Now that Transformers One is coming out soon I thought I would torture myself and rewatch the entire live action Transformers movies. They were always rather hit and miss for me, and I haven’t watched them for a few years, so here goes…
Transformers (2007)
Plot: An ancient struggle between two Cybertronian races, the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons, comes to Earth, with a clue to the ultimate power held by a teenager.
I remember enjoying the 2007 movie of Transformers when it came out, but I hadn’t watched it for several years. My favourite aspect was always Steve Jablonsky’s music score which is admittedly one of the best of recent times. It has memorable cues with Bumblebee’s Theme and Arrival to Earth regularly still getting played when I’m in my car.
In terms of visual effects, they still hold up with some spectacular action scenes and a finale that takes place in the city featuring a huge battle between Autobots and Decepticons. I thought the opening Soccent attack was a real attention grabber and the Scorponok battle was another major highlight in terms of action.
Michael Bay always made pretty looking movies especially when it comes to military porn, so we get lots of helicopters silhouetted in sunsets as we have come to expect.
The problem with this movie and most of the others in this franchise is everything that happens in-between the action scenes. None of the characters feel like real people and the dialogue is universally terrible; I know Transformers is essentially for kids but that doesn’t mean the script has to be so bad. It’s filled with juvenile humour that is rarely funny even if the cast do the best they can with what they’ve got. Shia LeBeouf is relatively likeable as Sam Witwicky (which people pronounce wrong all the time); as someone whose name is mispronounced on a daily basis, it isn’t funny. Megan Fox is absolutely stunning in these movies and doesn’t get to do much other than look nice, but she does get to drive Bumblebee into battle for the finale which was cool.
I guess Jon Voight and John Turturro were just in it for the paycheck as Turturro’s character Agent Simmons is mostly annoying in this entry. I still got to really enjoy the character as the movie’s went on as he is at his core a total hero. Voight tries to bring some gravitas to proceedings as the Secretary of Defence, but he’ll never match his stunning performance in Anaconda.
Peter Cullen is one of the best voice actors of all time as he has made Optimus Prime’s voice so iconic where we recognize it immediately. Everything the character says sounds portentous and it’s no wonder the Autobots follow him so willingly. Megatron (Hugo Weaving) doesn’t show up until quite late on, but I like what Weaving did with his voice making him sound really threatening.
The Transformers themselves sound great and look cool, but as has been discussed many times their faces prevent any personality from showing so we rarely care about anyone other than Optimus Prime and Bumblebee.
The sound design in all of these movies is amazing especially in a decent surround sound environment.
Overall, Transformers is fun for younger viewers, but it is at times quite annoying with too much unfunny dialogue. It at least has incredible music and spectacular set-pieces in-between the cringe-induing dialogue to make it an entertaining watch.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
Plot: Two years after he and his Autobot friends saved the Earth from the Decepticons, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) faces a new battle: college. Meanwhile, Optimus Prime and the Autobots are working with a secret military organization and trying to make a home for themselves on Earth. When an ancient Decepticon known as The Fallen rises up to wreak vengeance, Sam and his girlfriend, Mikaela, must figure out the history of the Transformers on Earth and find a way to defeat The Fallen once and for all.
Widely regarded as the worst of the franchise, I actually prefer this to the 2007 film; this certainly has its share of problems, especially the first half with all the college nonsense and the stuff with Sam’s mum getting high wasn’t funny and killed the pacing. Then we have Skids and Mudflap who are also just annoying; once again this is marred by juvenile humour; like, did we really need to see Devastator’s scrotum? I don’t think so. His design in the original cartoon was perfect, so it’s too bad they deviated so much from it.
Aside from all the problems this movie has the whole finale in the desert is epic stuff with plenty of huge explosions, robots fighting and a genuine sense of stakes. The Fallen (Tony Todd) wants to destroy our Sun (which is very Mr. Burns of him) so it’s up to Sam, Mikaela and the Autobots to try and stop the Decepticons.
Steve Jablonsky returns to score and it’s every bit as awesome as the first movie with a really masculine score filled with electric guitars and the track NEST is a particular favourite.
I hate that they killed off Prime again; they already destroyed my childhood doing that back in 1986, but at least he comes back in this movie. Before anyone says, I know he came back in the animated show too. He’s much angrier in these movies than he was in the cartoon and the scene in the forest where he says to the Decepticons “I’ll take you all on” made me think he must have Scottish ancestry.
