History YMMV / TransformersFilmSeries

* CriticalBacklash / CriticalDissonance: All four movies, but especially the three sequels. Other than [[FanDumb GEEWUNNERS]], fans in general received ''ROTF'' more warmly than critics, as indicated by audience polls and IMDb rating versus its Rotten Tomatoes or Metacritic score. ''DOTM'', meanwhile, received mixed reviews from critics but very positive word-of-mouth from audiences.

* ItsNotSupposedToWinOscars: [[{{Fandumb}} Oh dear God...]]

** And subverted when [[{{Narm}} Welker voiced Megatron in the first two video games]] [[VocalDissonance and animated prequel]]. At that point, all but the most hardcore [[FanDumb GEEWUNNERS]] believed that he wouldn't have been a very good choice. Although Welker recently started voicing the extremely similar, still very demonic and menacing Megatron of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' and did a damn good job of it (as well as using the same voice for the Universal Studios ride, albiet electronically deepened), people don't seem to care much for [[WhatCouldHaveBeen him as movie Megs]] anymore as hype for the movie series in general has died down. [[spoiler: Then Welker played Galvatron in AOE and in doing so played Megatron in the films at last]].

* {{Sequelitis}}: The first film in the series was received fairly well as a fun SummerBlockbuster. None of the sequels were. Although in the cases of ''DOTM'' & ''AOE'', it's hard to tell how well-received they would have been without the HypeBacklash associated with the franchise since ''ROTF''.

* {{Sequelitis}}: The first film in the series was received fairly well as a fun SummerBlockbuster. None of the sequels were. Although in the cases of ''DOTM'' & ''AOE'' cases, it's hard to tell how well-received they would have been without the HypeBacklash associated with the franchise since ''ROTF''.

* {{Sequelitis}}: The first film in the series was received fairly well as a fun SummerBlockbuster. None of the sequels were. Although in ''DOTM'''s & ''AOE'''s cases, it's hard to tell how well-received they would have been without the HypeBacklash associated with the franchise since ''ROTF''.

** The Fallen from the second movie, for upstaging Megatron as the BigBad, being a GenericDoomsdayVillain with a nonsensical agenda, and at the end being unceremoniously killed by Optimus in seconds without even trying to fight back. Also, despite being a fucking Transformer, he apparently does not have an Alt Mode.

* {{Sequelitis}}: The first film in the series was received fairly well as a fun SummerBlockbuster. None of the sequels were. Although in ''DOTM'''s case, it's hard to tell how well-received it would have been without the HypeBacklash associated with the franchise since ''ROTF''.

** The Fallen from the second movie, for upstaging Megatron as the BigBad, being a GenericDommsdayVillain with a nonsensical agenda, and at the end being unceremoniously killed by Optimus in seconds without even trying to fight back. Also, despite being a fucking Transformer, he apparently does not have an Alt Mode.

** Consequently, this is why the fourth film, despite its similarly terrible reviews, is more widely defended - the main Autobots now get roughly equal screentime and focus to the human cast[[note]]which in itself is more serious than the previous human cast[[/note]], and have much more developed personalities and quirks.

* BadassDecay: Megatron in ''ROTF'' and ''DOTM''. He has his moments in both, but the second movie portrays him as less of a threat and by the third movie Megatron's a shadow of his former self. This is pointed out in-universe and [[JustifiedTrope justified]] due to the fact he's still severely wounded from the final battle of ''ROTF'', and it's worth noting that [[spoiler:he does a real number on Sentinel Prime ''while still injured'' just before his death.]].

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: While the first movie is generally considered the best overall movie in the franchise, each sequel has minor changes that better align itself with the general elements of the Transformers mythology and stories. ROTF expanded the robot roster and has larger and more complex action scenes. DOTM has a more involving story where the robots themselves have a say in what is happening. AOE gives some extended {{Action Film Quiet Drama Scene}}s to the robots themselves, letting them be actual characters instead of just awesome special effects.

