Bay has been quoted as saying "I urge them (the disgruntled fans) to watch the 1986 animated movie, go watch the cartoon. You'll want to shoot yourself (it's that bad)". Right there Bay doesn't understand what Transformers was about. He's looking for an action movie in a kids cartoon. It was a cartoon about morality, about differentiating between good and evil, about making a stand regardless of anything, about giving second chances. Transformers was not at it's heart a violent cartoon, and that's reflected in it's poor translation to the big screen by Michael Bay's action disappointment.