Special Effects

I just watched the entire two hours and 45 minutes of Transformers-Age of Extinction, and my brain is tapioca. How much destruction do you have to show to keep people's attention? How loud do the explsions have to be? Do you have to destroy entire cities?
I remember when they parted the sea in The Ten Commandments and we sat there mouths agape. I dread sitting through the new Terminator release or The Avengers Age of Ultron or San Andreas or a dozen others. Actual character development takes about five minutes. Witty one liners substitute for substantive dialogue.
I wanted to see Testament of Youth but it's already out of theaters.
I just watched a two hour documentary about the late B.B. King. Not a hint of special effects, not even an attempt to make Mick Jagger less scary. The only explosion came from the guitarist's fingers on the strings.