I think what it comes down to (I'm a hard working man myself so I say thank you for thinking I don't contribute anything to society because I hated this movie) is that yes we work hard for our money, and I think we deserve better. What you are missing is that this is how Michael Bay thinks of us as a whole. We are lazy when it comes to story, so we don't need story. But characters and story are important in our lives and it is something that we enjoy at the movies to watch. Why was The Dark Knight so popular? It's certainly dark. It's certainly depressing, but it was an engrossing story with one of the greatest villains to ever grace the screen. And we ate it up. Without a single robot hitting another robot.

You spent money on this movie…a movie that is essentially a piece of crap. A movie where in script meetings the writers would say, "This doesn't make any sense." "Who cares, it's got robots blowing up, throw in a French mime joke. These idiots won't care." "Hey, maybe we can get movie snobs to get really pissed at us and spend weeks arguing over its merits." "Enough talk, just write, I need to go spend my Star Trek money." I'm assuming this is how we went. Kdogg, we deserve better than this. And I used to defend tooth and nail any movie I spent money on. We can't get refunds, so we will take it easy on the movie. We don't want to feel like we got duped. But we did. And it seems that the people who saw it for free are the most vocal against it. Please note, I'm not insulting you. I don't want to insult any people who enjoyed the movie, but we have been hammered with mediocrity so much that once it seems like Hollywood is moving away from it, along comes a kid with a firecracker to blow a toe off our humanity and depth.

On the other hand, if you can't impugn an entire profession without any real thought what CAN you do? I'm with you Kdogg. Screw everyone that likes stuff with story. Gimme the bright lights of explosions and almost recognizable decepticons any day of the week.

Re: the bandage scene someone told me that the bandage came from Megan Fox's dress. But they didn't show that happening, which certainly makes it tougher to comprehend.

Hahaha I'm glad someone else noticed the magic bandage scene. I haven't read anything about that yet.

Oh and I agree you have wit. I have been following the Oracle column for some time now. The force is strong with you for that. Personally, I look forward to the comments of the bottom 5 movies lol

Movies, believe it or not, are a reflection of where our culture is / is headed.When a studio doesn't feel they need to spend 15 minutes on plot then they won't. Studios WANT you to have zero expectations. That way, when they take your money, you won't feel cheated. You will be as docile as the cow, chewing on your cud. And again, that's fine for you. That's your choice. I'm only saying I kind of like films that make a modicum of sense. Clearly that makes me a monster to some folks.

No, every film can't be Memento, not every film has an intrinsic value. Some are for escape. But Star Trek, Iron Man, Dark Knight, The Hangover… these are all films that people at least respected the audience on. Michael Bay himself says "It's a robot movie" as if that exonerates him. As if not trying is some virtuous thing. I reject that argument as apathetic and lazy.

Throughout the history of time companies have been about making money. And that's fine, they are up front about the art being secondary. But it doesn't have to be that way for everyone else. You can admit Trans2 was idiotic and realize you'd like to see a better movie. It won't hurt. Give it a try.

And yes, I do think I'm witty. In fact, I'll go even further, I am witty in actuality.

**And if you don't agree with that I'd say your expectations for wit are too high. You shouldn't take wit so seriously. You should admit I'm witty and give me your money. Otherwise you're a wit snob. Sorry, just gotta call it like I see it.

It's the different between respecting your audiences time and money or treating them like imbeciles. Some folks think we deserve to be treated poorly. To them I say "You first."

Also, I would like to move on, so I hope that Rope of Silicon will start to move toward become a Feed the Children website. Though I will still post my objections to the popularity of Alvin and the Chipmunks: the Squeakel on it.

And no, Transformers 2 was not meant to be flat out entertaining. It was meant to get your money. Believe me, if it was meant to be flat out entertaining, they would've spent more time on the script.

And we, the movie snobs as we are now called, do have the right to complain about films that we don't find entertaining, because if our voice isn't heard then how can we make change? Brad, I'll name drop, I get it. I think.

But you know, maybe we can all just agree with Brad, yay i know his name now maybe i can name drop and get some kudos.

It's similar with people complaining about remakes and sequels.

If you don't want those remakes, there is a very simple solution: do go and watch them. Studios are out to make money and if people stop stop showing up for those remakes, they will stop making them faster than you can count to three.

Btw, Roger Ebert also had an awesome blog article this week criticizing people who defend Transformers 2 (http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2009/07/i_am_a_brainiac.html). Well worth the read.

Hey dude, I'm not saying I disagree, I just don't understand your comment. Are you saying ALL movies should be intellectually stimulating?
Cuz personally I don't always want to see a movie where it gets too complicated to follow, but I also don't feel any more dumber after watching something along the line of American Pie you know?

Or by intellectually stimulating do you just mean something that is logical, consistent in story development?

Not ripping on you, I just didn't quite get your point.

It's time to move on, your site is becoming boring, repetitive, and finaly, full of self indulgence, the very thing your complaining about!!! ;-)

It's a love it or hate it film, OK next…

Also, I'd like to make the 100yd dash a 76yd race from here on out. And I think there should be a 6ft height MAX in the NBA. And why read books? Books are hard!

