A decade ago Transformers went from the small screen to the big screen, and no one really knew what to expect. Could a series of toy robots really work on the big screen? Could it go from cartoon to live action and be decent? The answer, to many people’s surprise was yes. The first film had humor, action, amazing visuals, and a decent plot line. This paved the way for a promising film franchise for the years to come.

However, over the years many have since looked down upon Michael Bay’s Transformers film franchise. People look at it and see nothing more than over the top action, weak dialogue, and stereotypical characters. It seems that a lot of people don’t know what to expect because they know little information about the Transformers universe and its characters.

The most recent film of the franchise, “Transformers: The Last Knight,” seems to be getting a lot of hate. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes have been tearing it apart, saying it is “distilled to its essence,” “devoid of symbol,” and “the worst Transformers movie of them all.” The movie also received only a 15% on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 55% on the audience score despite grossing in $44.7 million.

For those of you who have not seen the movie yet, spoilers are about to come your way. The movie starts in England during the time of King Arthur. Merlin, Arthur’s wizard forges an alliance with the Knights of Iacon, a group of twelve Transformers who have hidden on Earth; they give him an alien staff and transform into a three-headed dragon, helping Arthur defeat the Saxons.

We are then transferred to present day where Transformers are declared illegal on Earth and a multinational group known as the TRF (Transformers Reaction Force) have been ordered to eliminate all arriving Cybertronians. Cade Yager (Mark Wahlberg), now a fugitive, tries to rescue as many as he can, but is unable to save one in Chicago, but the Autobot, Steelbane, attaches a metallic talisman to Cade’s body before he dies. A Decepticon known as Barricade discovers this and reports it to his leader, Megatron; enraged by this new find Megatron makes a deal with the TRF in order to track down and capture Cade.

Meanwhile, on the far reaches of the solar system, Optimus Prime discovers a disassembled Cybertron heading toward Earth. It is here he finds the Cybertronian sorceress, Quintessa, who professes to be the Maker, and puts Optimus under her control and sends him to Earth to search for the staff of Merlin that she claims was stolen from her 1600 years ago.

Meanwhile, Cade, Bumblebee, Hound, Drift, Crosshairs, and the various Autobots Cade was kept hidden are now on the run from the TRF and the Decepticons. They then meet an Autobot named Cogman, a loyal servant to Sir Edmund Burton (Anthony Hopkins), an English earl, and historian who holds knowledge of the Transformers history on Earth. Cade and Bumblebee travel to England where they meet Burton and an Oxford professor named Vivian Wembly, who Burton had Autobot, Hot Rod, kidnap and bring to him. Burton informs Cade and Vivian that he is the last living member of a society known as the Witwiccan, who is tasked with guarding the history of Transformers on Earth all the way back to the time of King Arthur. He also informs Vivian that her father was part of the society and that she is the last living descendant of Merlin, and that the talisman given to Cade has chosen him, to be a knight and that they must work together to find the staff of Merlin in order to stop Cybertron from coming to Earth and destr

Looking at how the critics have rated this movie and the ratings that the audiences gave it, it is clear that this movie is not for everyone, especially not the critics. It’s no secret that in the past decade that the critics have given Michael Bay’s work on the Transformers franchise bad reviews. The movie is constantly changing location and Tranformers are constantly fighting each other and wreaking havoc. However this is essential because Autobots and Decepticons have been fighting for control for centuries, on and off of Cybertron. Also, the introduction of magic and Arthurian legend may seem a lot to add, but the way it was addded made sense and did not make it appear as an entirely separate plot.

I feel that the Transformers movies can actually be enjoyed by fans who know the characters, and maybe not just through the movies, but through the various animated shows that have aired over the years. It is that way that we can understand the need for all the Transformer fights that we see are not pointless and just there to add time to the film, and we have an appreciation Autobots and their characters. That is why I believe that this movie was a good one and not as bad as the critics are saying. “The Last Knight,” combined action, humor, a decent cast, and for the first time in the Transformers movie verse was able to combine magic and science to save Earth from destruction. As I look ahead I can only wonder what the Transformers film series will have planned in the future without the presence of both Bay and Wahlberg.