Michael Bay is an odd one, i shouldn't respect him, but i do. He is a trash director with a budget, most that hate him, would love him if he was a low budget director. His first feature was Bad Boys, a fun Will Smith/Martin Lawrence vehicle, it had babes, explosions, all that good stuff that Bay would become known for, but everyone loved it. He then did a more subtle film, The Rock, it was a solid action flick and better crafted than Bad Boys, it wasn't until Armageddon where he developed the real Bay style. The first two, had the style, but after this, we knew the style, and in my opinion, Armageddon is his funnest flick. So now he is known as the big budget, flashy director with style, use it but make a respectable film like the Rock again, but a historical drama....make Pearl Harbor. Thus the hate began, and rightfully so, he made an abomination of a blockbuster, a travesty of a historical drama, and made a bunch of actors a laughing stock. Where does he go next? Return th your roots, do Bad Boys 2, and it was fun, but felt heartless, it was pure style over substance. He got a script which may have had substance in the Island, yet it too, just became a shell. If you are going to do a script a studio bought, might as well do a well known property, enter Transformers, which was a lot of fun, but doesn't hold up, it has every thing Bay, including tight shots on tight bodies, this is really where the net came unglued. How dare you make a film about our toys, boo this man, oh fuck off nerds, it is a silly concept, and a decent adaptation for a tentpole project, hell i love the Ninja Turtles, but it is still silly, and Bay produced a couple fun flicks(well one, the sequel). Transformers 2, rightfully, was crap, pure crap, and this is where ammo is picked up, i myself became jaded on Bay here, but thought maybe, just maybe this guy can make an awesome flick, well the third Tranformers would not be the answer but the guy produced a ton of horror/exploitation remakes, so you knew he may have been a fan, and some like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre are underrated. Exploitation, is what these were close to, and his next film was indeed exploitation, Pain & Gain. Highly underrated film, great humor, great performances, and a sleazy vibe, will he keep this up? Post modern Bay? Nope, Transformers 4 was released and it may have been the weakest entry, dude just needs better scripts, embrace what he is! 13 Hours to me, is not a great script, but it had all of Bay's signatures, and it hit the mark on all of them, it had style, explosions, fast cuts, it looks great, and it is actually pretty damn underrated this year, now i am not singing the praise of it, but this is the Bay i want, do flicks for around 50 million like this, but find better writers to work with, you are Michael Bay, you can pick em, fuck, Edgar Wright is a fan, have him hash you out a fanboy script and direct it. The dude has talent, he just needs the right path. As i type this i honestly gained more respect for him. I may even revisit the first Transformers just to see how i feel a third time(almost a decade after my last time). I doubt i will watch the sequels, but i will see the fourth as i truly do want this man to succeed.
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