Editorial: The crazy films of Michael Bay
Franck Tabouring
Yes, Michael Bay occasionally likes to brag about how spectacular his films are. Who could blame him? After all, the man does occasionally pull off a pretty entertaining movie, right? That said, Bay is not the kind of guy you will see in the race for a best director Oscar anytime soon, and truth be told, it seems like he's not even after that kind of recognition. He has settled into his own genre, and he seems to have a blast.
Bay's films always make tons of money at the box office, and yet, he doesn't have the best reputation in town. In fact, many folks out there - cinemagoers and critics alike - tend to bad-mouth the director and his work whenever they can. Why? Because it's so easy. Yes, some of Bay's films truly suck (for the lack of a better work), but let's not forget he's also responsible for a solid dose of wildly intriguing cinema.
With "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" in theaters right now, I thought it would be good to look back at Bay's films and explain my answer to the question: Is he really that bad? To tell you right away, my answer to that one is no. He's a dab hand at what he does, and while he's got some lows on his record, he also generated a few movies that, heck, I absolutely love. Let's take a closer look.
Let me start with the films I believe can be a good reason to hate on Bay a little bit. "Armageddon" is first. Sure, it's quite an entertaining sci-fi action flick, but come on, can a patriotic blockbuster like this one get any cheesier? Bay delivered schmaltz overkill with his superficial characters and their relationships, and that just got in the way of everything else. That one just had one too many "come one" moments.
Interestingly enough, the same applies to "Pearl Harbor," a film many people actually loved. I don't share that feeling, although I agree the production values are stunning. Either way, the whole love story here just feels too empty, and there are tons of war films out there that boast more intense battles, among other things.
On to "The Island." I am on the fence about this one, primarily because I didn't hate it. I loved the concept when I first heard about the film, and I admit to this day that Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson did a fine job. Visual effects are fantastic, and yes, that one sick car/highway action scene remains one hell of an awesome moment till this day. In terms of story though, the script aimed high and failed to deliver on its promise.
Then there's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and "Dark of the Moon." Not the finest of action cinema. That sounds about pretty bad, eh? Sure, it's easy to show a lot of hate for Bay, but one thing to keep in mind is that these aforementioned flicks make up about only half of his filmography as director. The rest of his films? Well, let's say they are films I thoroughly enjoyed and don't mind watching again... despite their craziness.
I'm sure most will agree that "Bad Boys" is sort of a classic. It's a big show for Bay, and it's a big film for Will Smith and Matin Lawrence. "Bad Boys" is always fun. Many would agree "Bad Boys 2" is a mess, and although I admit it's completely ludicrous and unbelievably stupid, it sure turned out to be an immense pleasure for me to watch on the big screen, and I stand behind that statement. It's quite simply a brainless blast, and I never say no to those, especially those that work.
The same can be said about "The Rock," which I enjoy revisiting to this day, and the first "Transformers," which introduced us to the franchise and actually boasted a fairly decent storyline, a decent performance from Shia LaBeouf and some awesome action sequences fans and non-fans (like me) just fully enjoy to the fullest extent. You see, Bay is someone who clearly sticks to his style because he knows it's going to bring in tons of money, and while that's certainly not the most creative way out there, it does occasionally pay off in the quality department as well.
Let's face it: how many people give Steven Spielberg crap for being on board as executive producer on the "Transformers" films? Bay may have made two bad films out of a series of three, but he himself mentioned he would love to do something different after this. To be quite honest, I'm intrigued by what he's planning... even if it's a freaking "Bad Boys 3." If you want to continously hate on Bay, do it for all those horror remakes he's been producing. Most of those really are beyond aweful.
Reader Comments (1)
Good article, Franck. With everyone universally bashing Michael Bay at every turn, I think it's interesting to come across a piece that more or less defends him. That said, I'm definitely one of those people.
One of the reasons why I think Bay is Satan is that he shamelessly sticks to his formula (which you pointed out). It couldn't be more obvious that his primary interest is turning a profit. That's great for studios, terrible for the craft. I've always had a problem with the collision between art and commerce, especially when it comes to film. He's not in it to further evolve the medium, he's not in it to really say something and reach out to people, he's in it to get rich and sleep with strippers. We live in a time where the "Hollywood formula" is not only watering down virtually every release, but it's crippling everyone outside of it -- and Bay is the poster child.
His movies are loud, overblown, emotionally shallow, and poorly directed (for how much action he instills in his films, they sure are muddy and chaotic -- Paul Greengrass should show him how to string together an action sequence). His "comedic relief" is riddled with cliches and one-liners, and at times, it's borderline racist (the jive talking robots in Trans 2, for instance). Not to mention the fact that he loves sexually objectifying 15-year-old girls, which is beyond creepy.
That said, I'm with you about "The Rock." For whatever reason, Bay got lucky with that one. The performances are uncharacteristically great, and amazingly, it's genuinely funny. Plus it's shot in San Francisco, which is close to my heart.
Anyway, good article! I respect the fact that you're defending him at a time when it's unpopular to do so. I just wish him films weren't as ridiculously successful, because every million earned signifys that we're going to get force-fed a lot more of his cinema. You mentioned that he wants to "try something different" after the release of T3 -- I'll believe it when I see it.