* FanDumb: The "true fans" didn't like that the Cybertronians did not perfectly resemble their [[TransformersGeneration1 G1]] counterparts, such as: Megatron's face; Megatron not being a gun; Optimus Prime being a different semi-truck, not having a trailer, and having flames; Bumblebee as a Camaro... the list goes on. The fact it is an AlternateContinuity does not deter the fury.
** And they also complained about silly things like 99.9% of the robots looking like, to paraphrase what one reviewer said, crap Fred Sanford dug up in his junkyard. Oh, fans!
*** The worst part: Michael Bay actually had protests outside his office (which he wasn't in at the time) and even death threats from a small number of fans who didn't like the changes.
**** Those who support the movie are not immune to this, telling those with legitimate complaints (Such as the type of humor, the useless human characters, and some others) that they should just ignore them and enjoy the movie anyway. They also tend to proclaim that everyone who hates the movie just hates it for not being Gen 1, which is not true[[note]]it's not uncommon to see people rip on the movies and to then find out that they're fans of decidedly non-GEEWUN ''Transformers'' franchises such as ''[[TransformersAnimated Animated]]'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime Prime]]''[[/note]].
***** Those who ''dis''like the movies, meanwhile, often exaggerate such things into a systematic persecution of dissenting opinions. And thus the cycle continues.
** The second movie had a number of complaints about all the plot holes that viewers found in them... except they didn't exist. There ''were'' some plot holes in the film, but not many of the ones that were often complained about. There were complaints about the heroes not using the All-Spark to repair [[spoiler:Optimus]] while the Decepticons used it to repair Megatron... except that Megatron's injuries were no-where near as bad, and the fans seemingly didn't notice they bit where the Decepticons ''killed'' one of their own for their parts to help Megatron get repaired. And a lot of people were confused by the Constructicons, as they combine to form Devastator but are fighting other Autobots as individuals at the same time. There are two sets of Constructicons, and some of them just look identical because they copied the same vehicles (behind the scenes, it was just easier because the computers they were using were having trouble keeping up with too mant different robots).
*** According to many, the plot holes were indeed there. The FanDumb aspect here comes from those who refuse to acknowledge that most of ''ROTF'' was written during a massive writers' strike, and blame the whole thing on Bay. As of 2012, the strike has been all but forgotten, and Bay (and sometimes ShiaLaBeouf) receives 99% of the blame for what's wrong with the movies.
** Fans who strongly support the movies tend to vent their spite towards - no, not ''[[TransformersGeneration1 G1]]'' - ''Film/HarryPotter''. Each of the three ''Transformers'' movies has had to compete with a ''Potter'' film, with the ''Potter'' movie getting better box-office returns (at least outside the US, except in ''DOTM'''s case) and ''much'' better reviews than the ''Transformers'' movie. Needless to say, this results in a fair bit of backlash from people who prefer giant robot battles over teen wizards, who seem to pointlessly accuse criticism and negative hype towards the ''Transformers'' movies as being ''Film/HarryPotter''-related.
*** Poor poor POOR Rosie. (The girl who played Carly in the 3rd movie)...apparently its all her fault that MeganFox was fired. Apparently she's a moron for accepting the part in a movie that makes millions and a chance for her name to get out there. HOW DARE SHE! For shame, she should think about what only MeganFox fanboys want instead of her career. And how dare they fire MeganFox even though she's been disrespectful, anti-social towards everyone in the cast, or call the director "Hitler"! Steven Speilburg what a sissy-I mean he should totally get over the fact that millions of his people was killed at the hands of Hitler! [[SarcasmMode They're all evil and MORONS!]] Also apparently Rosie, a very beautiful Victoria's Secret Model is "ugly" and "disgusting"...according to fanboys of MeganFox and [[DieForOurShip SamxMikaela fangirls.]]
* FirstInstallmentWins: The first film of this series has received far better critical praise than any of the three sequels did, which were either panned or got a tepid response.
** Subverted in the audience polls and at the box office, where it's something like First <= Second <= Third.

* CompleteMonster: See Monster/{{Transformers}}

** In ''Dark of the Moon'', [[spoiler: Sentinel Prime]] rants that on Earth, the transformers are seen as mere machines. While most of the main characters treat the Autobots as equals, the track record with the government in the previous films help [[spoiler: Setinel's]] case. They've dissected Megatron while he was conscious, were about to do the same to Bumblebee, the Autobots were threatened to be deported and later [[spoiler: all of Earth's governments do deport them to save their sorry hides from the Decepticons]]. And that's not even going into the events of ''[[Film/TransformersAgeOfExtinction Age of Extinction]]''.

** Averted ''hard'' in ''Age of Extinction'': having his former allies turn on him and start hunting down and killing Autobots is enough for him to lose his faith in humanity.

* CriticalBacklash / CriticalDissonance: All three movies, but especially the two sequels. Other than [[FanDumb GEEWUNNERS]], fans in general received ''ROTF'' more warmly than critics, as indicated by audience polls and IMDb rating versus its Rotten Tomatoes or Metacritic score. ''DOTM'', meanwhile, received mixed reviews from critics but very positive word-of-mouth from audiences.

* FirstInstallmentWins: The first film of this series has received far better critical praise than either sequel did, which were respectively panned and got a tepid response.
** Subverted in the audience polls and at the box office, where its something like First <= Second <= Third.

* LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt: In DOTM, ''all'' of the autobots (''including'' both Optimus Prime and Bumblebee) are apparently killed as their ship takes off. They have no chance to defend themselves, their "deaths" accomplish nothing, and although there was a moment of drama it clearly wasn't played up to the degree you'd expect from the simultaneous deaths of so many important characters. We all knew they'd be back by the end of the film.

* {{Sequelitis}}: The first film in the series was received fairly well as a fun SummerBlockbuster. Neither of the sequels were. Although in ''DOTM'''s case, it's hard to tell how well-received it would have been without the HypeBacklash associated with the franchise since ''ROTF''.

** In the first film, Starscream destroyed three F-22s in a matter of seconds and his entry into the battle seriously worries Ironhide. In the second film, he's beaten easily by Optimus Prime, which isn't surprising, but then In the third film [[spoiler:he's killed in close quarter combat by Sam.]]

