Transformers is Good if You Take it Seriously

Blender Dumbass
January 18, 2025

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#transformers #MichaelBay #film #review #movies #cinemastodon #ShiaLabeouf #MeganFox #VFX #CGI

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Lately I had a kind of a Michael Bay marathon. I'm having this feeling that the filmmaker is somehow extremely under-rated. That the loud nature of his films made him be this joke figure that people often group together to ridicule. While in reality, through all this extreme facade, Michael Bay is a serious auteur.

I decided to re-watch the first Transformers film today, but differently. Instead of indulging in it as mindless entertainment, I decided I want to actually view it seriously, as I would with somebody like Steven Spielberg, who, by the way, was an executive producer on the film.

To my surprise, the film is actually good, like very good, if you let it be serious. There are obvious strengths to the film. The Bayhem!!! is awesome to look at. And the CGI robots ( which I would reminds were done in 2007 ), still pretty much hold up to this day. The stuff is so amazing looking, and moves with such grace, that as a digital animation artist I cannot see any flaws. Maybe if I analyze it frame by frame I will find stupidities. But damn this is a good looking movie.

Even the infamous part where Sam played by Shia LaBeouf gazes at Michael Bay... sorry Mikaela Banes, played by Megan Fox, which a lot of people often find strangely over-sexualized, works.

This shot reminds of something like Mr. Nobody, a 2009 film by Jaco Van Dormael where he uses similar techniques for various stages of childhood of the protagonist. Who often gazes at girl / girls, with which he will get married. ( It's hard to explain without retelling the whole movie ). Basically a kid is in love with the girl, so the movie, being in the POV of the kid, gazes over the girl, even though she is a kid. Which makes us as the audience relate with the perspective of the kid. And since the camera doesn't shy away from this, it makes the film more inclusive and less ageist as a result. It is the film-maker saying "I see you", "I know what it feels like".

The scene in Transformers is very much from the perspective of Sam. As a guy myself I can relate with being aw-struck like this by a good looking girl. The gazing camera Michael Bay uses in that scene is subjective film-making from the point of view of the character. And as I already explained in my review of Transformers 5, Michael Bay is a kind of guy who doesn't let his camera to be ageist. Therefor he is using techniques on the level of auteurs like Van Dormael.

It is possible that Michael Bay has ADHD. His film-making style is a little overwhelming. And sometimes it might distract from the narrative. But if you take him seriously and tune in onto his frequency, the film suddenly crystalizes.

For example, did you know, that Mikaela Banes is actually one of the coolest characters in the film? Like, yes, we meet her pretty much through the Sam's gaze scene. So it is kind of hard to take her seriously. It feels like a cheap trick by Michael Bay to make the movie look better. But if the scene is serious, then the character is too.

She is a mechanic, she has a tragic back-story, of her father being a criminal, she breaks up with her previous boyfriend because he disrespected her. She has a strong will. She fights for her rights like a champ, including messing up with a secret agent. She even gets a cool ass action scene in the end, driving Bumblebee, for which Michael Bay and the editors decide to crack up the music. There is real respect there.

Sam is more of a Cohen Brothers character. There are rumors that Michael Bay is a big fan of Cohen Brothers. That is one of the reasons he cast John Turturro in this film. And like the charming looser characters in Cohen Brother's films, Sam Witwicky is kind of this kind of character. There is a lot of actual good tension in the film if you let it be serious. If you take the character of Sam and let him play genuinely.

It is as if Michael Bay belongs more among people like Lars Von Trier or the Cohen Brothers and less among the blockbuster filmmakers. It is just somehow he ended up stuck on the wrong side of the film industry. And because his movies are watched by masses, and not sophisticated movie goers, he gained a certain reputation of being not for the sophisticated folk. And therefor those who do see his films, think he is doing all this for the booms and boobs. While those who can appreciate his work, either do not watch him, or lie to themselves that there is nothing serious to it because it is so popular.

If a film-maker truly tries to do something good, like Michael Bay did with The Island or Transformers and people are not appreciating, you are making M. Night Shyamalans. And those directors just stop caring at some point and indulge in some mindless shit. Transformers 5 is that mindless shit for Michael Bay. But unlike Shyamalan, Michael Bay is stronger, because he tried harder. Shyamalan is only now getting out of the dreadful era when he, drowned by criticism, made shit he didn't care about. Michael Bay tried multiple times. Until he rightfully decided that he is done with Transformers. And since then he went back to trying to make good films. 6 Underground is awesome. And Ambulance is even almost praised by critics. Michael Bay is becoming serious again.

Happy Hacking!!!