Although I find Sam’s parents mostly irritating in these movies, I do love the scene towards the end where Sam has to convince his dad to let him go; it’s one of the few human moments with genuine emotion and the movies could use more of that. Let’s face it though; we don’t want human stuff; we just want the Transformers fighting as that’s what we’re here for.
As with Devastator I do wish they’d kept the designs of the original Transformers as they looked recognisable and you could tell them apart easily. Like I said about the 2007 movie, in these movies they are hard to differentiate especially during some of the action scenes.
Michael Bay sure is good at blowing shit up and this movie was some incredible explosions which is the main selling point of these movies (other than big robots fighting).
Overall, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen suffers from the same juvenile humour as the first film with several scenes which should have just been removed to give us a shorter runtime. It does however, have an action-packed finale lots of explosions and robot battles. You can basically skip the first hour and a half and watch the rest of the movie.
“Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing” Optimus Prime
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
Plot: Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) and his new girlfriend, Carly (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley), join the fray when the evil Decepticons renew their longstanding war against the Autobots. Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) believes that resurrecting ancient Transformer Sentinel Prime (Leonard Nimoy), once the leader of the Autobots, may lead to victory. That decision, however, has devastating consequences; the war appears to tip in favor of the Decepticons, leading to a climactic battle in Chicago.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon was Shia LeBeouf’s final film in the franchise, but boy did he go out with a bang. Gone is Megan Fox and is replaced by Rosie Huntington Whitley. You can tell the parting wasn’t amicable as there are a few references to Megan’s character that were less than complimentary. Like the other movies, a lot of the first hour is mostly filled with obnoxious humour that will likely appeal to younger viewers.
I still find Sam’s parents annoying and rarely funny, but they don’t have a huge part in this movie anyway. Of the 3 Shia movies I think this is easily the best due to the finale in Chicago which is one of the most spectacular action scenes I’ve witnessed. Buildings are destroyed, robots do battle, everything explodes and the visual effects are nearly faultless.
I also think Sentinel Prime (Leonard Nimoy) is the best villain of the franchise; he betrays Optimus and the Autobots to join the Decepticons. Like most villains he doesn’t think what he is doing is evil as he is trying to bring back Cybertron, however enslaving humanity doesn’t exactly make you look good.
John Malkovich joins the cast for some reason, but his character doesn’t really have anything huge to do other than be eccentric, give Sam a job and tickle Bumblebee (yes, you read that correctly). Patrick Dempsey plays Dylan (yousonofabtich) who is another traitor to his species and only wants to save his hide while the Decepticons take over Earth.
Shockwave is quite different from his original iteration, but he’s still cool although my favourite Transformer will always be Soundwave. He showed up in this and the second movie, but he doesn’t have that awesome voice anymore; Ravage is particularly nasty now and I like what they did with him.
I haven’t mentioned them yet, but I like Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson’s military characters as they are true heroes who never shy away from danger.
Steve Jablonsky once again totally kills it with the music score which brings back the familiar themes while also adding to the epicness for the final battle.
I remember Peter Cullen saying he hated having to say the line “I’ll kill them all” which he thinks isn’t something Optimus Prime would say; like I said previously, in these movies Prime is far more aggressive than he was in the cartoons before never hesitating in ripping the limbs of his enemies…and I have no problem with that as the Decepticons wouldn’t show mercy either.
Overall, Transformers: Dark of the Moon may well be the best entry in the franchise purely due to the climax in Chicago which is some of the most jaw dropping action I’ve ever seen. It still has some of the awful “comical” moments, but they aren’t as jarring as the other movies.
Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)
Plot: When humanity allies with a bounty hunter in pursuit of Optimus Prime, the Autobots turn to a mechanic and his family for help.
Transformers: Age of Extinction takes place after the battle of Chicago however, it feels more like a reboot with a whole new cast. No more Shia LaBeouf, Tyrese or any of the original stars. Mark Wahlberg takes over the lead as inventor Cade Yeager who barely gets by fixing things. One day he decides to fix up an old truck and discovers it’s Optimus Prime who is hiding out; humans have understandably turned against the Transformers after many people died due to the events of the last movie.
The villain this time is Lockdown who is basically an intergalactic bounty hunter charged with capturing Prime and taking him to meet his creators.
Lockdown has made a deal with some shady government types led by Kelsey Grammar and Stanley Tucci who want something known as The Seed so they can create their own army of Transformers.
The star of this movie for me is Tucci who even in something as silly as this never phones it in and treats it like its Shakespeare. Kelsey Grammar makes for a surprisingly nasty bad guy who is quite hateful as is his henchmen played by Titus Welliver.
