Transformers 3: Epic or Epic Failure?

I sat down to take in the latest (final?) installment of the Transformers franchise last Friday and the first thought I had as I slipped into those mildly stained, red-ish theater seats was this:

What is this movie supposed to be about?

It occurred to me only after I (and by I, I mean someone else) coughed up the $12.50 to see the 3-D version of Michael Bay's latest Blockbuster, that I had no idea what the premise of the movie was.  Other than the Super Bowl commercial that gave away the first 30-seconds or so of the film, the only ads I'd seen simply showed things blowing up.  Despite being an energetic fan* of the first two films, I had my reserves about the third after the press release came out confirming the exit of lead actress Megan Fox.  I may not be her biggest fan, but I'm not to proud to admit that there was a certain chemistry between her and Shia that added to my viewing pleasure.

I won't bore you with a recap of the plot, but my two biggest complaints with it centered mainly on the lack of Fox's character.

1)  The absence of Michaela (Megan Fox) was skirted under the rug as "she dumped me" which was mentioned twice in the early part of the movie with no further explanation.  It seems odd that after Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen where the big plot finish involved the two lead characters finally proclaiming their love to each other that a) she would just dump him, and b) he would so easily jump into this obviously serious relationship with Carly (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley).  Which brings me to point dos.

2)  I believe the whole I'm-not-going-to-say-I-Love-You-first-and-instead-wait-until-we-save-the-world plot line was exhausted in the last installment.  I feel like I just watched all of the same events take place with a different leading lady, and a slightly different - but not really - threat to humanity.      

The rest of the film kind of blended together in my mind as an epic disappointment.**  

*I went to see the last film 4 times in theaters (including opening day), that's 4 times folks!

**The highlight of the film for me was the 6 seconds of screen time the abandoned Methodist Church in Gary, Indiana that the Altered movie filmed at received.