History YMMV / TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen

** The idea of Optimus Prime having more savage battle tendencies was actually borrowed from ''Anime/TransformersArmada'', where [[spoiler:Optimus Prime seems more willing to resort to violence compared to other incarnations; The finale of the show also reveals that Optimus has a darker side where he secretly enjoys the thrill of war and fighting and is just as much of a Blood Knight as Megatron. Both Sideways and [[BigBad Unicron]] even go as far as to mention that without the burden of the Matrix, he'd be no different than the tyrannical Megatron.]]

** The idea of Optimus Prime having more savage battle tendencies was actually borrowed from ''Anime/TransformersArmada'', where [[spoiler:Optimus Prime seems more willing to resort to violence compared to other incarnations; The finale of the show also reveals that Optimus deep down does enjoy the thrill of war and fighting and is just as much of a Blood Knight as Megatron. Both Sideways and Unicron even go as far as to mention that without the burden of the Matrix, he'd be no different than the tyrannical Megatron.]]

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: When ''ROTF'' was released, critics hated it, but general audiences were kinder to it and even defended the movie. Now, after [[Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon two]] [[Film/TransformersAgeOfExtinction sequels]] full of deliberate attempts to correct ''ROTF'''s flaws, the movie is far less popular with general audiences, and is much more widely hated for turning the ''Transformers'' series into the critics' favorite punching bag.

** [[CrazyAwesome Simmons]] is well-regarded for being a much more likable character who provides some of the movie’s best laughs.

** The Pretender Alice, whose presence in the plot feels rather forced, exacerbating the [[RomanticPlotTumor already contentious]] Sam and Mikaela subplot, and the film [[MoodWhiplash having difficulty deciding]] if it wants her to be scary or funny. The fact that a concept bringing in as much ParanoiaFuel as her, ''did'' actually have the potential to be something very dangerous and interesting, certainly doesn't help the disappointment over how she was used as just a romantic plot device either.

** The titular Fallen. He's voiced by Creator/TonyTodd, the GreaterScopeVillain of the Decepticons, a savvy OpportunisticBastard, and a big winner of the SuperpowerLottery... Sadly - he's also a FlatCharacter with little screentime, not to mention he [[spoiler:[[ForgotAboutHisPowers Forgets About His Powers]] against Optimus and goes down as an AntiClimaxBoss]]. Even WordOfGod regrets how he turned out.

** Devastator. They give us a giant behemoth far more monstrous than any previous Decepticon combiner and what do they do with him? Drive a railgun through his head after fighting only two Autobots and accomplishing nothing of relevance aside from freeing up the sun harvester, which practically ''any'' of the Decepticons could have done. Even worse, despite Constructicons being mass-produced in this universe (and therefore carrying the implication that multiple Devastators can be formed), this is the only Devastator that appears over the course of the film series.

** ''Alice'', a Cybertronian Pretender who could perfectly mimic any human. She could easily have become a threat had she [[KillAndReplace assassinated and imitated someone like a military general]], where she could have [[MoleInCharge actively worked to worsen human/Autobot relationships and sabotaged NEST]] from the inside. But instead, Alice's only involvement is with the RomanticPlotTumour.
** Devastator. They give us a giant behemoth far more monstrous than any previous Decepticon combiner and what do they do with him? Drive a railgun through his head after fighting only two Autobots and accomplishing nothing of relevance aside from freeing up the sun harvester. Even worse, despite Constructicons being mass-produced in this universe (and therefore carrying the implication that multiple Devastators can be formed), this is the only Devastator that appears over the course of the film series.

** Despite having no spoken lines and only a few brief shots, Long Haul holds a special place for many fans due to having a particularly awesome design that has been emulated in other characters, particularly Onslaught in ''The Last Knight''. It helps too that not only was Long Haul was also the design that got concept artist Josh Nizzi on board as a PromotedFanboy, but he was also liked enough to be made [[PromotedToPlayable one of the main playable Decepticons]] in the [=PS3=]/Xbox 360 tie-in game despite his brief appearance.

