Why Does Everyone Hate Michael Bay?
By Krystal Clark
Is it illegal to make films that entertain and excite the masses? Is it a crime to literally give people more “bang” for their buck when sitting in a theater? If the answer is no, why do so many people have a problem with the film-making style of director/producer Michael Bay? For years critics have been dumping on Bay because of his desire to produce big budget films. Explosions and car chases have become his signature, and are easily identifiable by any steady movie goer. Granted he may never direct a film along the lines of Schindler’s List or The English Patient, but then again I wouldn’t want him to. Bay has his own visionary style that was unprecedented until he hit the scene in the mid-nineties with his feature film debut, Bad Boys. For the most part Bay has churned out some pretty entertaining films, so whats with the hard feelings? Why does everyone hate Michael Bay?
I recently came across an article on Cinematical where the author pretty much bashed Michael Bay every other line. He asked the question, “is there room for Michael Bay in the age of Chris Nolan?” My first thought was, what does one have to do with the other? These are two totally different directors, with very different film aesthetics. What’s with the random vendetta? It turns out, Bay made a few statements about his approach to making movies, and it rubbed the writer the wrong way.
It seems that every interview with the man contains a response to his naysayers to the tune of: “I don’t see anything wrong with spending a lot of money to make big action movies to entertain people. Yet somehow, I come under special scrutiny. I mean, why don’t people get upset if Dow spends $300 million to invent some new chemical? Audiences like popcorn movies. What’s wrong with that?” and “What we do is not brain surgery. We are entertainers, plain and simple, and we’re responsible to bring that money back, to make a profit.”
I will admit the Dow comparison was a bit extreme, but for the most part is he wrong? Hollywood is full of actors, musicians, directors, and writers who all want to be creative and make a living off their craft. If the entertainment industry wasn’t a multi-billion dollar business it wouldn’t be so hard to break into. What’s so bad about making “popcorn flicks?” Film’s were created to entertain, so whats wrong with making movies that do? I enjoy a variety of films, no matter the genre or director. I can watch anything from a Busby Berkley musical, to a Hitchcock thriller, to a Judd Apatow comedy. There are bad movies made in every genre for every price. Just give me something that can captivate and hold my attention.
Another issue I had with the article was it’s comparison of Bay to Sam Raimi and Stephen Sommers. Again, totally different directors with different aesthetics.
Google Sam Raimi, and you’ll get quotes about the power of great stories, and his love for his source material. Even Stephen Sommers, who has certainly made some reviled films, talks about his enthusiasm and inspiration; you can sense he’s trying. From Bay, you get: “I’m an entertainer — don’t hold me to any standard.”
Really? Stephen Sommers? I liked the Mummy movies like everybody else, but your going to have to do better than that. Did he see the same trailer for G.I. Joe I did during the Super Bowl? I know I’m not the only one who noticed the Transformer-esque elements in that TV spot. As for Raimi, my fellow Michigan native, I love the guy. Army of Darkness is one of my favorite movies and of course I loved his work on Spiderman (with that being said, I mean films I mean one and two). The quote about Raimi’s love of “source material” may be a bit premature. Let’s not act as if those films stuck to the Marvel comic like glue. I personally wouldn’t expect them too since comic book films unfortunately always lose a little something when transferred to the silver screen.
Michael Bay is Michael Bay, he’s no Sommers, Raimi, or Nolan. He sticks to what he does best, and that’s blowing stuff up. You don’t walk into one of his movies for a thought provoking message, you go for the adrenaline rush.
I’m not writing this article as a campaign for you to become the biggest Bay fan, or to run out and buy all his movies. I’m just stating a point. Bay is good at directing summer blockbusters. He says his goal is to entertain and make a profit, and that is exactly what he does. No false pretenses. He doesn’t think he’s making art, he knows what he’s making and he’s good at it. Once again, isn’t that what everyone in Hollywood is trying to do on one level or another? They may not all be as vocal about it, but it’s true. Everyone wants to do the thing they love and do it well. And as an audience member, when I spend my money for a Bay film, he delivers what he promises everytime. It doesn’t matter if the story’s mediocre, or the acting is so-so, I know I won’t leave my seat without seeing a fire-lit car roll over 5 times, while a helicopter spews out a round of bullets in slow motion. Bay sticks to his guns (literally), and for the most part makes enjoyable, fun films. So again I ask the question…..
Why does everyone hate Michael Bay?
If you want to see Bay at his best, check out the video below. His work speaks for itself.
Friday, February 6, 2009 2:52AM
Nice post. The man makes movies for movie whores and I should know.
Friday, February 6, 2009 1:35PM
If anything, my one big complaint about Michael Bay is that he LOVES the camera flail. I kinda like seeing what's going on in a movie rather than getting a headache from the camera being thrown around.
