Arguably, How It Should Have Ended’s most anticipated summer blockbuster is the upcoming Transformers. Personally, I can’t wait… but I must admit I am a little nervous too. A lot of people, whose cinematic opinions I respect, have mixed things to say about the film’s director, Michael Bay. It got me curious. Has this guy earned his troubled reputation? Is one of my favorite series in the hands of a questionable talent?
I decided that it was time to sit down and get to know the infamous Mr. Bay. With an armful from his resume, I took time out for a Michael Bay movie marathon.
First up…
Bad Boys
I like Will Smith. It’s really hard not to like the guy. He’s just charming.
I do not like Martin Lawrence and will never buy him as a rough and tumble cop… not even in Big Mama’s House.
The plot behind Bad Boys is pretty generic: there’s a menacing drug dealer and a lovely murder witness and some fighting and running around and all that. In terms of story, it offers nothing you haven’t seen before. But the look and feel of the movie is the key to understanding Bay as a director. This is his first major motion picture… how was his execution?
Actually, it was not all bad. Obviously, this wasn’t Scarface, but Bad Boys had a stylish feel to it which leads me to suspect that he is able to maintain control over the visual elements of a film to a degree above the average first time director. The movie has a fashionable flair. It would have made a good episode of Miami Vice. It was better than any of the sequels to Beverly Hills Cop. Amateur cliché’s abound, but there were some nice surprises.
Rent or Own: RENT
Sean Connery. Nicolas Cage. Ed Harris. John Spencer. David Morse. Michael Biehn. This movie’s got a dream supporting cast. But I started to get a bad feeling at the beginning. There’s a car chase that borders on the absurd as no traffic jam cliché is left untouched: a moving-truck in reverse; someone in wheel chair crossing the road; some kind of marathon; an elderly nun in a wheelchair pushing a baby in a marathon. It’s completely over the top mission statement is that if something can go wrong it will. But again, there’s that control that overshadows even the most exhausted images. I didn’t enjoy this movie, and I noticed that it wasn’t quite as tight as Bad Boys, but in term of action directors (and that is what I’m considering here) I’ve seen worse.
Rent or Own: RENT
Horrible. I couldn’t finish this movie. Space Cowboys was much better… and I hated that Space Cowboys.
Rent or Own: AVOID AT ALL COSTS
I would be willing to bet that this is the most telling of what we can expect from the new Transformers movie. Luckily, this film gave me hope. Perhaps my respect for Ewan McGregor biased me in favor of the film, but it seemed that Bay was trying new things this time around. It might have been the movie’s set up that drove his surprising innovations.
The story is told in two parts.
The first touts a patience that is pretty rare for a Michael Bay. Something isn’t right in this sterile world. We are shown subtle clues that lead McGregor to civil unrest (clues such as “why don’t we ever get to eat bacon”).
The second act is the relentless non-stop thrill ride that we’ve all come to expect from Bay.
It’s a pretty abrupt transition. Personally I enjoyed the first part and was disappointed that the rest of the movie wasn’t on speaking terms with it. I would imagine that those who came to see the action were likewise disappointed.
The film doesn’t really hold together very well, but it wasn’t as bad as The Rock, Armageddon or Pearl Harbor.
The improvement that we saw through the Island leads me to believe that the Transformers could be pretty impressive if Mr. Bay feels inspired to push himself beyond his earlier rut. He rose above his emotionless formula for the Island. With a good script and a lot of overwhelming visual effects generated by genuinely talented artists, I believe he can do it again.
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