Things blow up but not much else does

Rating: 2/10 (3 August 2011)

If I had to judge this movie purely on special effects it would be a 10 but since I look at deeper things like character and plot development I have to grade it a little more harshly.
The plot is... not bad. It sort of makes sense and it has enough complexity that it can support the massive amount of action. That's another thing. The finale action scene is like an hour long. At some point you become immune to fire and explosions and its just boring again. Only Michael Bay could blow enough stuff up that it becomes normal... I don't want to ruin anything but it doesn't really make sense for the Autobots to be under the governments control and have to answer to them since they're a different species are like super strong.
On to actors: Shia LaBeouf is, as always, mediocre. He's the goofy, everyday man that manages to save the world, again, and somehow gets no recognition for it. It's sort of charming but LaBeouf doesn't really help his own character since he is getting annoying after the third installment. There is not enough of his parents, especially his mother played by Julie White who is fantastic in her mania. Tyrese Gibson is shockingly good in this and seems to have a more individual part rather than being in Josh Duhamel's shadow. He shows some depth and has his won motivations. The new chick, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, is bad. Like does not act at all bad... Megan Fox looks like an actual actress compared to her and its obvious she was just picked randomly from a pool of attractive women.
This brings me to my biggest complaint against this movie: Sexism. Michael Bay is possibly the most sexist director in the business and it is deplorable that this is acceptable. Huntington-Whiteley literally has no depth of character, wears the skimpiest clothing and manages to wear stilettos for an hour long action finale. The exploitation of her is disgusting and any women shown with strength, Frances McDormand playing the head of the Autobots department, is portrayed as ignorant, power hungry and bitchy. I cannot blame Megan Fox for leaving this franchise and I think she is better off for it.