** Despite having no spoken lines and only a few brief shots, Long Haul holds a special place for many fans due to having a particularly awesome design that has been emulated in other characters, particularly Onslaught in TLK. It helps too that it was also the design that got concept artist Josh Nizzi on board as a PromotedFanboy.

** The Fallen's main scheme is to destroy the Sun with its' Harvester. Though he fails here, ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' shows that the First Order perfected the process of draining a star for its' energy. You'd half-expect The Fallen to be watching ''The Force Awakens'', and throwing a beer at the screen when the First Order drains the star with ease.

* OffendingTheCreatorsOwn: As mentioned under "Misblamed", many black people were offended by Skids and Mudflap -- even though Reno Wilson, who voiced Mudflap, is himself black and has stated that their personalities were improvised by Creator/TomKenny and himself.

** Skids and Mudflap are widely hated by fans for their obnoxious, annoying, and [[DudeNotFunny HORRIBLY stereotypical personalities]].

* EthnicScrappy: Mudflap and Skids, already not helping their case by being SpotlightStealingSquad along with the humans (and, less unfavorably, Bumblebee), are also seen in many ways seen as racist caricatures of urban African-Americans. Thankfully, Michael Bay recognized how unpopular they were, and they managed to avoid the CreatorsPet curse by being almost completely cut from [[Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon the sequel]] (and by [[TakeThatScrappy being killed off]] by [[spoiler:Sentinel Prime]] in its adaptations).

** Skids and Mudflap are widely hated by fans for their obnoxious personalities and [[UnfortunateImplications horribly stereotypical attitudes]].

** ''Alice'', a Cybertronian Pretender who could perfectly mimic any human. She could easily have become a threat had she assassinated and imitated someone like a military general, where she could have actively worked to worsen human/Autobot relationships and sabotaged NEST from the inside. But instead, her only involvement is with the RomanticPlotTumour.

* ValuesDissonance: The entire reason why Skids and Mudflap were later removed entirely from the later films.
** Once again, the alleged oversexualization of the female cast members among the humans received flak from some.
** The professor's suggestive gestures and comments towards his female students ''right there in the classroom'' '''[[UpToEleven in plain view of the Dean]]''' certainly would not fly in any modern day institution and would be considered criminal in most circles of the law.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: The scene early in the movie where the Autobots and N.E.S.T. are in Shanghai attacking Decepticons who were doing nothing but minding their own business has led some people to consider that the Autobots (or at least Optimus) are not as heroic as the movie intends them to be seen as.
** The Decepticons killed, injured, or endangered several people, attacked a U.S. Army base, as well as a populated city in the last film; The Autobots and N.E.S.T. going after them is the equivalent of going after a terrorist organizations after an event like 9/11. Plus, the Decepticons ''were'' planning to do something that would kill everyone on the planet, so their persecution is not unwarranted.

** Sam being revived by the Primes and seemingly transported to the Cybertronians' version of Heaven, a scene that was heavily mocked even at the time of the movie's release.
** The movie became this for the entire franchise under Bay's direction, and singlehandedly turned the series into a popular source of SnarkBait among those who criticized it for its surplus of VulgarHumor and increasingly incoherent plots.

* ContestedSequel: Everyone agrees the SequelEscalation was excessive, but the final opinion is divided between "mindless fun" or "total abomination".

** Only just finding a shard of the [=AllSpark=] attached to his shirt a full ''two years'' after killing Megatron.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Jetfire, [[OneSceneWonder Sideswipe]] and [[CrazyAwesome Simmons]] (the latter of which was RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap).
** A greater example is Soundwave, with Creator/FrankWelker voicing him which made the appearance of the character help immensely.

