The Pros & Cons of Michael Bay - discussion topic

[GoktimusPrime]

Since RotF, the action scenes have been easier to follow: this could have been a response to feedback, or simply having a different director of photography. Certainly for DotM and AoE, the dual camera rigs used for 3D filming have been more 'restrictive' than Bay would like, but the upside is that shots are easy to follow.

I think it's because of the use of 3D and IMAX filming, which often calls of wider angle distance shots, thus making the action easier to see. But as you pointed out, I don't think it's necessarily Bay's personal preference though.

The humans aren't written to 'have absolutely no appeal'. They're there for the audience to relate to, since the movies' stories are told from a primarily human point of view. After all, as the first movie's tagline goes, it's "their war - our world (emphasis added)." That said, I would also like to see more 'bot screen time, but CGI environments and the characters themselves aren't cheap or easy to render to the photorealistic quality audiences expect.

Yeah, but it becomes a sore point when the humans become more of a focus for the story than the Transformers. As Demonac pointed out, none of the Transformers in the film have any personality (save Optimus Prime in Age of Extinction, and even then a lot of people didn't like that personality, including Peter Cullen) -- what limited characterisation that existed in the films was more focused on the humans. The first three movies felt like "The Adventure of Sam & the US Army vs Giant Robots." The Autobots felt more like high powered accessories for the human protagonists, much like say J.A.R.V.I.S. was to Tony Stark in the Iron Man and Avengers films.

Finally, I maintain that a lot of 'problems' are issues with the script, and such criticism should be levelled at the scriptwriters, not Bay.

The director is ultimately the captain of the ship when it comes to film making, and it is the director rather than the crew who accepts acclaim or blame for the strengths and weaknesses of the film. The director has the authority to make changes to the script during filming as s/he sees fit, as well as commanding the performers and crew in bringing the script to life as a film. Similarly a Prime Minister or Premier may be the head of a government which comprises many other ministers and senators, but ultimately it is the PM or Premier who accepts ultimate ownership of that government's performance. Such is the burden of leadership.