What do you mean "taken seriously"? What, you want snobby critics to like it? Just what is that going to achieve, anyway? Do you need them to formulate your opinions for you (so naturally, if they like, you must like it too)?

 

I think HH meant something like how "seriously" movies like Guardians of the Galaxy are taken.

It's a summer blockbuster, too, but the general public likes that film a LOT more than any of the Transformers films.

 

Formulating your own opinions is a usually good thing, but it's also important to know where the majority stands. If you want to like Transformers yourself, that's fine, but critics are experienced professionals who know what to look for in movies, and can judge whether it's well made or not. In a sense they represent what the majority will think about a movie. If a critic says Age of Extinction was bad in his review, that means more than the everyday Joe saying it was good on a fan forum.

 

Except critics aren't there to be right, they are there to judge and review and give their opinion on it.

Not going to go see a movie because a critic didn't like it is just being a mindless sheep.

And critics don't ever speak for the majority. They speak for themselves. A good critic will tell you that.

 

It really would depend on HOW the reboot was handled, I think. I mean, at the same time, TF5 could stick to the established universe, clean up all known loose ends, and drive character and narrative while having stunning visual action sequences. I didn't say it was likely, but it IS possible. Just like it's possible a reboot could turn out even worse than its predescessor.

 

Funny you mention a "majority" when it seems a lot of people must have liked the Transformers movies, unless they went to see them just to be sure they wouldn't like them? I mean, if the critical view represents the "majority", then surely the Bayformers movies should have flopped? Plenty of critically panned movies have flopped. I just find this disparity curious. Similar to the disparity between user reviews on Metacritic, where everyone's crapping all over the likes of Call of Duty while the "proper" reviewers/critics heap praise upon each and every installment.

"Experienced professionals"? Like film school drop-outs and annoying e-celebs with Youtube channels who were lucky enough to build an audience before the over-saturation began?

 

Yeah, except they're experienced people who know what makes good and bad movies.

Not true at all. There's no reason to throw away time and money on something that professional reviewers say is bad. Of course people can see it if they so desire, but critics can give you a good overall picture of the quality of a movie.

I think they speak for themselves, and reflect the majority. I've heard critics say a movie's bad, but they still enjoy it. If a critic uses good logic, and skills to determine if a movie was good or bad, and what was wrong with it, than I think the majority of the human race will reach the same conclusion.

 

That's not true at all. I don't let some pretentious "expert" tell me if a movie is good because it's relative to them and them only. In fact, a "professional critic" telling me a movie is bad and I shouldn't see it just makes me want to see it even more.

And it's funny, because "critics" say the Transformer movies are bad yet... people still go and see them and pay to see them.

 

I suppose if you want to waste time and money on something that might be bad, that's your business, but I for one like to listen to professionals, and opinions in general before I act, so I won't waste money. Hundreds of movies come out each year, and I'm not about to go formulate my own opinion on each one because I failed to listen to someone who knows what their talking about.

 

You don't need to be so rude. Burnout perfectly clarified my point. It has nothing to do with the critics, (whom I disagree with often enough anyway) but the people. I've seen so many people turn their nose up at Transformers for multiple reasons. Some people who do base their opinions off the critics. Others just find the notion of a reboot so bizarre, and some just have so many misconceptions about the series.

I mean, it gets to be a bit of a downer to me when I see so many people bashing on something I enjoy, or believing everything else with the name on it to be bad because of the movies. I'd just appreciate if people would start not bashing on Transformers so much, believing it to be this stereotype. And at this point on, many people are just going to tear apart this series because it's part of the same series. A reboot could fix that, look at Batman and Robin to Batman Begins.

 

This was the best laugh I've had all day. Thank you.

"Give us something we can be proud of"? I can barely type after reading that. My vision is blurry from the tears.

What Transformers fiction has there EVER been, in any medium, that you can be "proud" of? Newsflash: there is no cartoon, none of the IDW comics ever published, no novelization, NOTHING, that the average person on the street would not think you are some stunted-development idiot for loving. Get used to that idea.

I'm not saying you shouldn't love those things. We all do. I'm just saying that if "pride" is involved, you are seriously deluding yourself. You shouldn't be expecting validation from any Transformers movie. The fact we can get large numbers of average people to enjoy a TF movie as dumb fun is about the highest accomplishment I expect we will ever see from these.

 

I'm not interested in seeing every movie that comes out. I'm interested in seeing movies with trailers that captivate me into watching it. That's what they do.

And it's hit or miss, sure. But the thing is, it's not hit or miss for everyone, for some what draws them in is enough and that's good for them, and so for every movie that has a trailer they like, and they go see the movie and enjoy it, that's a hit.

Or what you might think is a hit would be a miss for me. It still brings up the point that if a critic or critics say something in their infinite wisdom that it's just what they think, and people will go see the movie regardless.

 

I don't agree at all. Most versions of Transformers have been good for what they are. What a lot of people fail to realize is that you have to look at each thing for what it is, not expect it to be masterpiece quality.
G1 was a 1980s kids cartoon, and it lives up to that expectation.
TFP was a teen action show, and part of an aligned universe, and it lives up to that.
I feel like these things have done their best, and lived up to their expectations. I don't think the same is true of Michael Bay's movies.
I can be proud of liking a show that did it's best, I can't be proud of liking a movie series that barely even tries to tell a good story.

