The Michael Bay Transformers movies mainly received negative reviews, but there are many things about the sequels that we don’t hate. Bay made his first Transformers movie in 2007, and it was a fun action release about the Hasbro toy line about robots called Autobots that transform into vehicles and battle the evil Decepticons.
However, while the first movie received a slightly positive Rotten Tomatoes score of 57%, the four Michael Bay sequels were ranked as rotten by critics, with three of the films failing even to reach 20%. However, despite the reviews, there are things about the Transformers sequels that prove the movies aren’t as bad as they might seem.
The Transformers Sequels Had Better Shot Battle Scenes
The most significant improvement from the first Transformers movie was the battle scenes. In that first movie, the battle scenes used a lot of shaky cam, and the Autobots and Decepticons all looked similar to each other, making it very hard to follow the big fight scenes. Fans complained, and Michael Bay fixed it in the sequels.
If anything, Bay listened to the fans. He eliminated most of the shaky cam shooting, and he made sure to design the Autobots and Decepticons more distinctively, allowing fans to follow the battles more easily. While the L.A. battle in the first movie was incredible, the giant fights in the sequels were even better thanks to the changes.
The Autobots & Decepticons Looked Great
As mentioned, Michael Bay helped to make sure that the Autobots and Decepticons in the sequels were easier to tell apart, helping out in the action scenes. The first movie clearly allowed Optimus Prime and Bumblebee to shine, but the rest just kind of blended in together. That was not a problem in the sequels.
The first movie showed the arrival of the Autobots on Earth and their battle with the Decepticons. However, the sequels really brought in some fan favorites, and Bay ensured that all of them looked incredible. The second movie brought in Autobots like Sideswipe, Jolt, and Arcee, while the later films added Topspin, Crosshairs, and more.
The Decepticons added names like Grindor, Shockwave, Laserbeak, Stinger, Onslaught, and Shatter. However, the best thing was adding the very cool hybrids, like the Devastator in Revenge of the Fallen, the Dinobots in Transformers: The Last Knight, which led to the post-Bay movies’ introduction of the Maximals.
That is one thing that the Michael Bay Transformer sequels excelled at — giving franchise fans the classic characters they always wanted to see in live action on the big screen.
The Revenge of the Fallen Music Score
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was the one movie that Michael Bay didn’t even like. That is because it was being developed when the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike halted movie production. Bay said that he had to make a movie based on nothing more than a 14-page idea.
While Bay called the movie “crap,” he did a lot of things to improve the franchise despite the bad script. There was an improvement in the camera work during the battle scenes, as well as the more distinctive design of the Autobots and Decepticons. There was one other improvement, and that was the music.
The first movie had a score by Steve Jablonsky, with his mentor, Hans Zimmer, helping him compose it. However, the film also featured more popular music, and it was perfect. Jablonsky used a 71-piece ensemble band, but then Bay also licensed songs by Linkin Park.
The first Transformers movie ended with a perfect pin-drop moment with the song “What I’ve Done.” However, things were better in the sequel since Hans Zimmer and Steve Jablonsky took the Linkin Park song “New Divide” and did various interpretations of it throughout their music score to significant effect.
Using Linkin Park for more than just soundtrack moments was brilliant, and it added so much brilliance to the actual score that the first movie didn’t feature.
John Turturro Understood The Assignment
There were several recognizable actors in the Transformers movies in supporting roles. Get past the main characters played by Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, and Mark Wahlberg, and there are a lot of big names in the cast. Names like Bernie Mac, Rainn Wilson, John Malkovich, Alan Tudyk, and Josh Duhamel were all great.
However, these were movies based on toys, and the primary purpose was to deliver action that could help sell more of these action figures to kids. The movies were never meant to be taken overly seriously because this is a series about robots that can turn into vehicles fighting each other in ridiculous, overwhelming battles.
If one award-winning actor understood the assignment, it was John Turturro. He appeared in the first movie as a paranoid Sector 7 special agent who went after the Autobots, Sam Witwicky, and Mikaela Barnes. However, when he returned in the sequels, he really understood how ridiculous his character’s situation was.
Seymour Simmons became an ally to Sam and the Autobots in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and Transformers: The Last Knight. He went from an agent to becoming a man running a meat shop with his mom in the first sequel, a writer in the second, and finally, a recluse in Cuba.
The Transformers cast was always hit or miss in the Michael Bay movies. While names like Stanley Tucci and Josh Duhamel were always on target, it often seemed actors such as Anthony Hopkins and Kelsey Grammer were picking up a paycheck. Turturro was different, and his over-the-top performance was masterful.
The Battle Of Chicago In Transformers: Dark Of The Moon
There have been some incredible battle scenes in the Transformers movies, and the best of the best was in the sequel, Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Michael Bay had a lot to prove in this movie after the critical lashing he took for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. He rebounded nicely.
After getting a 19% RT score on his first sequel, with a 57% from audience members, Transformers: Dark of the Moon received a 35% RT critics’ score, and a 55% audience score. One thing that got a lot of praise was the Battle of Chicago. This was the best ending of any live-action Transformers movie in the franchise.
The Battle of Chicago takes up the last hour of Transformers: Dark of the Moon. The best part was the combination of the human characters involved in the battle and the robots attacking each other, and it all worked perfectly.
Unlike the other movies, including the original Transformers movie, the humans actually mattered in this climactic battle. This includes every human character, and not just Sam Witwicky. There was also a human enemy here in Dylan (Patrick Dempsey), who was a servant of the Decepticons.
However, this is a movie about giant robots, and every major Transformer gets a moment to shine in the Battle of Chicago. Bumblebee is almost executed in front of Sam, and audiences actually felt the emotional impact of this scene. Optimus Prime reentering the battle late was an exciting moment.
Even the other Autobots all get their big moments. Shockwave stops Cybertron’s transportation to Earth. Wheelie and Brains sabotaged a Decepticon ship and then saved Bumblebee’s life. The scene with Ironhide and Sideswipe fighting the Dreads was easily one of the best moments. The entire scene was fantastic.
Michael Bay Was Born To Make These Kind Of Movies
Michael Bay was born to make these big-budget action movies. Even with the poor critical reception, the Transformers franchise has made a total of $5.8 billion at the box office, proving that fans wanted to see these giant robot battles. There is even more to it than the big money at the box office.
The first Transformers movie, despite its higher critical acceptance, had the second-lowest worldwide box office of Michael Bay’s films. Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Transformers: Age of Extinction, despite their poor reviews, made $1.123 billion and $1.104 billion, respectively.
It really shows how good Michael Bay is at making these movies and how fans will show up for him when looking at the post-Bay Transformers movies. Bumblebee, despite being superior to anything Bay made, only brought in $464 million, the first live-action movie that didn’t break the $500 million mark.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts was a film that did a lot of what Michael Bay did in his movies, but it was an even bigger disappointment. Despite introducing the Maximals, the release only made $439 million at the box office. The animated Transformers One was the best movie in the franchise, and it only made $128 million.
Michael Bay’s Transformers movies were critical failures, but they delivered what fans really wanted to see from the franchise movies. He had great action, colorful robots, and explosive battle scenes. He added just the right amount of human drama, but never took his eyes off the selling point — the robots in disguise.
Michael Bay might be planning to return to the Transformers franchise, and while his movies were never critically beloved, audiences liked what they saw. It will be interesting to see if the new film succeeds, but as he showed with his sequels, even his bad movies are better at the box office than almost anything else.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