That said, I've enjoyed most of his movies.
Friday, February 6, 2009 10:08PM
You are both idiots
Friday, February 6, 2009 10:38PM
I like Michael Bay too! People seriously need to lighten up, and just take his movies for what they are. Everyone claims to hate him, yet the majority of his movies still do good at the box office. How is that possible? Maybe cuz its popular to hate him in public, but love him in a dark movie theater.
Saturday, February 7, 2009 1:06AM
I love Michael Bay. He's fantastic at what he does.
Saturday, February 7, 2009 8:58AM
[...] Did he see the same trailer for G.I. Joe I did during the Super Bowl ? I know I’m not the only one who noticed the Transformer-esque elements in that TV spot. As for Raimi, my fellow Michigan native, I love the guy. …Next Page [...]
Tuesday, February 10, 2009 5:29PM
People don't hate Michael Bay because he makes profitable films. They hate him because he makes terrible films. "Pearl Harbor" sucked. "The Island" (ripped of directly from an MST3K special, BTW) sucked. When you get past the glitz of the CGI, "Transformers" sucked. Now, I'm the first to admit that I love "Armageddon," despite the fact that deep down I know it sucks, so I'm willing to give people their guilty pleasures.
It is possible to make big, beautiful, popcorn spectacles that are actually good movies. Look at "Spiderman," "Spiderman 2," the new Batman franchise, particularly "The Dark Knight," etc. You don't have to make crap FULL of product placements (i.e. "The Island"), plastic people, (Megan Fox's character in "Transformers"), and ham-fisted scripts (all of them, but especially "Pearl Harbor"). People hate Michael Bay because he has no artistic integrity. He's like the guy who splashes a gallon of Glidden on a wall and wants to have his "painting" hung up next to a Jackson Pollock. he might protest that he isn't an artist, but he's getting paid on the same scale as the artists, not on the scale of the set designer.
Friday, February 13, 2009 7:02PM
[...] Why Does Everyone Hate Michael Bay? [...]
Sunday, February 22, 2009 10:38PM
That's what I was looking for when I typed in "Why does everyone hate Michael Bay".
Good to see that the world isn't full of haters.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009 3:20PM
as published after transformers 1 michael bay IS the cinematic antichrist
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 9:53AM
[...] being an over-hyped and over-paid director. I actually wrote an article examining this entitled, “Why Does Everyone Hate Michael Bay?” After watching Transformers ROTF, paired with my past viewing experience of Pearl Harbor I [...]
Thursday, July 2, 2009 12:26AM
The only Michael Bay film i did not enjoy is Pearl Harbor. One movie out of so many cannot be cause for people to hate him.
I think he is a fantastic director…
ROTF was awesome too!
Thursday, July 2, 2009 3:21AM
I agree. I like movies with a unique and interesting story, but sometimes I just like "popcorn movies". And if I want to see a movie like that, I'll watch Transformers or The Island. Because they are entertaining and I enjoy the action and the effects. He can make good popcorn movies, apart from other film-makers. At least he is good at making entertaining movies – I've seen so many movies that aren't. So many bad movies (mostly horror) that try to copy the better ones. His inspiration seems to be to entertain and surprise people with action and effects – some others are inspired to make people feel compassion with touching and sad stories, some are inspired to shock people with horror and blood, some inspired to make people think and try to solve mysteries… It's just what makes him feel passionated, I think, and passion is good. As long as people have passion when they do something, it doesn't matter so much if it's not exactly what you wanted – because it wouldn't be worth anything if someone did something without passion just because other people weren't satisfied. Some movies I like, some I dislike, but the only thing I really dislike (and think is really bad) is when a movie is a cheap copy of another better movie because of lack of creativity and true inspiration. But I never felt that with Micheal Bay. I think his movies are surprising and exciting. But I don't know how much he's copied – I only saw someone write that The Island was copied from MST3K.
Friday, July 17, 2009 6:03PM
you are right,, he always delivers what he promises, actually that is the best thing in a person. thats y i love michael bay. generally i prefer drama come action movies like The Dark Knight, but this feeling was different for bay movies, he always delivers what i expect. i watched Transformers 2, 6 times till and counting on…because i like that stuff. i also seen dark knight 10+ times. i don't compare both movie,because one is thrilling and another is exciting. So i liked both movies.
Love you michael bay.
Saturday, July 18, 2009 10:52AM
I love films with plot and acting. But Sometimes I just wanna watch a movie with giant robots blowing each other up.
People bring up Batman. Whats the difference, a dude running around in a Bat suit and a machine that can hear voices from cellphones and remote controlled cars, right? Yeah thats overflowing with character development.