** The idea of Transformers like Alice who can turn into humans is actually nothing new. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretenders_(Transformers)#Standard_Pretenders_.281988.29 The Pretenders]] first appeared in Generation 1, and both sides had them. (Although in that version, a Pretender's disguise was more like PoweredArmor which could actually fight independently of the Pretender once it revealed itself.)

** Arcee, Chromia, and Elita-1. They get even less screentime than the aforementioned Fallen, [[spoiler:Elita-1 is abruptly KilledMidSentence during the finale]], and [[spoiler:Arcee and Chromia are left on a WhatHappenedToTheMouse note]]. Not helped at all by Michael Bay [[spoiler:confirming all three of them to be dead and that he killed them off [[CreatorsPest out of sheer hatred of the characters]]]].

** Devastator's [[VulgarHumor wrecking balls testes]]. Appears for about ten seconds as a throwaway gag. Tends to get mentioned often when bringing up Deavastator's movie incarnation.

* NeverLiveItDown: Before the release of ''[=RotF=]'', the first ''Transformers'' movie was pretty well-liked but still debatable (even being nominated for a People's Choice Award). After the release of ''[=RotF=]'', people started lumping the first movie together with its sequels as one of the "worst action movies of all time", and generally feel that any sequel released will inevitably fall into the same pit of putrid quality (including the two that have already been released).
** Michael Bay himself has yet to fully separate himself from the reputation this film has gained, as it helped cement what audiences and critics disliked most about his directing style.
** Movie Prime has yet to live down his "Give me your face!" line. Not helped by his tendency to target heads in the sequels.
** Many know ROTF only as "the film with the [[EthnicScrappy two racist stereotypes]] and the [[VulgarHumor wrecking balls testes joke]]".

* CompleteMonster:
** The Fallen, also known as [[SatanicArchetype Megatronus Prime]], is this film's BigBad and the film universe's first Decepticon. Originally one of the 7 members of the Dynasty of Primes, The Fallen betrayed his brothers and attempted to use the Star Harvester on Earth's Sun regardless of the Dynasty's code against taking life, solely because of his FantasticRacism towards primitive humankind. Eons after his defeat, The Fallen corrupts Megatron, creates the Decepticons, and orders him to find the All Spark, [[GreaterScopeVillain making him responsible]] for the events of the first film. After he lures Optimus Prime to his death using Sam as bait, The Fallen sank an aircraft carrier, attacked several human cities, and slaughtered a sizable military force while acquiring the Matrix of Leadership to activate the Star Harvester again, fully intending to [[OmnicidalManiac wipe out the human race]].
** In the Creator/{{IDW|Publishing}} comic adaptation, [[BigBad The Fallen]] himself is portrayed as even worse than his film counterpart. Once a member of the Thirteen Primes, The Fallen came to believe [[AGodAmI he was destined to become the most powerful of his brothers]] by re-powering the Allspark, then using it to make himself all-powerful. Using the Star Harvester, The Fallen drains the energy from a sun, uncaring that it leads to an entire planet dying, and blames it on one of his own servants when confronted about it. After attempting to use the Star Harvester once more, The Fallen comes to the realization that he no longer needs his Prime "brothers" or the Allspark, prompting instead to travel the universe searching for sentient life, then [[OmnicidalManiac slaughtering countless worlds of their sentient species]], [[TheCollector absorbing the knowledge, weapons, and strategies]] of the billions he slays as he goes along. After butchering his Prime brothers, The Fallen attempts to use the Star Harvester to [[EarthShatteringKaboom wipe out the entire Earth]], [[{{Sadist}} taking extra time to crush humans underfoot while laughing]]. Though [[SealedEvilInACan sealed away for thousands of years]], The Fallen continues his wicked ways, as he [[TheManBehindTheMan reaches out]] and [[TheCorrupter corrupts]] the noble Megatron into waging a war against Optimus Prime and the Autobots, leading to countless deaths and the destruction of Cybertron itself. The Fallen hopes to return to Earth and use the Star Harvester to destroy it for good this time, solely as a final act of spite toward his brothers.