The Transformers movies have an interesting place in pop culture. While they have grossed over a billion dollars, they’re not exactly the most beloved movies. The action is exciting with much of Michael Bay’s explosions and robots punching each other but the characters and stories are lacking in certain areas. However, Paramount is not letting this franchise go, with Transformers: Rise of the Beasts apparently setting up a new trilogy of films, so there are plenty more robots in disguise to come. With Rise of the Beasts now out, here's our ranking of the Transformers movie franchise.
7. Transformers: Age of Extinction
It’s hard to believe that switching from Shia LaBeouf to Mark Wahlberg was a bad idea but it's exactly what happened here. It’s not just Wahlberg’s fault, necessarily, because the script does him no favors. Age of Extinction is a painfully long experience filled with unnecessary and confusing moments. The new main girl, Nicola Peltz, is once again oversexualized. But for some weird (and creepy) reason, Bay decided to include a scene where we learn that she's a minor and is dating an older guy but their relationship is legal because he is only three years older, according to "Romeo and Juliet laws". Was that necessary? No. But then again, neither was making the film in the first place.
In addition to that weirdness, there is hilariously obvious product placement for both American and Chinese products. The marketing promises dinosaur robots and those don’t come until two hours into the movie, which by that point, you are completely checked out. Is the action fun? Sure, but it’s the same hard-to-follow robot fights as before. Still, there are a ton of questionable moments, bad jokes, and a lousy story that makes this a completely unenjoyable experience.
6. Transformers: The Last Knight
While this isn’t the worst, The Last Knight feels like the one where Bay and the studio gave up. It has a lazy script, awful jokes as usual, and it ignores a lot of the lore previously set up in previous movies. Still, there are better characters in this movie, and Wahlberg is given more to do besides just being an inventor. Anthony Hopkins also appears as a quirky, wealthy figure and is entertaining enough.
The Last Knight introduces the idea that Transformers have been around since the Arthurian era and have helped humanity in various moments including WWII. These all sound like much more entertaining films but this is what we got. There is also the plotline of Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) being brainwashed and turned evil. However, this ends very briefly and leads to another big explosive battle with nonsense. Megatron (Frank Welker) is also back because that might as well happen. It makes sense that Bay is not returning to the franchise because The Last Knight really feels like the last gasp.
5. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Revenge of the Fallen was rushed due to the writers’ strike at the time and it shows. The story doesn’t give any time to take a break which proves fatal with its two and a half hours runtime. The editing is poor and there are even several instances of reused shots. Once again, like all Bay Transformers movies, the humor is awkward and immature and shoved in at random times. The roommate and LaBeouf’s parents don’t do anything but tell lame jokes and get in the way. There are also the shockingly racist robots that didn’t even age well in 2009.
However, if there is one thing that somewhat worked in these movies, it is the relationship between Megan Fox and LaBeouf. While it’s not exactly believable, their relationship does give you something to root for as both these characters are likable. The action is pretty strong here, especially in the forest scene with Optimus Prime. Now, the decision to leave Optimus Prime dead for most of the movie is an odd one and takes out one of the best aspects of these movies. Megatron barely does anything here as we are supposed to focus more on this fallen villain who gets killed off rather quickly. The Devastator Decepticon is a large, hulking villain but doesn't amount to much except for a strange testicle joke from John Turturo. Revenge of the Fallen is terrible but at least LaBeouf’s storyline is more intriguing.
4. Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Dark of the Moon is the first one on this list that is somewhat decent. While it suffers from many common Transformers problems, the final battle featuring Autobots vs. Decepticons in the streets of Chicago is very exciting. Shockwave and the Driller Decepticons are cool villains who bring a unique ability to the film that creates an awesome sequence where LaBeouf and others are trying to survive inside a falling building.
However, the plot here is still pure nonsense. The Decepticons want to recreate the Earth as Cybertron but the way they do this creates some confusion. Megatron is, once again, given very little to do, and Sentinel Prime (Leonard Nimoy) becomes the center of attention, however, he doesn’t do much either besides betray Optimus Prime. There are also several new obnoxious comic relief characters including John Malkovich and Ken Jeong. Megan Fox is also replaced by Rosie Huntington-Whitely who essentially serves the same role but may actually have a more interesting arc. Patrick Dempsey is also another human villain who is only there to create relationship drama with Labeouf and Huntington-Whitely. While it’s definitely flawed, Dark of the Moon still has some of the most entertaining sequences in the Bay movies. It’s overly long as well but it’s certainly less of a drag to sit through than the others.
3. Transformers
Here we are at the one that started it all. Transformers does feature the same problems but it’s at the absolute minimum. There are moments like Bumblebee peeing on Turturo that do bring the movie down but Transformers remains the best of the Bay movies because it's the simplest. The Autobots arrive on earth to defeat Megatron and the Decepticons before they get their hands on the Allspark. The film doesn't bother to dive into the history and create confusing lore that creates a plethora of plotholes.
LaBeouf and Fox are at their best here and their relationship does have its moments. They work off each other well and its just too bad that Bay couldn’t give Fox more to do. The introduction to the Transformers is handled well with LaBeouf and Bumblebee developing a charming bond. The fights themselves aren’t as explosive and nonsensical as they become later in the series. It does take a while for the Transformers to show up, but their arrival is worth the wait. Bay’s direction is more contained here which allows Transformers to not feel like such a mess. This is still the best of the Bay films even though that’s not saying much.
2. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts exists as a weird middle-ground for the series. Its focus on human characters (played by Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback) feels more in line with what Bumblebee set up five years prior, yet the film ends in a cataclysmic fight that can often feel like what Bay did in the first five films. Yet Rise of the Beasts is far more in line with Bumblebee than Bay's work, and that's a huge plus. The charming segments set in mid-90s New York City are a nice departure for the series, and Ramos and Fishback are fun protagonists, while the robots gain quite a bit of humanity as well. Seven films in and Transformers is still trying to figure out the right blend of human character moments and over-the-top metal-on-metal action, but as the beginning of a new Transformers trilogy, Rise of the Beasts is mostly off to a good start. — Ross Bonaime
1. Bumblebee
From the opening scene on Cybertron, it was already clear that Bumblebee is trying to be completely unique from the Bay films. It looks like a scene straight out of the cartoons, with a new redesign of the Transformers that makes them feel more accurate to their origins. However, what really stands apart in Bumblebee is the human characters. Hailee Steinfeld is genuinely a strong character with a charismatic personality and an interesting background.
The relationship she develops with Bumblebee is heartwarming and is reminiscent of E.T. The action is minimal in comparison to the other films, but director, Travis Knight, does a great job at making sure everything is clear and that the main characters are at the center of the action. It’s a more family-friendly adventure, and also feels closer to the cartoons the series is based on. It’s not a perfect film as the villains aren’t that threatening and the film itself feels too tied to its 80s nostalgia. Still, with better human characters, a decent script, and more focused action, Bumblebee is the best of the Transformers films so far. If Rise of the Beasts is more like this, then the Transformers franchise could be going in a promising direction. Let's just hope that direction never meets Michael Bay again.