Transformers left me cold as well.. it was too "power ranger"ish for my tastes,  and I really hated the directing style.

I was hoping for something on par with Beast wars or Beast Machines, but with a bigger budget.

Actually there is an excellent example.. the Best Wars/Machines tv series didn't have the best cgi effects, but the storylines were great. And the WeirdOhs tv show, and reboot also had great storylines, but has lower budget cgi effects. (Especially compared with what we see can be done today.)

At the end of the day, we need to care about the characters, and the story's conclusion, regardless of the story's presentation.. be it a book, cartoon, stop motion puppets, or cgi.

Who would dis something like, say, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, or How the Grinch Stole Christmas (animated)? Both had sub par animation, yet told compelling storeies that are near n dear to our hearts.

Then take a look at the live action How the Grinch Stole Christmas.. it had a bigger budget, top notch live action and cgi effects, but really had no "heart" to speak of at all.

Way too many people take way too many things way too seriously.