The original transformers cartoons was hammy as hell, what do you expect, Shakespeare ? You go into the movie knowing its action, any real man with a Pair will love it. Stop being Pansies
I could care less about Sam Raimi and his dumbass spiderman movies, they suck as does every other Comic book film, but I hate comic books anyway so Im biased.
Real Men(young) like to see Guns shooting and Babes running half naked. All you other dudes go watch Macbeth or Benjamin Button if you want freaking acting.
Saturday, July 18, 2009 10:56AM
I love films with plot and acting. But Sometimes I just wanna watch a movie with giant robots blowing each other up.
People bring up Batman. Whats the difference, a dude running around in a Bat suit and a machine that can hear voices from cellphones and remote controlled cars, right? Yeah thats overflowing with character development.
The original transformers cartoons was hammy as hell, what do you expect, Shakespeare ? You go into the movie knowing its action, any real man with a Pair will love it. Stop being Pansies
Saturday, October 24, 2009 8:32PM
wow…
yeah the scene with the mom eating the pot brownie was a cinematic masterpiece.
Thursday, September 16, 2010 1:10PM
Pearl Harbor: awful
Transformers 1 and 2: average.
Bad Boys: average
Bad Boys II: good
Armagedon: good
The Rock: one of the best action movies ever made
Overall judgement: Michael Bay is a talented, if inconsistant, director.
Sunday, October 31, 2010 4:48PM
Transformers was a very good summer blockbuster, personally when i watched it the first time i thought 'was that it' but to be honest that was because i watched the trailer like 50 times. The score was 10/10, the action scenes were all atleast 7/10, there were set peices and shots that were easily 10/10, the cinematography was amazing, its one of the best looking films ever but yes the story let it down, but to be honest that wasnt his fault. That being said it probably has the best story out of all of his films which is pretty ironic. I went to watch it for spectacle and it delevered well enough.
Transformers 2 on the other hand takes everything that transformers 1 did well and throws it out the window and takes everything that it did badly such as giving to much power to soldiers and overusing bad characters to the max.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010 1:34PM
Your an idiot and do nothing but impede any man with taste and a working brain.
TransFormers is something for life long fans. To make a movie of it you need it to mirror the source material. All Bay took from the source was the character names, some color schemes and the team logos. Thats it. It has no fan service, which is what most of it SHOULD have been.
Thursday, May 5, 2011 6:33PM
To be honest, I love the story of Transformers.
I love the cast for the movie, but personally… I think it'd be a lot better with a different director…
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 12:51AM
sir, the only thing that sucks…
is you when you suck a dick…
Sunday, June 19, 2011 10:04AM
bay is a tard, and a giant child, without big fucking explosions and over the top computer effects he would be nobody, im not an actor or wanna-be director, and i fucking hate this guys crap. fuck you and your fat ego bay, go fuck your self (or your mother, whichever fits best)
PS. transformers is shit, and if i ever met bay in real life i would probably force him to eat dog shit at gun point
Thursday, June 23, 2011 11:34AM
people talk about how much Michael Bays movies suck but all his movies make money, why because audiences, the people who matter, love his work. Critics and everyone else who doesn't like Michael Bay take them selves too serious. Deep down in everyones heart, even critics, enjoy his movies, but they don't want to admit it because they need someone to hate, so since action movies are now the minority in theater they hate the person who is not changing with the "masses". Don't forget Spielberg was the one who talked him into making Transformers, if thats not the sign of a great director i don't know what is.
Friday, July 1, 2011 4:47AM
I didn't enjoy Transformers 2
And why can't an action movie have good story to back up the action scenes?
Friday, July 29, 2011 8:49AM
transformers 1 was mediocre but fun, transformers 2 is one of the worst movies ever made, its on par with battlefield earth, that movie is so vulgar, the action is painful, the story is crap and the comic relief characters are just awful, is sooo long , my god its a crap fest, bad boys is a bad tv movie and bad boys 2 is a bad airplane movie, but enjoyable, you have to put it in context,the rock is a great movie, overall micheal bay is like one of those dudes with an obsession for blondes with big boobs and mental retardation, or one of those dudes that like fried food, he can direct but deep inside him theres a maniac with appetite for destruction and cheap humor.I know what you are trying to say, he delivers, but is like mcdonalds man, its cheap , they give you a lot of food, but its bad for you.There are like a dozen of better action directors, you dont have to be cheap and vulgar and run all the cliches in the book to be a director that delivers, is the lowest form of entertainment to depend on those cheap tactics.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012 12:56PM
I honestly don't get all the hate. The Rock was good, Transformers 1 and Bad Boys 1 are OK, the rest of his movies are pretty bad, but nothing ungodly terrible.