I'm a G1 fanboy - I'm just PO'd they gave Optimus Prime lips........
........just kidding!
I was thoroughly entertained, along with it seems everyone else in the theater, young and old.
I actually felt "bad" for Bumblebee and was quite impressed by his facial expressions.
While the plot was contrived and just a tad far-fetched even considering the wild premise - especially during the final battle - let's not kid ourselves. This isn't a movie trying to win Best Picture - this movie is about pure entertainment - it is PRECISELY about the robots and their interactions (although I must actually give credit to Shia Lebeouf for a job well done, and Megan Fox for, well, just showing up on screen
). It's about extending the influence of the mythology - drawing in the adults who grew up on Transformers, while impressing a new generation of youth to sell all the new toys coming out - did you note the introductory scenes for both the Autobots and Decepticons where they went through each robot by name? That's done on purpose. The closeups and slow-mo scenes of the CG - it's not just to exhibit the new ILM technology (and supposedly they modeled hundreds of actual automotive parts and incorporated them into the robots to show off during the transformations), it's to get the kiddies to say "WOWEE MOMMY THESE ARE NEAT-O! WHEN CAN I PLAY WITH THEM???" It's just like always, it's about Hasbro toy sales. And you know what? That's ok! Because I grew up with these toys, and their creative and fun designs lend themselves well to developing a child's dexterity and imagination, far more cheaply than any video game or robotics kit ever could.
Not every child is fortunate enough to have parents who can afford a $300 Vex or NXT kit. I think a $10 mechanical marvel of a toy is a viable substitute. If kids are going to get sucked into the uber hyper gee whiz marketing power of Dreamworks - Hasbro - Toys R Us - Target - etc., there are far, far worse toys for them to own.
And parents, don't forget to go out and buy GM vehicles!!! (Seriously, I saw a Solstice driving down the street right after the movie let out and I couldn't help but imagine it transforming right there - lol).