They need better vision. You can't just have so many plotlines and character only to disappear once the action starts.

The designs of the robots I think they are overcomplicated and it can easily be distracting to tell everything apart. A complaint my dad has with the films.

 

To fix these movies, you have to make completely different movies. These things are broken on basic conceptual levels.

 

because i knew the plot, liked the humor(my humor) and the action just made it shoot up high in my books, way too enjoyable in that respect.

 

Honestly, this movie suffers from the same problems that many blockbusters deal with; namely the need to shoehorn more stuff into the film to make it 'better' than the previous films. The kitchen sink approach has killed many sequels (not just the Transformers). I still think Bay's original Transformers film was his best. Get back to basics and tell a strong, character driven story that builds a world and characters the audience actually likes. This is what made the Avengers work for me despite it's paper-thin plot and typical McGuffin chase. I actually liked the characters. I can't honestly say that I feel much of anything for most of the movieverse Transformers or their allies.

 

A simple plot isn't always a negative. The Avengers is very character focused, so if they stuck something complex in there, it would have been too much for the audience to keep track of. Too crowded, basically. Transformers doesn't even really have that excuse, because the vast majority of the characters are so shallow that they don't real take up much space.

 

I think I just said that, didn't I?

The Avengers was all about character interaction. The McGuffin (Tesseract) was simply there to give the characters a reason to work with each other. The characters themselves are what made the movie so strong. With the Transformers films we've had virtually no character development over the course of four films. I don't think that expecting the same from the Transformers franchise is too much to ask but I think it's far too late for that now.

 

I was hoping AOE would be the turning point in the franchise and didn't want to see another reboot - but honestly, much as I enjoyed AOE as a spectacle, I think a reboot is the only way forward now.

Bay clearly can't learn from past mistakes and there are far to many plot holes and inconsistencies for the existing timeline to be able to rescue.

I'd just start again with a new origin story - perhaps closer to the original one whereby the TFs come to earth aboard the ark.

 

Oh! I'm sorry, I'd read it more "the plot was shallow but the characters weren't", like it was a flaw. Apologies for getting that wrong.

I agree though, the Transformers are potentially very strong characters. I think the flaw in the approach is that Bay approaches them like alien invasions movies, but really they're superhero war movies. The first movie was the closest to getting it right, and if they'd kept up that approach, it would've gone somewhere. Also? Prime in Transformers 1? The least psychotic by far. He actually sounds sad when Megatron dies.

 

AOE was better than 2 & 3 but still had too many issues. Up until HK/China things were looking good then Bay lost his focus again. Much like DOTM it devolved into a mad war with no direction and picked up for the final battle.

AOE would have benefited from no Dinobots and being 30 minutes less.

There are lots of other issues and the concept if one step forward but two back isn't totally inaccurate.

 

If you want to get down to the nitty-gritty of these movies' fundamental problems: It's the lack of focus on the robots, plain and simple. The Transformers are not the stars of their own movies.

Flawed plot, odd pacing, etc. I think all of that would be more readily forgiven if the movies predominantly starred the 'bots, and fleshed out their characters.

I think that's a big reason why AOE was such a big step in the right direction. There was a lot more robot screen time, dialogue, and character development. For the first time, Optimus had a legimate character arc throughout the film.

 

The best way to fix these films is to start again. It worked with the Batman franchise. I suppose Christopher Nolan or JJ Abrahms are too busy though.

 

The Batman franchise got dropped due to low income.
It got rebooted after 8 years.

 

Nolan would make them All super realistic and gritty grounded in reality.

Abrams would make them lifeless stale and boring.

No F'n Thanks.

 

No tits.

Add tits.

[/thread]

 

Tits do fix everything.

 

I think a reboot is the best course of action as well.

Though I'd rather not have a director whose isn't as well established as Nolan or Abrams.

 

Well said. AoE was one step forward (better characters), and two steps backwards (even MORE unnecessary and/or unexplained plot and characters, even MORE cutting away to humans during potentially awesome fight scenes).