you sound like you're asking too much out of a movie about alien robots...
well, i guess i've been spoiled by other amazing adaptations of childhood shows (ie. dark knight). for me, the current transformers movies with michael bay remind me of those atrocious batman movies with the governator and george clooney. all fluff, hype, and no substance.
the most recent batman reminded me that they CAN be done well, even if the movie happens to be about alien robots. it's no more sillier than a movie about a guy running around in black spandex and campy homemade gadgets.
let's not forget that the transformers cartoon movie is considered by a lot of fans as an incredible movie for both its action scenes and the storyline. it's a bit sad that the franchise has degraded into this bloated 2hr+ big budget product placement infomercial starring no talent actors whose sole job is to look scared and run away, or in the case of megan fox, just look hot. but maybe i'm dating myself here, and this current generation just wants more pretty computer effects. :frown: