20 2000s Movies Audiences Loved, But Critics Hated

20. Transformers

By the late 2000s, the world had certainly seen its fair share of CGI triumphs, the likes of Gollum (Andy Serkis) and Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) in The Lord of the Rings and The Pirates of the Caribbean, respectively, standing at the top of the list.

However, while Transformers may not have been the first true special effects success, it was a game-changer. The visuals to put together the Autobots and the Decepticons were undoubtedly spectacular, and there can be no denying that Michael Bay's 2007 effort looked fantastic.

This, and the sheer weight the Transformers name already carried as a property, were enough to win audiences over immediately. It has easily been the best-received film in the franchise up until Transformers One in 2024. However, critics were always going to need more than the kind of style-over-substance filmmaking the series would ultimately become known for.

The argument was that, past the admittedly impressive and unprecedented robots, and the excitement surrounding a live-action version of such characters, the movie had very little to offer. It's a feeling that has only intensified as the Transformers outings have kept on coming, though even with a fanbase losing faith and patience, it hasn't stopped Transformers from becoming one of the most lucrative franchises in history.