The only thing I can say was the special effects that ILM did were fantastic and Megan Fox looked hot. The plot was so full of holes and problems I found myself not enjoying it. What is the point of making Jetfire a jet if he is just going to teleport everywhere. If a shard from the ALL Spark can bring back Megatron then why couldn’t the piece that Sam had be used on Megatron. If they found a shard after the first movie and it can be used to revive dead Transformers then why wasn’t the one piece used on Jazz after the first film. If I remember correctly Wheelie was created in this film after a piece of the All Spark fell yet he knew that the writings were ancient Cybertronian and where all the hidden seekers are. Why is it the all the Transformers created from the All Spark seem to start off bad and evil? Are they inherently evil by nature but some choose to be good but that seems to go against the fact that all the Primes in this film were good and it was The Fallen who started the path of evil. The shard the military had was in a special containment room so it couldn’t be detected or give off energy to create new Transformers but the one Sam had didn’t create any new ones except in his kitchen even though he didn’t have any special container for his piece.

I point is the plot was bad and the writing was done horribly. Only way to enjoy this film is to shut off your brain when the opening credits start. I don’t want a movie where I have to be brain stupid and just watching going “oh shiny” all the time. I think there are many others who share this point of view and expected more. I don’t think anyone expected this to be an Oscar winning performance of a film. They just wanted more out of than what we were handed.

There are a couple of scenes for instance, where Optimus flat out murders a helpless enemy in cold blood, and he really seems to like it. There’s a definite bloodlust to the film.

That’s not the Optimus Prime we all knew and loved.

I was just thinking to myself before I saw the movie that I liked Transformers BEFORE they were cool (i.e., before the first Bay movie came out, 1986 animated movie FTW). I remember when Transformers 1 came out two years ago and most of the people that went to see it were guys, some girls, but mainly geeky guys, just like what you described. When we went and saw Transformers 2, there were little kids, obnoxious college guys, slutty chicks with their frat-boy boyfriends, etc.. I know that the first movie, and certainly not this one either, was not meant to be totally true to the storyline or the hardcore fanbase, but with the latest entry Bay has certainly stepped out of reality zone, a zone that ticks off fans.

And as a final note, I think that the biggest turn off for me with the movie was the content. Now, I love movies like Crank, Shoot Em Up, etc., movies that are off the wall and have some crazy violence, language, the works. But NONE of this belongs in Transformers. The first movie was pretty clean in terms of content, and it worked well that way. It appealed to kids, teens, and adults alike, and was appropriate for all (IMO). Transformers 2 however, was full of vulgarities, senseless innuendos, and much more violence (this part I was ok with, simply because in a situation of escalating violence, it’s to be expected). I will say though that way more soldiers died than needed to, given the fact that NO Autobots died. But what I’m getting at is that Bay upped the ante in terms of presentation and content, but by doing so he essentially alienated a large portion of his fanbase: kids! They’re promoting the movie on Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network for God’s sake!

It’s pretty sad to see such a classic franchise turn into a cash cow that has been whored out by a devious madman. :/

And as I said above, I did go to Transformer fan sites. The reaction there is not nearly as positive as it is in more generally focused places like IMDB.