** And subverted when [[{{Narm}} Welker voiced Megatron in the first two video games]] [[VocalDissonance and animated prequel]]. At that point, all but the most hardcore [[FanDumb GEEWUNNERS]] believed that he wouldn't have been a very good choice. Although Welker recently started voicing the extremely similar, still very demonic and menacing Megatron of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' and did a damn good job of it (as well as using the same voice for the Universal Studios ride, albiet electronically deepened), people don't seem to care much for [[WhatCouldHaveBeen him as movie Megs]] anymore as hype for the movie series in general has died down.

** In ''Dark of the Moon'', [[spoiler: Sentinel Prime]] rants that on Earth, the transformers are seen as mere machines. While most of the main characters treat the Autobots as equals, the track record with the government in the previous films help [[spoiler: Setinel's]] case. They've dissected Megatron while he was conscious, were about to do the same to Bumblebee, the Autobots were threatened to be deported and later [[spoiler: all of Earth's governments do deport them to save their sorry hides from the Decepticons]].

** Fans who strongly support the movies tend to vent their spite towards - no, not ''[[TransformersGeneration1 G1]]'' - ''Film/HarryPotter''. Each of the three ''Transformers'' movies has had to compete with a ''Potter'' film, with the ''Potter'' movie getting better box-office returns (at least outside the US, except in ''DOTM'''s case) and ''much'' better reviews than the ''Transformers'' movie. Needless to say, this results in a fair bit of backlash from people who prefer giant robot battles over teen wizards, who seem to pointlessly accuse criticism and negative hype towards the ''Transformers'' movies as being ''Film/HarryPotter''-related.[[note]

** Fans who strongly support the movies tend to vent their spite towards - no, not ''[[TransformersGeneration1 G1]]'' - ''Film/HarryPotter''. Each of the three ''Transformers'' movies has had to compete with a ''Potter'' film, with the ''Potter'' movie getting better box-office returns (at least outside the US, except in ''DOTM'''s case) and ''much'' better reviews than the ''Transformers'' movie. Needless to say, this results in a fair bit of backlash from people who prefer giant robot battles over characters and plot, who seem to pointlessly accuse criticism and negative hype towards the ''Transformers'' movies as being ''Film/HarryPotter''-related.[[note]]For example, when ''ROTF'' was nominated for numerous Razzies, one person on a message board accused the Razzie organizers of being ''Potter'' fans.[[/note]]

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The serious story about the military battling hostile robots, as seen in the opening scene of the first film, takes a backseat to the main story of ABoyAndHisX, with only some sporadic moments throughout the films. Hasbro would never waste the potential of its properties by combining Transformers and Battleship, but just imagine how awesome a film like that - directed by Michael Bay and starring Liam Neeson - could have been.

* MisBlamed: Shia [=LaBeouf=] and Ehren Kruger have gotten a bit of it, but for the most part the quality of the films is attributed just to Michael Bay.

* DeconstructionFic: Fans writing from a perspective of "the Decepticons were right". The most recent Transformers Animated starts to lean this way itself, as the high command seems a bit morally suspect and the Decepticons are basically rebellious freedom fighters whose leader happens to be Megatron. Then again, we see the kind of people who follow Megatron.

** DOTM has had critics complaining about an incoherent plot, wooden characters, and RHW being a worse actress than Megan Fox. It's also the 6th highest grossing film OF ALL TIME, just behind mega money makers like [[Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows the last Harry Potter movie]], ''Film/TheAvengers'', ''Film/{{Avatar}}'', ''Film/{{Titanic}}'', ''Film/IronMan3'', and ''Disney/{{Frozen}}''.

** DOTM has had critics complaining about an incoherent plot, wooden characters, and RHW being a worse actress than Megan Fox. It's also the 6th highest grossing film OF ALL TIME, just behind mega money makers like [[Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows the last Harry Potter movie]], ''Film/TheAvengers'', ''Film/{{Avatar}}'', ''Film/{{Titanic}}'', and ''Disney/{{Frozen}}''.

** DOTM has had critics complaining about an incoherent plot, wooden characters, and RHW being a worse actress than Megan Fox. It's also the 6th highest grossing film OF ALL TIME, just behind mega money makers like [[Film/HarryPotter the last Harry Potter movie]], ''Film/TheAvengers'', ''Film/{{Avatar}}'', ''Film/{{Titanic}}'', and ''Disney/{{Frozen}}''.

** DOTM has had critics complaining about an incoherent plot, wooden characters, and RHW being a worse actress than Megan Fox. It's also the 5th highest grossing film OF ALL TIME, just behind mega money makers like [[Film/HarryPotter the last Harry Potter movie]], ''Film/TheAvengers'', ''Film/{{Avatar}}'', and ''Film/{{Titanic}}''.

* NeedsMoreLove: With all the HypeBacklash against the series, people tend to forget that the first ''Transformers'' was actually pretty solid and quite well-received with general audiences, even if critics tended to be more divisive.