All in all, let's just settle. Screw it. Why try for anything better? We deserve whatever the studios give us. Yay!

A lot of people were more than satisfied with Transformers and I don't believe they would think it did not reach its potential with its budget. Critics can offer up brilliant arguments like yours Brad, but the other half who favour popcorn flicks and blockbusters over the "pretentious" kind would be bored with this article before the second paragraph. They don't care.

i know what i would say, the movie had some entertainment value, but was seriously flawed, and left me feeling frustrated. would i see it again ? hell no!!!

well maybe one more time on bluray, no

I promise that, if a third one gets made, it won't make as much money. Not nearly as much. Everyone's knee-jerk reaction was: "Oh, it was pretty good… okay, so the story wasn't great, but the action was." This is the same reaction we all had to the second Pirates of the Caribbean film. We loved the first one so much, and we wanted so badly for the second one to be good that we half convinced ourselves it was good, and it wasn't until a month or so later, after the movie had made its hundreds of millions, that we realized how bad it was. Of course, POTC1 was better than TF1, and ANYTHING, even the awful, awful POTC3, is better than TF2, but the precedent is similar. TF2 got its ridiculous opening weekend. Now, all we can hope for is precipitous drops. We will feel better when TF3 can't scrape $300 million domestically. After all, POTC3 ended up with $100 million less than its predecessor, and neither movie was nearly as awful as TF2.

The question I always ask myself while watching a film is: "Was I entertained?" If the answer is "no" then I don't care what the film was intending to do or who the target audience was. I like good films. The Godfather is a masterpiece and a good film, Pirates of the Caribbean was a lotta fun & a good film, The Wizard of Oz is a masterpiece & a good film, Iron Man was a lotta fun & a good film, Bonnie & Clyde is a cinematic masterpiece and a good film………Transformers 2 was a piece of shit.

Unfortunately, today's moviegoing public is addicted to sequels, prequels, rehashes & reboots – myself included. Why? Out of loyalty to the original films & for plain ol' nostalgia. We remember what it was like to experience Star Wars for first time, so when we hear that Star Wars: Episode III is coming-to-a-theater-near-us, we all camp out at the theater & give billions of dollars to George Lucas.

Still, I see no reason why audiences shouldn't desire that their "popcorn" films be worthy of our time and money, whether it be Schindler's List or Shrek. I was actually offended by Transformers 2. I felt as if Michael Bay disrespected me as a fan of film. He thought: "hey, it doesn't matter what kind of shit I throw up on the screen, that guys gonna give me his money." – NOT if I'd known that it would almost induce vomitting.

Finally, I'm not trying to bash on big-budget summer fare – I just want it done right. James Cameron is a great example of the perfect summer director. His films have gigantic budgets, big stars (Sigourney Weaver, Awnuld, Ed Harris, Leo, Kate, etc.), big effects, fantastic (or at least intriguing) stories, great (or at least memorable) characters….and guess what? THEY ARE GOOD FILMS. They even win awards.

So, I cry fowl whenever I hear someone: "you have to accept a bad film because it has good effects and rakes in lots of money." NO. I look for entertaining, well-made films.

Are all movies suppose to be Intellectually stimulating? Is every film suppose to be a mastery of story and cinematography? Is there such thing as escapism and entertainment anymore?

I live with a guy that rides the stuck up cart to work every day like some of the jacks on here. He cant enjoy anything he watches and the things he likes that no one else does, its completely because they aren't "intelligent" enough to get it. How gracious your eyeballs must be to believe the things that you type. Bay is a bad director? Maybe you haven't heard of Ewe Boll. Bay is bad at what he does? Maybe you haven't watched enough cheesy late night flicks with great special fx done horribly and storylines that would make baby jesus cry. Hell some of those flicks make it to the big screen, but they aren't done by michael bay.

Transformers 2 is a movie made from a toy line about robots that can turn into mobile earth vehicles carrying out a war on earth. I'm sorry, but does this sound like shawshank redemption to you? It sounds like a 2 hour movie about epic fights, comic relief, and explosions that make your eyes grow wide like when you were a little kid and knew how to be amazed by super cool robot designs and brutality in any form. If you were looking for more than that, then we know your IQ off the bat.

Transformers wasn't a bad movie, it just wasn't your type. I wish more people would just say it like that. Its not a fault of society or some big conspiracy behind why transformers is making money. NO!~ its not because people are stupid. Its because its good at what people need right now in society, an uplifting tale of responsibility and standing up for whats right even if you're just the little man. Its not the most complex arrangement of the theme but it works. People are losing all hope here, and you're trying to punish them for being amazed. ALL you guys need to get a handle on yourselves and jerk one for the team. So many movies get overlooked these days, and its not Michael Bay's fault. It's JUST THE WAY OF THE WORLD. If there is something you like at all about this place, cherish it and let go of the negativity.