SlyTF1 wrote:The TFs in ROTF had more character than they did in the first movie and DOTM combined.
I disagree. There was nothing in RoTF that furthered the personalities of the bots that already appeared in the first film, except for Optimus Prime and Megatron. Bumblebee was the same, as was Starscream. Ironhide and Ratchet were given even less to do, the Twins did have personality, but they were new, as was The Fallen and Jetfire (and he was the biggest waste of screen time in the trilogy, save for his death). These were the characters that were prominent. I'm not even mentioning Sideswipe, Sideways, Grindor, and Devastator. Soundwave and Ravage were relevant for about 5 or 6 minutes. Oh, and Wheelie. I liked him in both sequels.
In DotM, Sentinel was a much better main villain than The Fallen or Megatron were in RoTF. Starscream was the same sniveling little bitch and died as such, and Ratchet was also terribly misused. They actually got some emotional use out of Ironhide, even if they had to kill him to do it. As for all the others in DotM? It was a crime how misused Shockwave was. Soundwave and Laserbeak were actually a little developed as opposed to Soundwave and Ravage. Megatron? He was the only one whose character diminished from RoTF, but even that can be attributed to his gradual decline physically and mentally throughout the trilogy, which was the right thing for his character arc.
And Bay cannot and should not be blamed for the lack of character development. All that is on the heads of Orci and Kurtzman. Hacks. That's why I'm happy with Ehren Kruger coming back for TF4. He did a good job with DotM, even with the development deficiencies of Shockwave and Ratchet, among others.