For me, aside from American Psycho which comes in second, the original Transformers The Movie from 1986 is my favorite film of all time. All the conventions of that film, the style, the music, everything influences all my likes and dislikes into adulthood.
There was no way the new movie could have ever lived up to what I wanted but what I really wanted was a movie for the 80s and not the 2000s. It was a decent movie but lacked the epic feeling that it required. Some nice CG shots and Micheal Bay explosions but overall, missing that epic storytelling quality it needed.
I've been dreaming of giant robots rampaging through cities since my childhood, I always had better scenes in mind for the choreography and fighting. Micheal Bay is just too much "boom" "boom" and too little on aesthetic and design.
For me, it has nothing to do with appealing to the lowest common denominator...I just don't agree with Bay (and the entire production team's) sense of style at all. Then again, to appeal to my tastes, the film would have an American blockbuster budget, with Japanese design, with kung-Fu choreography, and a 1980s soundtrack!