This is only the second time I’ve watched this movie, and I enjoyed it more this viewing as I had totally forgotten everything about it. The humour isn’t quite so annoying in this one and I like Wahlberg’s Cade who screams a lot less than La Beouf did.
The most memorable aspect of this entry is the introduction of the Dinobots who are really just mindless monsters and don’t even get to speak. I don’t have a problem with him not saying “Me, Grimlock” all the time though like he did in the cartoon.
I find this one lacks the scale of Dark of the Moon and at this stage the franchise felt a little tired. It certainly has its moments with some impressive action and I like seeing some human fight scenes which stand out here.
The music is as awesome as ever and this time Imagine Dragons join Steve Jablonsky. I like the tune Tessa even if the character herself is pretty pointless; just there to be rescued all the time. She does at least do something towards the end of the film with the help of her Irish boyfriend Shane.
This is a super long movie at nearly 3 hours, and it feels it at times; they could have easily cut a few scenes down for pacing, but even then it’s never boring.
The dialogue is better in this one and I’m so glad to be rid of Sam’s parents who were godawful before. I also like how humans really are the main enemy this time as their resentment towards the alien war is well deserved. If we went to war with the Transformers, I’m afraid I’d have to join Optimus; Peter Cullen’s voice is just so iconic that I’d follow him into any battle even with my own species. Screw you, puny Earthlings.
Overall, Transformers: Age of Extinction is mostly successful at bringing us a new cast of characters even if Tessa doesn’t do anything worthwhile. It has some decent action and the Dinobots are what make it worth watching. There is nothing on the scale of the third movie, so I do find this one fun but forgettable.
Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
Plot: Humans are at war with the Transformers, and Optimus Prime is gone. The key to saving the future lies buried in the secrets of the past and the hidden history of Transformers on Earth. Now, it’s up to the unlikely alliance of Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg), Bumblebee, an English lord (Anthony Hopkins) and an Oxford professor (Laura Haddock) to save the world.
Now we reach what I consider the low point of the franchise as I think The Last Knight is the weakest entry. The story is convoluted, and the pacing really drags at times making the film feel longer than its ridiculous length of 2 and a half hours.
Optimus Prime is barely in it and for some reason Megatron is back; wasn’t he Galvatron in the last one? Did I miss something?
Mark Wahlberg returns as Cade Yeager who is now a fugitive alongside the Autobots; they spend their days hiding out in a junkyard in the desert awaiting Optimus Prime’s return, but now they are being hunted by humans.
We also discover that Earth has another name… Unicron which is certainly different from the established lore of the original series/movie. Hot Rod finally appears and is incredibly disappointing now with a French accent and also nothing like the original character. It’s too bad Ultra Magnus has never shown up in these movies…
Too much of this movie is taken up by humans and there aren’t enough Transformers until the somewhat forgettable finale. There are as expected some impressive visuals/explosions and it’s good to see Josh Duhamel return.
Steve Jablonksy provides the score, but this is my least favourite as we don’t get too many of the classic themes from the first few movies. The score to the first is still the best of all.
The trailers made it look like we would get to see lots of Nemesis Prime AKA Optimus gone evil, but that only lasts about 10 minutes of screentime.
I don’t know how these movies attract so many great actors but this time Anthony Hopkins joins the cast as an English lord out to stop the Decepticons from stealing the staff of Merlin. Cade and Vivian Wembley (Laura Haddock) are forced to work together to save the world, but will they fall in love while doing so? Of course.
I thought Isabela Merced’s character Izabella was going to be more annoying than she is in the movie, but thankfully she’s fine and has since gone on to star in Alien: Romulus.
There really isn’t much that stands out about this one; it’s far too long, lacks any truly memorable action scenes and there isn’t enough Optimus. It has the odd decent action sequence, but I did find myself scrolling Instagram a few times which I haven’t done during any of the other movies.
Overall, Transformers: The Last Knight is easily the worst entry in the franchise for me with too much human stuff and not enough Transformers. I can see why they did a semi-reboot with Bumblebee which put things back on track.
Bumblebee (2018)
Plot: On the run in the year 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld), on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken. When Charlie revives him, she quickly learns this is no ordinary, yellow VW bug.
Bumblebee was the first Transformers movie not to be directed by Michael Bay which is probably why it has the best script and characters of the live action movies.
Nothing will ever touch the 1986 animated movie but this soft reboot as they’re calling it had plenty of nods to the original and is also a love letter to the 80’s in general. It opens with the fall of Cybertron and fans will love playing “Spot your favourite Transformer” as we see plenty of old favourites turn up. I remember nearly jumping out of my seat the first time I watched this seeing Soundwave and Shockwave as they are meant to look. Soundwave has his proper voice back and I just wish we got to see more of him in that form in these movies. The Transformers finally look like they’re supposed to and are practically identical to the 80’s cartoon.
