"Transformers: The Last Knight" has been released. The reviews are in. As are the early box office numbers. With a 15% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and grossing just $68.4 million dollars over its first five days in the theaters, the fifth installment of the Transformers has reported the lowest earnings of the franchise. Along with being the most poorly received saga by critics. With a sixth film scheduled for release in 2019 and spin-off for Bumblebee in the plans, the failures of "The Last Knight", combined with the shortcomings of all the previous Transformers since the first film have cast a very dark shadow of doubt on the ability of a series based on the iconic Hasbro toy line to succeed any further.

With all the Transformers films directed by Michael Bay, who has stated he will not return to direct the next film, the franchise has suffered from the same storytelling flaws that first became evident when "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" opened in theaters back in 2009. Although it hit the record books as the 84th highest grossing film of all time, "Revenge of the Fallen" was a runaway hit at the Razzies, receiving seven nominations while winning three. Since then, every Transformers movie has been considered a favorite to place amongst movies that bring utter shame to the art of filmmaking. Having possessed a creative monopoly over the Transformers franchise for ten years, the series could benefit from a vision that is not emanating from the eyes of Michael Bay.

A graduate of Wesleyan University before matriculating to the Art Center of College and Design, two of the most revered film schools in the world, Michael Bay certainly doesn't lack for talent as a cinematic auteur. From explosive action scenes to groundbreaking cinematography, trademarks of any Bay film, these aspects have never failed to impress audiences. Nevertheless, in the course of ensuring that the biggest, and the loudest, explosions make it onto the screen of his projects, the persistent criticism levied against Bay is that such creative decisions has come at the cost of his ability to execute effective plot lines and character development. Two aspects that are a MUST-DO if a movie is to endear itself to its audience on the day it hits the movie theater, and many days afterward.

Zealously adhering to a flashy, yet pointless approach to filmmaking while showing no signs of altering this perspective, it is clearly evident the audiences and critics are now fed up with Michael Bay as the to-go man for the Transformers. And the financial and critical numbers are there to prove it. One can only hope that whoever directs the next Transformers will be able to salvage what pieces that remain from a ship that is falling apart as fast as it is sinking, drag them back to the surface, and breathe a fresh breath of life into the franchise. A franchise which has been deprived of a great deal of creative oxygen over the past years.