Cinephile At Large

Leave Michael Bay Alone – The Cinephile v. Film Critics

Most critics seem to think that negative reviews of Michael Bay’s films will translate into poor box office results – the joke’s on them, it never works. With the release of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, critics were panning the film even before it was in theatres. They cited its overuse of action; lack of character development; inability to reach an audience other than “13 year old boys”; poor story and numerous explosions as their reason for giving it the title of a “bad film”. Clearly, these critics write incredibly subjective reviews, teetering into the realm of film snobbery, and had made up their minds about the film the minute they saw the director’s name appear in the titles. To them I say, your negative reviews are moot - they fail to have the film do poorly at the box office, and they fail to keep audiences away from theatres.  

The thing is, most people know what they’re getting into when they see a film like Transformers. Michael Bay’s films provide us with two hours of pure escapism and rich entertainment. Sometimes it’s nice to see things get blown up profusely. Sometimes it’s nice to see crazy action sequences with intricately detailed CGI robots. Sometimes it’s nice to not have to think too hard about plot movement or deeper meanings. And yes, sometimes a lack of character development is nice to have – that means there’s more room for explosive action scenes.

Films like this are exciting and entertaining. Now I think all films should be entertaining, but film critics have turned that into a nasty four letter word. The word ‘entertaining’ is usually attached to films that draw the wrath of critics – to them you are not supposed to be ‘entertained’ by dramatic films: that’s reserved for silly comedies, horror and thrillers or action films. Films are meant to entertain us, whether it’s by making us laugh, cry, think, or stare in amazement. In my opinion, an entertaining film is any film that has the ability to draw you into its world, and provide a form of escape from the everyday. For example (to many critics’ disdain), I find A Streetcar Named Desire very entertaining because of the intensity of the acting and how that really makes me care about the characters, as it brings me into their world. In another way, Transformers is also entertaining because of its ability to allow me to sit there and absorb everything onscreen, and for these hours I am somewhere else. ‘Entertaining’ goes all ways, and these critics clearly do not comprehend the meaning of the word in relation to cinema, nor do they have the ability to broaden their perspectives. 

When this negative criticism of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen came out before its release, Michael Bay was understandably upset, and declared he will no longer make films like this because he is tired of the negative feedback. In his defense, Michael Bay is entirely correct, and love him or hate him, he does provide a contribution to cinema and it is not wrong for him to want some accolades or positive reviews of his work. For Michael Bay, these critics do not recognize how much work a film like Transformers is to make. This one took three years, the bulk of it being attributed to CGI, editing, sound, and all that fun stuff people take for granted. These critics go to great lengths to nitpick the film just to find something wrong with it, when they should be expending their negative energy on films that actually deserve that criticism. Sure, audiences love the film and Michael Bay is actively making films for the viewers, but sometimes a guy just deserves some respect for all the work he puts out there. I’d like to see these critics direct a film like Transformers, I doubt they could even set up a shot. 

So to these critics, leave Michael Bay alone, stop fueling your resentment by actively trying to find something wrong with Transformers. It is not cool to hate a film, just to hate it – learn what open mindedness and objectivity mean. Until then, put down your swords, pick up your pens (you remember those don’t you?) and write reviews that mean something. Reviews that let the reader decide whether or not to see a film, not reviews where you tell them what to do, or reviews that are unprovoked, scathing attacks. And to Michael Bay, if you decide to stop making action films altogether, can we still have at least one explosion per film? No one does them better.