With the Transformers franchise getting a new movie with Rise of the Beasts in 2023, it's a good a time as any to reflect on the critical reception of the Transformers movies over the years. The best way to see this is through the famous Tomatometer,

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Through all seven movies, fans have expressed their feelings on the franchise's cinematic outings through simple reviews and rating them on the 1-10 scale. As expected of the franchise's reputation, critical and audience reactions tend to be rather mixed.

Transformers: The Last Knight (2017) — 15%

Quintessa in the Transformers movies.

Possibly the last Transformers movie to be directed by Michael Bay, and it did not sit well with audiences or critics. While the franchise was no stranger to convoluted plots, this movie in particular just felt confused. The knightly order of Witwickans just felt hollow considering the lack of Sam Witwicky, and Quintessa spends too little time on screen to be a fully fleshed-out villain.

With the lowest score of 15% on the Tomatometer and an audience score of 43%, it seems like nobody was too pleased with the franchise's fifth entry. The story, even by the franchise's standards at this point, already had too many moving parts. Add to the fact that it's an unpopular story in an already stagnating franchise, it isn't shocking it's the worst Transformers movie on Rotten Tomatoes.

Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014) — 17%

Lockdown walking in the Transformers movies.

The fourth entry in the franchise and the one to make the rather polarizing decision to completely cut the Witwicky storyline in favor of a new human character in the form of Cade Yeager. Unfortunately, the lack of Sam Witwicky after three movies seems to have taken its toll on fans' and critics' patience despite the box office success of the movie.

With a 17% on the Tomatometer and an audience score of 50%, opinions are generally negative on this "do-over" sequel. Cade Yeager simply didn't have that relatable everyman appeal that Sam Witwicky had, and the destruction of the relationship between humans and the Transformers makes humanity just completely villainous in a way that didn't make sense considering how the Autobots have saved them three times over.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) — 20%

Transformers Revenge Of The Fallen

The sequel to the cinematic hit that was Transformers (2007) was not as well-received as its predecessor and considering this is the only Transformers movie that Michael Bay himself has said was "kind of a mess", fans were right to be disappointed. A lot of that could be attributed to the writer's strike that was going on at the time.

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With a 20% on the Tomatometer and a 57% audience score, this movie had a lot going against it in terms of vision and spectacle. The lack of writers meant this was no more than a repeat of the last movie's McGuffin plot, and the completely tone-deaf portrayals of Mudflap and Skidz is one of the few characters that the studio wishes for audiences to just forget.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) — 35%

Sentinel Prime in the Transformers movies.

The last movie to feature Sam Witwicky's story and while a thrilling conclusion to his plotline, audiences felt rather split on the movie's execution of its storyline. The betrayal of Sentinel Prime was a shocking twist, but the movie was padded with unnecessary plot threads and an uncharacteristically ruthless version of Optimus Prime by the end (even more so than in previous movies somehow).

With a 35% on the Tomatometer and a 55% audience score, Dark of the Moon stands in the complete middle of the Transformers franchise as the perfectly average movie. It doesn't quite make it into a fresh rating or an audience-pleasing score, but considering it's also the highest-grossing movie in the franchise worldwide, it did enough things right for fans of the Bay franchise when it first came out.

Transformers (2007) — 58%

The Autobots assemble on Earth in Transformers

Michael Bay's first foray into the Transformers mythos was met with incredibly high praise by audiences and even some critics, despite some of its juvenile writing and messy CGI fights. As far as the Bay movies go, the first one is still considered the best by the fandom at large for its slick new looks for beloved characters and surprisingly entertaining human storyline, something that gets lost in the other movies.

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With a 58% on the Tomatometer and the highest audience score for a live-action Transformers movie at 85%, the first Bayverse Transformers movie is a crowd-pleaser, and its more negative aspects are overshadowed by the hype that people felt seeing these iconic characters with updated designs fight each other on-screen. It's hard not to please with giant robots, especially when it hasn't been oversaturated yet.

Transformers: The Movie (1986) — 62%

The Transformers 1986 animated movie.

The cinematic debut of the Cybertronians was a surprisingly dark one. The contrast from the rather goofy 80s cartoon antics to the gritty realities of the war that the Autobots and Decepticons waged was certainly a shock to audiences. So much so, that it got negative reception from audiences and critics alike.

However, based on the 62% score on the Tomatometer (the only other Transformers movie with a Fresh rating besides Bumblebee) and an 88% audience score (the highest of all the movies), Time is on the side of Transformers: The Movie,  and it's now considered the best by many fans of the franchise. Sure, it was a blatant attempt to sell a new batch of toys,  the writers certainly took the material and wrote it with a genuine love for the story.

Bumblebee (2018) — 90%

Bumblebee with Charlie.

Considered by many critics to be a much-needed second wind for an already bloated franchise, Bumblebee brought back that childhood wonder to the franchise that it had started to lack at this point. Gone are the gritty gunmetal grays and messy designs, and in are the sleeker and G1 inspired sensibilities of the original Transformers.

With a whopping 90% on the Tomatometer, far higher than any of the other movies, and a 74% audience score, Bumblebee proves that audiences still love Transformers. The movie has a lot of heart and its decision to tell a more intimate and smaller-scale story resonated much more than the last two cynical entries in the live-action franchise.

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