 

That was hardly what I'd call "rude". Also, get a thicker skin. This is the Internet.

Why do you let people get to you in this way? I have no problem telling people I like these movies (that's in person and not on an Internet forum). I also tell them I like a lot of other movies as well, whenever movies in general come up in conversation.Someone doesn't like what you like? So what? I fail to see how that's an issue. And those who bash Transformers in general because of the movies and their bad reputation are not worth your time, since they're simply either ignorant and/or misinformed about the franchise. In a case like that, you could try educating them a little, if you have the opportunity? Unless you're referring to forums/comment sections on the Internet. In that case, it really isn't worth your time.

Also, you're not getting your reboot. Not for twenty years, anyway. The formula as is has proven to be successful, regardless of how much of the Internet hates the movies. No Paramount executive is going to want to start over to do something different, not at this point. TF5 will come and unless it flops hard there will likely be a TF6.

 

I'm sorry, I guess I'm just got a bit of a sensitive, and that's just how I am. But I know the reboot won't be any time soon anyway, it certainly won't be next as the 5th film was already confirmed, and you're right, they'll probably keep to it as long as it keeps breaking $1 billion now.

 

Good for what they are? I think you are severely shortchanging a lot of artistic mediums.

It's also a little hypocritical. The TF movies clearly set out to be mindless action romps (whether you honestly believe Transformers belongs in another genre is a separate argument), and they clearly achieved that. I can see someone here not enjoying them. That's fine. But I think it's disingenuous to pretend they didn't accomplish what they set out to do.

 

The fact that you don't realize or can't acknowledge that people actually want some closure is baffling.

 

You clearly haven't been reading his posts in the thread.

 

nothing like having your opinion spoon fed to you.. that's one of the most ridiculous things i've ever heard.. ESPECIALLY when it comes to a summer blockbuster. seriously.

if you watch a trailer, and you think the trailer looks good.. go see the movie, or wait for it to come out on dvd.. i don't understand why people need to know how the majority of people feel about a movie before they see it.

i thought the trailers for the new TMNT movie looked pretty cool.. i didn't go see it in theaters because i didn't want to spend that kind of money.. so, when it comes out on dvd i'll rent it.. and i'll most likely enjoy it even though a lot of people dislike it. so.. if i used your method.. i just wouldn't even bother seeing, and i'd miss out on something that would be enjoyable. see how that doesn't make any sense?

hell.. there are a bunch of movies that critics like that i couldn't care less about. like.. the kings speech, or argo, lot's of people liked that movie, i found it incredibly boring. life of pi.. the trailers looked cool, but i didn't really care for the movie.

so.. with so many instances of critics liking something and me not, or me liking something and critics not.. why would i listen to anyone?.. why would i base whether i'm going to see something on what someone else thinks?

 

We all have our personal likes and dislikes in this franchise. Just as there are those (like myself) who really liked TFP, there are those who really disliked it. There are those who really like Beast Wars, and for others, it just wasn't their cup of tea. There are those who like Bayverse, and others who do not. It all boils down to personal taste.

I have never based my decision as to whether to see a movie or not, off of movie critics. To me, their opinions are no different from anyone else's. What draws me to a movie is: If it's a franchise I enjoy (be it cartoon or book), If the story in the trailer captivates me, or if it looks to be a fun movie. Where Transformers is concerned, I went to see the first movie because it was a live action Transformers film. I enjoyed seeing it, though it had a few drawbacks for me. I went to see ROTF because I enjoyed the first movie and the trailers for ROTF looked really good. I'm in the minority who actually liked ROTF the most, though it also had its drawbacks. Based off how much I enjoyed ROTF and the trailers for DOTM, I treated my siblings to the movie. I liked it, maybe not as much as the first two. By the third, I was getting a little bored with Bay's movie formula. Still, I was one of millions anticipating AOE. The trailers looked great and we were getting Dinobots. Again, I treated those I was with to this movie. Unlike the prior three, we walked out disappointed and wondering what the hell we had just wasted nearly 3 hours on. The fourth film had the same formula as the first three. I felt it was also the most discombobulated and poorly put together of all four films. Again, that's just my opinion. Just perusing various sights on the internet, I've found that there are just as many who didn't like AOE as there are who do like it. As I mentioned before, it's all personal preference.

My personal opinion on T5 and beyond is that the movie verse needs to be completely rebooted, sooner rather then later. IF Bay truly is leaving, then Paramount needs to bring in a whole new team with a fresh new vision for Transformers movie verse. First and foremost, the director and writers need to work together on an actual cohesive story. Then, they need to focus on the actual Transformers. They need to give some backstory and real character development to the Transformers (more lines does not character development make). I also think it's time they took the story off Earth and away from the human element (Holy Primus on a pogo stick! Enough with teenage/parental angst, sexified female characters and annoying Lucas/Leo type sidekicks). It would also be nice if the new team didn't kill off all the fragging core characters for both factions. Of course, this is all just my own opinion.  

With Marvel/DC releasing an insane amount of movies between 2015 and 2018, I wouldn't be surprised if Paramount holds off on T5 until 2019 or 2020. That would give enough time to get a new team together (should Bay not return) and enough time from AOE to do a complete reboot.