The Big Picture: Leave Michael Bay Alone

[Ashley Blalock]

Fights need a symbol. McDonalds isn't the only reason for the obesity problem and there are so many restaurants with unhealthy menus. But instead of defusing the fight in a million directions there are times when focusing the problem into a common symbol is the way to get the message out.

Do you go after everyone who buys a ticket to bad movies or do you find a symbol for the fight against bad movies? Bay just happened to end up as the symbol for what's wrong because he doesn't change as a film maker so it's not like Bay is going to make a really good smart movie that will mess up his image as a bad film maker.

 

[Lvl 64 Klutz]

I honestly don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to turn your brain off for 100 minutes to watch a series of firefights wrapped around a nonsensical story. I personally think that's a fine way to unwind after a long week.

I wouldn't consider myself a brainless sheeple, and in fact would like to think I'm a bit of an intellectual. Just not the kind of intellectual that is so presumptuous as to consider a form of entertainment "beneath me."

 

[Remus]

Brilliant use of metaphor Bob, dropping some Dark Crystal references as allegory to movie criticism. I approve!

 

[Evonisia]

Sometimes I try to draw parallels between people who constantly go on the internet (especially places of public opinion) and John and Jane Q. Average.

Go onto internet forums and expect non stop hate on Transformers, or Call of Duty or Twilight, relish in it in fact. It's not like the public will care about this backlash to Michael Bay, or anyone who does anything the critics see as wrong, because they probably won't even know. They enjoy their dumb and crappy film just fine. Is there anything wrong with somebody enjoying Transformers, TASM 2 or that new Robocop?

 

[daxterx2005]

Coming 2017

Transformers 5: Would you like some fries with that?

 

[WarpZone]

Okay, fair enough.

So how do we fix the problem?

 

[youji itami]

Agree completely the USA audience is the problem with why so many terrible films make so much money!

Just look at the 3 highest grossing films in the US this year.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier - $257,225,897
The LEGO Movie - $257,000,260
X-Men: Days of Future Past - $223,414,899

While such great films as.

Robocop - $58,607,007
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit - $50,577,412
Need for Speed - $43,577,636

Disappoint at the box office.

http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2014&p=.htm


edit
This post is sarcasm by the way.

 

[PunkRex]

Whenever I call Transformers 2 racist I don't mean to say Michael Bay is, as you said he made Bad Boys, I mean that the movie is lazy. It can't be bothered to create interesting characters so it just makes caricatures. It's kind of understandable, it's difficult and why try when you'll be just as successful selling crap, but the best artists arn't afraid to challenge their audience. The problem I have with Michael Bay is the same problem I have with a lot of Hollywood, or Youtube personalities and lets players thinking about it, they're taking the easy route and instead of just admitting it they take the high road claiming people want what they want, well fine but don't get annoyed when others call you out on it... which is also what I think about a lot of online reviewers who are terrified of upsetting the online "intellectual" crowd so just harp on like everyone else giving everything they see a 7/10 unless their peers agree it's awful... so yeah, this is a good video.

 

[Jacked Assassin]

Wait....

I thought the whole reason to why we were hating on Michael Bay was because he honestly didn't care for the source material.

Beyond that yeah I could hate the audience (or their kids) who want to see these movies.

As for the rest of Michael Bay's movie career I don't have any problem with that.

But his continued butchering of Transformers is his & his alone.

-

So in a sense don't get mad at the crowd if they don't know they're eating Pink Slime in there Burgers. Get mad at the people who continue to put Pink Slime into their Burgers. Because there are people who would eat that Burger without any knowledge to why Pink Slime is bad.

 

[youji itami]

Sometimes I try to draw parallels between people who constantly go on the internet (especially places of public opinion) and John and Jane Q. Average.

Go onto internet forums and expect non stop hate on Transformers, or Call of Duty or Twilight, relish in it in fact. It's not like the public will care about this backlash to Michael Bay, or anyone who does anything the critics see as wrong, because they probably won't even know. They enjoy their dumb and crappy film just fine. Is there anything wrong with somebody enjoying Transformers, TASM 2 or that new Robocop?

That's because most of those people on internet forums are either liar's (in regards to Transformers and Call of Duty) or the wrong demographic (in regards to Twilight).

Just look at the Left for Dead 2 'boycott', forum after forum of those saying they will boycott then in reality buying it.

 

[Arslan Aladeen]

I kinda don't like him cause he's an action movie director and I don't really like the way he does action. It seems like he's gotten progressively worse as he goes on. Like he just throws shit on the screen punctuated by an explosion or two. At least with other directors who aren't too good with action, they usually make up for it with story or characters or something.

 

[VonBrewskie]

Fair points all, Bob. Question for you and/or everyone else: what do we do about the "problem" besides just not going to see the films or buying the blurays? If the "hogs" want their slop, who cares? Let them have it. The independent film scene is vibrant, there are a lot of great movies out in the world to watch and there's a ton of other options for entertainment besides movies anyway. Michael Bay hating reminds me of high school politics. Michael Bay's the popular guy the "outcasts" don't like because he's popular. They decry Bay for ruining movies or perpetuating the idea that Michael Bay and his ilk are responsible for tainting popular opinion or some other such nonsense. Money talks, BS walks. People are paying big money to go see Michael Bay's films. It's like you said Bob, no one is holding a gun to people's heads and forcing them to go to these films. I guess my point is, I don't see a problem with Michael bay at all. I don't like most of his movies. I think a lot of them are terribly written and more akin to a ride on Star Tours back in the day than actual movies. I don't see his movies until a person who's opinion on film I take seriously, (Bob, Chris Stuckman, Red Letter Media, etc etc), gives a thumbs-up or at least not a total panning of the film. I saw Pain and Gain because of Bob's review. (What a weird, awesome movie btw. See it if you haven't.) The argument that it's all middle 'Murica's "fault" is a load of garbage too. Have you seen the numbers for these movies overseas? Yeah 1.5 billion so far. Nearly 500m more than the US. It's not just the US that has a taste for these movies, is what I'm saying. Good video Bob. Thanks

 

[klaynexas3]

Okay, fair enough.

