Poll

What's your favorite film by Michael Bay?

haven't seen any
2 (4.2%)
don't like any
11 (22.9%)
Bad Boys
2 (4.2%)
The Rock
25 (52.1%)
Armageddon
1 (2.1%)
Pearl Harbor
0 (0%)
Bad Boys II
0 (0%)
The Island
1 (2.1%)
Transformers
1 (2.1%)
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
1 (2.1%)
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
0 (0%)
Pain and Gain
3 (6.3%)
Transformers: Age of Extinction
0 (0%)
13 Hours
1 (2.1%)
Transformers: The Last Knight
0 (0%)
6 Underground
0 (0%)
Ambulance
0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 48

Author Topic: Bay, Michael  (Read 13509 times)

DarkeningHumour

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 10453
  • When not sure if sarcasm look at username.
    • Pretentiously Yours
Re: Bay, Michael
« Reply #90 on: March 29, 2016, 10:15:04 PM »
Pain & Gain
The Island
Bad Boys II
Transformers
Transformers II
Armageddon
« Society is dumb. Art is everything. » - Junior

https://pretensiouslyyours.wordpress.com/

1SO

  • Moderator
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36129
  • Marathon Man
Re: Bay, Michael
« Reply #91 on: December 09, 2017, 05:58:54 PM »

Transformers: The Last Knight

By this point, Michael Bay and company don't care about story or character. The script is just a bucket list of things Bay is into at the moment: Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, British culture, submarines. No more pretending there's a larger universe to it all. I think Mark Wahlberg is one of the best things to happen to Bay. He's so willing to just roll with it without looking like he'd rather be anywhere else. This is the first Transformers film with some good moments of dialogue, and I'm still not sure that's because of the writing so much as Wahlberg taking it all in stride. Anthony Hopkins too. He really seems overjoyed to be in this film, performs with gravitas or shame and doesn't let anything rattle him.

I read some of the bad reviews for this and it's like people were still holding out hope that one day there might be a good Transformers movie. I'm working with a lower standard and while the script is one of the least comprehensible, Bay's action has never been more clear, and seriously, if you can't have both which would you prefer from a Michael Bay Transformers movie? There's a car chase in the middle of the film that reminded me how good Bay can be with car chases and it includes the greatest moment of the franchise.

One of the series great disappointments is the unclear way the robots transform and the way the film combines humans and robots in the same shot during action scenes. The humans always look like they were added later and often get tossed around in a manner that would lead to serious bruising and internal injuries at the least. During the chase, a Decepticon pulls up alongside Bumblebee, who transforms his drivers side out. The unfolding is easy to follow and leaves Wahlberg riding sideways while Bee blasts the bad guy before folding Wahlberg back inside. This is the kind of action I've been looking for the whole time.

While this is one of the better entries, it's still not a good film. John Goodman's Hound remains a constant cringe, the racism, sexism and potty-mouthed attempts at humor are still wall-to-wall and there's the most unbelievable scene in the franchise where two humans and a robot steal a submarine that's on land and - that's not all - engage in a battle with a fleet of subs. And if you're thinking the robot does all kinds of Transformer things, he mostly runs around in a panic. So it's two people who've never been inside a sub, out maneuvering a fleet. As you'd expect, the film reaches what would be a nice end point and then continues for another 30 minutes, but it isn't punishingly soulless, the explosions are given more context, the effects are better than usual. So on the Transformers scale, this is one of the more fun wastes of time.
RATING: * *

philip918

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 4580
Re: Bay, Michael
« Reply #92 on: December 09, 2017, 08:28:29 PM »
The Rock
Bad Boys
Armageddon

The Island
Pearl Harbor
Transformers
Transformers: The Last Knight

Bad Boys II
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

DarkeningHumour

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 10453
  • When not sure if sarcasm look at username.
    • Pretentiously Yours
Re: Bay, Michael
« Reply #93 on: December 10, 2017, 05:40:43 AM »
You skipped two Transformers movies? How are you going to follow the plot that way?
« Society is dumb. Art is everything. » - Junior

https://pretensiouslyyours.wordpress.com/

Teproc

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 3529
Re: Bay, Michael
« Reply #94 on: December 10, 2017, 05:48:57 AM »
Only watching the odd-numbered films of a franchise is usually not a great way to go about it (see also: Star Trek movies), but I guess it doesn't change much in the case of Transformers.
Legend: All-Time Favorite | Great  |  Very Good  |  Good  |  Poor  |  Bad

Letterbox'd

Knocked Out Loaded

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1914
  • I might remember it all differently tomorrow.
Re: Bay, Michael
« Reply #95 on: December 10, 2017, 10:08:38 AM »
Transformers: Age Of Extinction, 20˚
Armageddon, 15°
Pain & Gain, 15°
Pearl Harbor, 10°
Transformers: The Last Knight, 10°
Bad Boys, 5°
Transformers, 5°
« Last Edit: April 28, 2021, 01:35:31 AM by Knocked Out Loaded »
Extraordinary (81-100˚) | Very good (61-80˚) | Good (41-60˚) | Fair (21-40˚) | Poor (0-20˚)

philip918

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 4580
Re: Bay, Michael
« Reply #96 on: December 10, 2017, 06:22:42 PM »
You skipped two Transformers movies? How are you going to follow the plot that way?

Technically, the guy in front of me was watching The Last Knight on my flight the other day, but I feel like I basically experienced the movie.

roujin

  • Moderator
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 15508
  • it's all research
Re: Bay, Michael
« Reply #97 on: December 11, 2017, 01:33:43 PM »
Ride hard for 13 Hours.

1SO

  • Moderator
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36129
  • Marathon Man
Re: Bay, Michael
« Reply #98 on: April 26, 2021, 12:24:20 AM »
13 Hours (2016)
★ ★ ★ - Good
Michael Bay may not be the best choice for Historical Fiction, but sticking somewhat to real events puts a much needed anchor on Bay. Minus the epic B.S. that killed everything surrounding the attack on Pearl Harbor, Bay can put his best feet forward, praising American soldiers with only as much political slant as is necessary. (In one of his best decisions, Bay never demonizes the attacking militants. There’s even a scene towards the end where family members of the attackers come out to collect the bodies and mourn their dead.)

This film also has me questioning the unwatchable chaos of his Transformers films. Maybe he doesn’t know how to compose a frame when so much of what goes in it gets added later on. The action here is full of wide shots and drone fly-overs. The entire first act lays out the geography, so Bay does know how to choreograph action that’s easy to follow. Balancing film with digital video, Paul Greengrass immediacy with carefully chosen moments of splashy effects shots, this may be Bay’s most technically proficient work.

Sam the Cinema Snob

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 26795
Re: Bay, Michael
« Reply #99 on: December 24, 2023, 05:03:05 AM »
The Rock (1996)

Finally watched this and it was about as bad as I expected. In the hands of another director this script could have shined but here it's a over-edited tonal mess. There's a compelling anti-American agenda but it doesn't help that besides the general and his second all the other soldiers are over the top henchmen baddies. At least it's not a dull watch.