Editor's Note: This opinion is solely of Peter Van (bwbm) and does not reflect the opinions or ideas of TFormers.com or Entertainment News International

With two days until the end of the 2009 calendar year, it is official that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, much to my glee and to the chagrin of many, has topped the box office of 2009 with a whopping $402.2 million domestic gross ($432.9 million overseas). According to the website Box Office Mojo, the closest film to gross as much domestically is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince with $301.96 million. The film performed a lot better overseas with $627.4 million, mainly due to the larger following of the franchise within the UK region.

Best action scene EVAR? Maybe...Maybe...

Despite the film being number nine on the list of all-time domestic grossing films before adjusted for inflation, the film received pretty terrible reviews. According to Rotten Tomatoes, a website that aggregates critics' scores and combines them into a percentage, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen received 20%, which is not as bad as the 6% for All About Steve starring Sandra Bullock and Bradley Cooper (The Hangover) or the 7% for Whiteout starring Kate Beckinsale, two films that also were released this year. While it is not apples to apples comparisons, you get the point that the film is not exactly the worst film to grace the screens this year.

However, that didn't stop the visitors of Aol-owned movie website MovieFone from voting the film as the worst film of the year (24%), with the Will Ferrell comedy Land of the Lost (23%) and Jack Black's Year One (21%) coming in close second and third, respectively.

Showing how polls are bizarre and never consistent, the visitors of the website also voted Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (24%) the best action movie of the year, with Avatar (23%) and Star Trek (22%) coming in very close second and third.

Megan Fox received a good and bad year thrown into a bag

While Shia LaBeouf received a lot of tabloid buzz last year stemming from his car accident, this year was for co-star Megan Fox. A lot of people raved over her for her beauty (while this guy sees it, but doesn't see it), after the film debuted, she received other kinds of media attention. Between comparing Director Michael Bay to Adolf Hitler and criticizing his directorial skills, Ms. Fox hit the tabloids and entertainment rags all the same. In fact, she was so overexposed this year, guy-centric websites including AskMen.com declared August 4, 2009 as the Megan Fox media blackout day.

It seems that she and Mr. Bay have made up, as he has said that her outrageous quips are just part of her "crazy charm" and that she's young. "She's got a great part in Transformers 3," Mr. Bay recently said in an interview. Whether or not she has made up with the three crew members that ripped her apart in an open letter is unknown. Ms. Fox has only commented that she has "spoken with the parties involved privately."

Also in the Movie Fone poll, Ms Fox received the unanimous vote as the sexiest female of the year with a whopping 45% of the vote. The closest female was Zoe Saldana from Star Trek with 17%. On the flip side of the coin, she also received the unanimous vote as being the actress who gave the worst performance (31%) with Beyonce coming up far behind in Obsessed (23%). Her appearance as the female lead in Jennifer's Body, which wasn't as panned as Revenge of the Fallen but she was panned for her performance in the film, helped that number.

THIS is what brings us together

I guess the next group to explore is us, the fandom. Viewing these poll numbers, we are not so different from the general viewing audience. About half liked it and half didn't. Okay, so I don't know how many didn't like it or liked it. Maybe those of you who disliked the film very much were the vocal majority, but not necessarily the majority, as it usually works out in the world.

Most agreed that Megan Fox didn't exactly churn out the best performance (while many doubt she will ever be able to churn out a good performance) and the film's plot convoluted to the point of indiscernible plot lines and action, we diverge with how we value the film. Is it an all-out action film that we just accept as a traditional blockbuster summer popcorn flick (I'm in this party)? or do we look at the film as a whole and compare it to the likes of Hurt Locker or Up in the Air?

This is the endless debate that will churn the fandom and, while for not as long, the general public. Once another high-grossing film that garnered pretty bad reviews comes in, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will fall by the wayside.

However, while watching all of this the entire year, I just enjoy that we can have these discussions. The Transformers franchise was sloshing around for a while with the abysmal Transformers Armada, Energon, and Cybertron trilogy before Transformers debuted on the big screen and blew the franchise back into the good graces of children around the world.

Hasbro, Inc. raked in $482 million in merchandise and licensing fees for Transformers and according to BusinessWeek, $830 million for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

While many of us have disagreed with how Hasbro managed the Transformers Animated brand (read: terribly) you cannot blame them for ditching two (and sort of three) lines and concentrating on one line that can rake in that much cash.

For the next year or so, we'll see a new Transformers show on the yet-to-be-named Hasbro Studios, Discovery Networks joint venture in Fall 2010 and Transformers 3, tentatively slated for July 1, 2011. We will also get a new video game from Activision, Transformers: War for Cybertron, rumored to hit stores June 22, 2010. That way, we get to enjoy all of it before the world ends (I'm kidding! Or am I?).

Despite our disagreements of the film, I for one am glad that the Transformers franchise has once again come back to prosperity and while Hasbro continues to make money in this franchise, our hobby will continue to live. As long as that happens, I foresee TFormers.com and ENI as a whole to bring you the awesome news surrounding the toyline that we know and love. You love the franchise, the person posting below you loves the franchise. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, good or bad, is also a great excuse for us to come together.

Get the scoop on all the Transformers updates as they happen right here at Tformers.com. The best resource for all your Transformers news and reviews every day.