So how do we fix the problem?

Someone has to budge. Either audiences need to stop going to see the slop or Hollywood needs to stop churning it out. And that's the problem right there. Neither are willing to budge. The average audience probably either thinks Transformers is alright and decent enough for just a way to kill time on a Friday night with some friends, or they think there isn't anything better and that they might as well go see what they can rather than wait for the next big thing. Hollywood won't budge because these movies make money. The critic bait that people say they want made, rarely does. You get lucky if the good movies make the money they deserve, but you know the lowest common denominator films will make some amount of money. It's a pay check. They aren't making this stuff because they think it's necessary to make such a film, but because they want to get paid. It's a vicious cycle, and there are fewer people in Hollywood, so it makes more sense to yell at them than at the general masses that basically write the critic's check.

CAPTCHA: Don't count on it. How appropriate.

 

[Evonisia]

Sometimes I try to draw parallels between people who constantly go on the internet (especially places of public opinion) and John and Jane Q. Average.

Go onto internet forums and expect non stop hate on Transformers, or Call of Duty or Twilight, relish in it in fact. It's not like the public will care about this backlash to Michael Bay, or anyone who does anything the critics see as wrong, because they probably won't even know. They enjoy their dumb and crappy film just fine. Is there anything wrong with somebody enjoying Transformers, TASM 2 or that new Robocop?

That's because most of those people on internet forums are either liar's (in regards to Transformers and Call of Duty) or the wrong demographic (in regards to Twilight).

Just look at the Left for Dead 2 'boycott', forum after forum of those saying they will boycott then in reality buying it.

Yeah. I think things would be a bit better if the internet attitude was "I enjoyed it, or I disliked it, and it has these flaws" rather than deny or exaggerate your reaction to the product. Of course some people will genuinely be honest about their opinions and more power to 'em.

 

[Steve the Pocket]

That's because most of those people on internet forums are either liar's (in regards to Transformers and Call of Duty) or the wrong demographic (in regards to Twilight).

I think all three fit into the "wrong demographic" category. The world is a huge place, and the people who are actually regular users of any Internet community aside from Facebook or Twitter probably count for less than a tenth of the population. It's just like how "everyone" hated reality TV around ten years ago. "Everyone" just turned out to mean "everyone you know, plus everyone who writes comedy for a living".

 

[demented]

As others have said Bay can do better. Instead of making smart and interesting movies, he remakes the same dull tired one. I don't blame him for choosing to make big, dumb action movies. It's his choice what he wants to make and there will always be an audience for that.

However this does make him part of the problem. If one of the most popular directors keeps telling people to eat burgers, then they're less likely to try filete mignon.

 

[Flunk]

What Michael Bay really needs is more oversight to rein him in, he's good at quite a few things. His movies are just lacking in story, plot and consistency. Add in some oversight and he could be the best action director out there.

P.S. I loved the Transformers when I was a kid and the first Transformers live action movie was okish but the first two sequels are terrible(for reasons too numerous to list). I'm not going to see the fourth one.

 

[vid87]

Not long ago I was reading a mock script of The Avengers from The Editing Room - a comedy site dedicated to basically ripping apart every movie ever - and at the climax they point out that the 3rd act is exactly the kind wild brainless spectacle everyone bashes Michael Bay for, and while I think there may be some differences in terms of plotting and stake-building, I was disturbed to realize I agreed with them, and damn it I love the Avengers!

http://www.the-editing-room.com/the-avengers.html

 

[PhantomEcho]

I think, rather than the public really being 'The Problem', the problem is that we seem to think there is actually a problem where there isn't. The only problem that exists is the same problem that has existed since money first began exchanging hands:

One person with creativity finds a way to make a shiny silver coin, and now eight billion slack-jawed idiots will try to repeat that same formula, ad nauseam, until the people paying for these things get bored and move on to another new and creative thing.

Movie-goers want things that will entertain and excite them, make them feel things, or just give them something to think about. Some directors focus on giving them satisfaction through great scenery and wonderful colors and shapes and sounds. Some directors focus on the chaos and the destruction, the excitement and explosiveness (often literally) of action. Others just try to tell an emotional story, using charm and humor and wit to entice the audience to feel.

But are these the -only- ways to make a movie? Of course not! These aren't even the ONLY motivations for people who go to the movies. These are just trends, thematic observances by myself and the movie critics and Hollywood/The Movie Industry... as to what brings in the money. And so the uncreative bankrollers of these films say "Here's five billion dollars. Make us an actiony-explode-'em-up that'll double our investments."

Why? Because it has the greatest probable chance of being successful ACCORDING TO THE TRENDS. When the trends change, so will the movies... but the problem will remain the same.

They'll want a billion copies of the same NEW idea.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Sorry, i lost you when you compared Bays action to Woos action. Have you seen Red Cliff? An their is more style to the gunplay in one John Woo movie than in any Bay movie. Regardless of what people say, Bay makes dumb action movies, and he does that stuff extremely well. In alot of ways the gunplay in woo movies isnt so much the fight but whats behind it. (Also im a massive John Woo fan, so maybe a bit biased. ) But one thing i want is a Bad Boys 3.