Summary

• The Transformers movies have been plagued with problems, including a confusing and ever-shifting timeline that creates plot holes.
• The female characters in the movies have been oversexualized, casting a lecherous eye on women and adding tasteless fan service.
• The focus on human characters and the lack of personality in the films have made it difficult for fans to root for anyone, including the Transformers themselves.

Taking over as the most well-known depiction of the long-running franchise, the Transformers movies have been fraught with frustration from pre-existing fans of the franchise. Starting with Transformers in 2007, Michael Bay held on to the franchise as director for the majority of its lifespan, injecting some unfortunate tropes characteristic of his movies into the beloved toy line. The reputation of the films would go on to color general audiences' perception of the franchise in a negative light.

A far cry from the family-friendly Transformers cartoons the robots were originally known for, the live-action Transformers movies quickly became a dreary slog of upsetting elements. Diehard fans would continue to suffer through the worst aspects of Bay's style for the few glimpses of classic Transformers action, the series having a corner on the rights. Even as the noble Autobots and devious Decepticons have maneuvered out of the grasp of the infamous director, some of the same problems present since the first live-action movie have persisted, sullying the viewing experience.

10 The Canon Is Confusing

The Transformers Timeline Is Anything But Straightforward

As Michael Bay's films progressed, the stories fell into a habit of introducing events that happened far earlier in the timeline to recur as new threats. Transformers: The Dark Of The Moon revealed that Transformers were present on the Apollo 18 moon landings, while Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen explained that early Decepticons tried to destroy the Earth as early as 17,000 B.C.E. Transformers: Age Of Extinction went one step further, declaring that the sentient robots had been to pre-historic Earth even earlier.

The constant historical revisionism quickly grew tiring, as returning fans struggled to recontextualize the questions of new Transformers movies' places within canon continue to plague the latest entries.

9 The Female Characters Are Oversexualized

The Transformers Movies Haven't Been Kind To Women

One of the instances in which Michael Bay's influence has been painfully obvious on the series, the Transformers movies have frequently filmed their female characters through an awkwardly sexual lens. From Megan Fox's scantily-clad auto repairs in the very first Transformers to Carly Spencer's character being introduced with a tracking shot of her butt, the camera of the Transformers series has always cast a lecherous eye on women. It's unfortunate that a sci-fi action series has been so mired in tasteless fan service, casting yet another shadow over the movies.

8 The Blatant Military Propaganda

The U.S. Armed Forces Are A Little Too Present

Considering the activities of the Transformers incite world-shattering events with destruction on a global scale, it's no wonder that the U.S. Military features heavily throughout the movies. It's how the films have gone about glorifying the armed services that sticks out as a point of contention among many sharper-minded audiences. Michael Bay's willingness to paint the U.S. armed forces flatteringly on screen in exchange for access to military hardware made it hard to enjoy the brainless action without being reminded of the movies' very real implications on propaganda.

7 The Humans Have Always Been The Focus

The Transformers Are Never The Stars Of The Show

The downside of making a live-action Transformers movies is the inherent difficulty of incorporating realistic-looking automatons in a real, human world. As a result, the films have opted to focus on human characters whenever possible, whereas the cartoons got away with only including human characters as ing cast. This is made all the more frustrating by the lack of personality or intrigue the characters of the movies have historically had, tearing fans away from their beloved Transformers without even the decency to show something compelling in their place.

6 The Series Has Wasted Important Villains

Many Classic Decepticons Were A Disappointment In Live-Action

With plenty of source material to draw from, the Transformers movies should've had no problem with adapting the many intriguing villains the many iterations of the Cybertronians have had over the years. Yet the live-action movies have consistently fumbled several notable villains. Fan-favorite Soundwave was turned into a voiceless satellite in Rise of The Fallen, whereas the legendary Unicron was rebooted by Rise Of The Beasts after amounting to nothing more than a few spikes peeking out of the ground in The Last Knight.

5 The Lack Of Returning Characters

It's Hard To Find People To Root For

The insistence of focusing on human characters may be a necessary evil for any live-action Transformers movie, but the franchise's inability to retain familiar faces makes it difficult to stay invested. Shia LaBeouf's Sam Witwicky worked as an anchor protagonist for a time, but LaBeouf's own misgivings about his Transformers character forced the series to adapt. Enter Mark Wahlberg as Cade Yeager, who only lasted two more movies himself before the Transformers would yet again look elsewhere for human companionship. With a poor track record for retaining talent, fans could never get comfortable with the films' human cast.

4 The Overcomplicated Designs

Swirling Shards Of Metal Are Hard To Track

Michael Bay's designs for the Transformers were markedly different from any previous series from the start, opting for intricate, complex robots with millions of moving pieces that violently spun around until reaching their final shape. While there is something to be said about how impressive these designs are due to their sheer complexity, the rough edges and muted color palettes have made distinguishing bots from one another difficult, let alone parsing their actions in chaotic fight scenes laden with shakycam. Luckily, Bumblebee has bucked this trend, steadily introducing more classic designs reminiscent of Generation 1.

3 The Crude Comedy

Michael Bay's Sense Of Humor Is Irritatingly Unfunny

The Transformers movies have had a strange balance of deathly serious, world-ending conflict interwoven with low-brow humor appealing to the basest common denominator. While some comedy to break-up the explosions is warranted, the comedy lying within Michael Bay's scripts is decidedly stuck in middle school, with an avalanche of questionable sex jokes and toilet humor sealing the cracks between action scenes. With most other Transfromers content being decidedly PG, the inclusion of crass visual gags like Bumblebee urinating oil or Devestator's suspicious wrecking ball placement is all the more maddening.

2 The Movies Have Been Fraught With Racist Stereotypes

Offensive Caricatures Have Haunted The Michael Bay Movies

With so many Transformers to introduce and so little time to develop them, it's no wonder that many of the form-changing robots wind up with exaggerated personalities that make a big impression in a short amount of time. However, no time constraints can excuse the offensive stereotypes that have plagued the Transformers movies' rosters. From Skidmark and Mudflap from Revenge Of The Fallen to Drift in Age Of Extinction, the movies manage to offend a wide variety of groups with their flat-out racist mannerisms, accents, and traits.

Even human characters aren't safe from Bay's tactless racial humor, with many criticizing Dr. Ken Jeong's character in Dark Of The Moon as merely a collection of Asian stereotypes. Going beyond frustration, the flat-out prejudiced portrayals of certain cultures and races over the course of the films have put a sour taste in the mouths of many fans. There's no denying that the inclusion of such writing has been the Transformers series' biggest controversy.

1 Optimus Prime Is A Maniac

The Live-Action Movies Have Some Egregious Character Assassination

Peter Cullen's return as the warm, yet authoritative voice of Optimus Prime in the live-action films after voicing the character in the original 1980 series is one of the few things the movies have gotten very right. The wise, caring leader of the Autobots has always been a noble hero, sympathetic to the plight of humans in most Transformers content. However, the live-action movies have given Optimus a cruel streak in defiant opposition of his well-established character.

Cullen's voice is directed into darkness by the live-action movies, as his classic line, "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings", gives way to deranged shouts to "Kill them all!". His merciless, messy execution of many Decepticons throughout the movies has always toed the line of being out-of-character, but later films extend this callousness even into humanity, as Dark Of The Moon sees Prime use human lives as bait to draw out his enemies. If there's one thing the Transformers movies have gotten irredeemably wrong, it's the personality of the franchise's most famous character.