Love him or hate him, Michael Bay is going to let you know what he thinks, and you've got to admire him for that.

In a recent interview, the director of the Transformers franchise spoke openly about the problems he had with Transformers 2 and why he thinks Transformers: Dark of the Moon will be superior. He also dropped some interesting information about some of the new characters in the film.

While speaking with MTV at the premiere of I Am Number Four, Bay credited the writer's strike as a big reason why Transformers 2 was so disappointing to many fans. Bay explained that, "It was a very, very tough thing to make a movie under those circumstances," but also clarified that they've worked extra hard on the third film to make up for it, saying that he "did not want the third one to suck."

So what's different? According to Bay, the third film will be more accessible because it all takes place in a city (downtown Chicago where filming took up parts of the city for weeks) and follows a "small group of heroes," a la Black Hawk Down (you know, if a band of Army Rangers crash-landed in Somalia only to find giant robots battling each other).

Check out the video of Bay's interview below:

Sentinel Prime

Off camera, Bay also talked about new characters in the franchise, Sentinel Prime and Shockwave. A while back, our own Paul Young wondered if Sentinel Prime might make an appearance in Transformers 3, and now we know he will, thanks to Bay's confirmation. We also know that he'll be "great" according to Bay, who said he couldn't say anything more about the character. As for Shockwave, Bay said that he's "bad" and that "He's got a much bigger gun [than Megatron and is] a little bit more vicious."

Bay also said that Transformers: Dark of the Moon will be his last Transformers film, which is probably for the best. When all is said and done, the Transformers franchise will have made well over two billion dollars. Even with disapproval from critics, that's an impressive accomplishment.

Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon Super Bowl trailer

You can count me among the many people who thought Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was a terrible movie, though I actually enjoyed the first film. I think the biggest problem with Transformers 2 was the confusing plot and the many strange tonal shifts throughout the film. Hopefully Bay is right and that was all because of the writer's strike.

Based on the response to the Transformers: Dark of the Moon teaser trailer and the Transformers 3 Super Bowl trailer, fans have given Bay the benefit of the doubt and will again be coming out in droves for the third film in the blockbuster franchise. Honestly, I'm in the same boat. So far, the footage from the movie is looking pretty epic, and if they can deliver even a moderately interesting story, I think I'll enjoy the film.

Obviously, trailers can be misleading, so it's wise if we all hold off judgment until the movie gets here. In the meantime, what do you think of Michael Bay's comments?

Transformers 3 ended up at number 7 on our list of the 20 most anticipated movies of 2011. Where does it rank for you?

Source: MTV