After a frankly stunning opening 15 minutes where we think we are finally getting the Transformers movie we’ve always wanted, the action moves to Earth and admittedly it does get a little less interesting with some pacing issues in the mid-section.
A common complaint about these movies is that we never get to spend enough time on Cybertron or with the Transformers in general and we waste too much time with the dull human characters. That is sadly the same with Bumblebee, but it does at least have a coherent story, fun action scenes and doesn’t over do the set-pieces like Bay could be guilty of. It has a smaller scale and a more intimate story where we essentially just have three Transformers with cameos from a few others to keep hardcore fans engaged.
As always there is some humour, but this is the first Transformers movie that has genuine heart; I really took to Hailee Steinfeld who played Charlie Watson, a girl who recently lost her father and is struggling to find her place in the world. When Bumblebee comes into her life it opens up her heart and this alien being may just give her some kind of connection which she isn’t getting from her family. It did feel very familiar though with several scenes playing like retreads of Bay’s first Transformers movie and some obvious foreshadowing moments, but they really have got the tone just right for this one.
John Cena was a great addition to the franchise, and I like how he becomes an ally by the end after Bee saves his life.
The only element from Bay’s movies that I miss is Steve Jablonsky’s score which isn’t even referenced and the music score to Bumblebee lacks anything resembling a memorable theme tune. It does at least have some choice 80’s tunes which will have the older audience (like me) smiling happily.
The visual effects are for the most part flawless with Bumblebee himself wonderfully realized and looking almost photo realistic; Cybertron looks incredible and has a real sense of scale too. I just wish we got to spend more time there…
Overall, Bumblebee is an entertaining semi-reboot with a cracking opening scene on Cybertron; sadly, the film never quite lives up to that, but it has a likable lead in Hailee Steinfeld and several entertaining action scenes.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023)
Plot: During the ’90s, a new faction of Transformers – the Maximals – join the Autobots as allies in the battle for Earth.
This is yet another semi-reboot and is a sort of sequel to Bumblebee, set in the 90s. We have an all-new cast with our new leads Noah (Anthony Ramos) and Elena (Dominique Fishback) arguably some of the most appealing human characters of the franchise.
Noah is trying to get a job so he can afford to pay for his sick brother’s medical bills and Elena is working at a museum trying to establish a career as well. Fate has greater plans as they both end up getting involved with the Autobots and Maximals and head to Peru to stop the Terrorcons from bringing Unicron to Earth. I thought that was now another name for Earth. Am I missing something or do these movies keep contradicting themselves?
Anyway, it’s best not to over think it as these are made purely for mindless entertainment and they do just that. At around 2 hours Rise of the Beasts is one of the best in the series keeping things mostly well paced and I actually cared about the human characters for a change.
Pete Davidson is surprisingly good as Mirage, and he gives the robot an actual personality and a good heart as he vows to keep Noah safe from harm. I had no idea that Peter Dinklage provided the voice of Scourge, and he did a great job as he is one of the best villains of the franchise. Unicron looks incredible mostly keeping the look from the 1986 animated movie, although it’s too bad we never see him in full on robot mode.
It’s awesome to have the return of the main theme at the end of the film as I’ve missed them from the past couple of movies.
Spoiler alert in case you are a) still reading this nonsense and b) haven’t watched this movie yet.
I love the setup for the Transformers/G.I. Joe crossover movie at the end which I believe is coming in 2026. If done right, it has the potential to be huge.
I think the best thing to happen was getting new directors for these movies as Steven Caple Jr. does a nice job and I love the reference to They Live. The script is just better too losing the tedious humour which brought the earlier movies down.
The finale is suitably epic and has the best action since part 3 with Optimus at his angry best.
Overall, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is one of the best live action movies in the series with well defined characters who aren’t obnoxious, cool new Transformers and a spectacular finale making this a worthy ending of the franchise… until 2026.
If I were to rank the live action movies (so far) I think it would be as follows going from worst to best.
7) Transformers: The Last Knight
6) Transformers: Age of Extinction
5) Transformers
4) Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
3) Bumblebee
2) Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
1) Transformers: Dark of the Moon
I’m sure I’ll get a ton of abuse for my choices, but the battle for Chicago at the end of the third movie is one of the best action scenes I’ve ever seen and I’m still baffled as to how the visual effects look so amazing.