Once the studio realized that there was a significant audience interested in seeing films based on the Hasbro toy line and cartoon series of the same name, Paramount Picture took an immediate interest in making theTransformersseries into its next major franchise. Although there was a classic animated movie that niche fans of the original property enjoyed, theTransformersseries has gone on to attract a major audience beyond those that grew up with the property. This all started in 2007 with the release ofMichael Bay’sTransformers, which transformed the wholesome cartoon into a massive summer blockbuster starring Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox.
Transformers’ financial success inspired Bay to helm four sequels; despite their financial success,Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Transformers: Dark of the Moon,andTransformers: Age of Extinctionall performed reasonably well at the box office. It was only afterTransformers: The Last Knightperformed below expectationsthat Paramount began to weigh their options. Their attempts to move beyond Bay have been only somewhat successful; while bothBumblebeeandTransformers: Rise of the Beastsearned more favorable critical receptions, both performed poorly at the box office. Audiences may have just been sick of the franchise; in the years since, Bay has gone on to make better films such asPain & Gain, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,andAmbulance.
The five films directed by Bay continue to be divisive. While every film under his tenure is rated negatively onRotten Tomatoes, the series does have its defenders.Roger Ebertclaimed in his review of the 2007 film that the franchise “has the grace not only to realize how preposterous it is, but to make that into an asset.” That being said, Ebert was less kind in his reviews of the sequels. Here is everyTransformersmovie directed by Michael Bay, ranked worst to best.
5Transformers: The Last Knight
Transformers: The Last Knightis among the laziest, most cynical summer blockbusters of the 21st Century. While there are some summer blockbusters that fit into the “so bad that they’re good” category,The Last Knightis so incompetently put together and haphazardly written that it’s difficult to even invest in the action sequences. The shaky camerawork, nonlinear storyline, and changing aspect ratios made it difficult to concentrate on anything.
Transformers: The Last Knightfailed to unite theTransformersuniverse; although it attempted to use flashbacks to show how the Autobots and Decepticons were involved in various historical events, such as World War II and the Crusades, these simply felt ridiculous and laughable.
Related:How Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Sets Up the Most Insane Sequel
4Transformers: Age of Extinction
While previous installments in theTransformersfranchise were bad,Transformers: Age of Extinctionis the first entry that genuinely felt offensive. Between jokes about the exploitation of teenage girls, crass humor and language, endless product placement, and the worship of the American military,Transformers: Age of Extinctionfelt like an insult to the audience.
While Mark Wahlberg is a very capable actor and worked well with Bay onPain & Gain, his character Cade was written so poorly that he was completely unlikeable. What was even more depressing is that the poor reviews didn’t stopTransformers: Age of Extinctionfrom becoming the highest grossing film of 2014, and the only one to reach over $1 billion at the global box office.
3Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
The drop in quality between the first two installments in theTransformerssaga was significant. While 2007’sTransformerswasn’t exactly a beloved critical blockbuster in the vein ofThe Dark KnightorIron Man, reviews of the film tended to be more mixed than outright hateful. However,Transformers: Revenge of the Fallenwas completely incompetent on every level.
The action sequences were incomprehensible, the charm of Labeouf and Foxs’ chemistry was absent, and the film seemed to change locations without ever giving a reason to the audience. Many of the film’s flaws can be penned on the writer’s strike, which significantly impacted its production.
Related:13 Movies Like Transformers to Watch Next
2Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Transformers: Dark of the Moonactually fixes a lot of the issues that had started withTransformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Due to the increased use of 3D, the action sequences were much easier to follow, and Bay kept the storyline more streamlined and simplified. While some of the crass humor and offensive jokes were still present, Bay introduced some surprisingly satirical cultural commentary on the state of global politics that reflected his maturation as a director.
1Transformers
Many forget that it was actually Steven Spielberg who executive produced the series, and of every installment in the franchise, 2007’sTransformersfelt the closest to capturing the nostalgic feeling of a 1980s summer blockbuster. Sam Witwicky’s (LaBeouf) relationship with Bumblebee felt like a “boy and his dog” style friendship, and the introduction of the Autobots into Sam’s story actually made sense given the backstory about his family history. The first film remains the only installment that gives equal weight to both the human and Autobot characters, and features some standout supporting work from legendary character actors like Jon Voight and John Turturro.
