Bays Transforms The Blockbuster Film

Canada's Macleans has an article that quotes people talking about how Michael Bay changed how blockbusters are done in Hollywood. It is a bit of an ego stroke article that highlights his successes while ignoring the critical drubbing he gets for placing the visuals above all else including story and characterization (aka the complaints most Transfans have about the movies). Below are a few highlights, full article here.

While it can be fun to slam Bay’s hyper-aggressive style of filmmaking, it’s also lazy. Setting aside the $4.6 billion his 10 films have earned, the 49-year-old filmmaker has held more influence over the shape and form of the modern blockbuster than anyone. “He’s a kind of abstract artist. It’s almost experimental, the way he treats shape and colour and movement,” says Jeanine Basinger, Bay’s film professor from his days at Wesleyan University. “I want to live in a world where there’s all kinds of movies—small talky movies and big explosive movies. But whatever it is, i want the person doing it to be the very best at what they’re trying to do. And Michael is: he’s the most cinematic and fluid and unafraid director.” While many people make films like Bay’s—think of Pirates of the Caribbean, or every entry in the Marvel cinematic universe—Bay makes films like no one else.

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