Did you know that Michael Bay is making another Transformers? Number five in the series is being prepped right now. This fact can be a little confusing if you are under the misapprehension that critical feedback, from critics and public alike, are the main influencers when it comes to making more of something. I didn't see Transformers 4 - sorry, Dark Of The Moon - but I tried to watch Transformers 3 (I forget its gravel-voiced subtitle). I lasted for maybe thirty minutes before deciding to do something else, anything else, instead.
Except, it doesn't matter. My opinion of that film series - and as someone who grew up collecting the chunky Generation 1 models/comics/lunch boxes, let me tell you that I have an opinion - well, it's not relevant. At all. What matters is that the last Transformers movie made 1.1 billion dollars from box office alone, and that's before you add in the merchandising.
So, that means more Transformers, and more grumpy 38-year-olds moaning to their bored kids that the silhouettes of the reimagined Bay characters are rubbish. However, what can't be faulted here is Bay's ability to frame action, a skill he's executed with flourish over years of lucrative movie set pieces. His visual style is as distinct as that of Soderbergh or Spielberg, and even more so than his action peer Roland Emmerich (who, true story, once told me to "act less"). Remove the personally contentious subject matter, then look at the sheer amount of money these films have made, and it becomes clear that Bay is giving many of us exactly what we want: prime, unabashed, shiny, violent, feel-good escapism, unclouded by topical issues or script complications or twists that aren't telegraphed half an hour beforehand.
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