Transformers: We Deserve Better Than Michael Bay

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

Oh Christ, get over it already. Your confirmation bias couldn't be more obvious.

That doesn’t necessarily or disprove the statements that Ray and I have made. Please try not to make this about something else completely.

[Bagheera]

That doesn’t necessarily or disprove the statements that Ray and I have made. Please try not to make this about something else completely.

The statements you've made don't hold up because that is a ridiculously tiny part of the movie and is completely overshadowed by the fact that lots of Chinese people doing lots of things Chinese people actually do are cast in the movie. Calling it racist in that regard is utterly bogus, and both of you would know this if you'd actually seen the movie.

[Mr. Tines]

I'm not sure this thread is performing any useful function any more.

[Alaska Slim]

I may have missed it, did the Chinese fighters called in to save Hong Kong actually do any thing?

[Bagheera]

Mr. Tines: It isn't. Lock and trash, nothing of value will be lost.

[Guy Nacks]

Except for Michael Bay's cinematic genius.

[Gendo'sPapa]

Public Service Announcement: TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT comes out tomorrow. It's the start of an intended Cinematic Universe with a new movie every year done in the same vein. It also has a strict review embargo that doesn't lift until Wednesday OR Friday. Maybe just don't go.

[Chuckman]

Oh I think I'll go see it.

[Gendo'sPapa]

Curse you, Chuckman! Curse you!!!!!!

(I hope you have fun)

[Ray]

what I don't understand is that with all the crappy movies coming out that are losing money because of word of mouth and the critics backlash. Why is this particular franchise never affected?

I decided to wait until someone other thoon Michael Bay directs a Transformers movie before I give it another shot.

I don't even care if the next one is good or not I just want someone anyone with the new creative voices to come in and do something fresh with this franchise.

[Chuckman]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Michael Bay captures the tone and mood of Transformers perfectly, and adds PG-13 boobs. That is why.

[Gendo'sPapa]

To those of you who didn't go to Transformers 5 - which seems like A LOT since the new film is doing about 50% of the business of the previous entry & is likely not going to cross $150 million stateside - I want to say thank you. It won't end the Michael Bay Transformers universe but it will tell Paramount that it might be time to focus on having coherent narratives, basic functioning characters, & just giving a damn.

Now someone tell Chinese audiences to go see anything else.

[Chuckman]

If it makes a bunch overseas they'll keep making them and you know it.

I think a lot of people are like me. I planned to see it, but I went to the beach instead. It doesn't have anything interesting or any kind of draw for me. I know what it's going to be and I can catch it on instant video.

[Ray]

Chuck I don't want to be one of those people. But wasn't it you who said, and forgive me if I'm misquoting.

"The whole reason these movies make billions of dollars is because Michael Bay creates a film experience that is objectively better on the big screen".

[Guy Nacks]

To those of you who didn't go to Transformers 5 - which seems like A LOT since the new film is doing about 50% of the business of the previous entry & is likely not going to cross $150 million stateside - I want to say thank you. It won't end the Michael Bay Transformers universe but it will tell Paramount that it might be time to focus on having coherent narratives, basic functioning characters, & just giving a damn.

I haven't seen a single Transformers movie in theaters, internet, VOD, or on cable; did I help save cinema?

[Reichu]

I haven't seen a single TF film period. But it made little difference, I wager.

[Gendo'sPapa]

^You've done your part. You should be VERY deservedly proud.

The new Transformers is drastically underperforming the previous film "Age of Extinction" in all foreign markets except one. The math comes out to an average performance of "The Last Knight" opening up at about 40% of what "Age of Extinction" did. So if "Extinction" opened to $10 million in Country X back in 2014 then 'The Last Knight' opened to $4 million in Country X this week. Most of the world is catching on that these films BLOW.

BUT the market where the movie didn't underperform in was China where the newest Bayhem flick opened to $123 million. So China's love of giant robots is going to give this film a slight profit & save the money men involved like it did Pacific Rim.
Not by much though. Interestingly if the film drops in attendance by over 50% in most markets come next week - which is possible, reports are that in China over half of the ticket sales were sold on Friday alone - the movie might just barely make it over the $500 million marker. For a movie that cost over $220 million to make, easily over $100 million in marketing - I've had to suffer through that damn trailer for months now - & has to split ticket sales with theaters & foreign distributors those aren't good numbers.

The numbers aren't bad enough to kill Michael Bay's garbage Transformers universe - somehow the studio is still claiming that "Transformers Universe: Bumblebee" starts shooting in July & is still set for a June 8, 2018 release date - but it might make them rethink things.

By the way, while I personally have no affinity for the Transformers universe whatsoever - the toys, the cartoons, the films, etc - I'm not saying their should be ZERO Transformer movies. These things clearly bring people joy & that's a good thing. But, they should try to make the movies actually good. I haven't paid to see or finish one of these since 2009 but by all accounts they keep getting worse as Bay keeps blatantly repeating himself. He's made the 90s era Batman franchise of this decade. Diminished returns with each entry as they recycle the same film by changing the superficials. In 90s Batman it was the villains, in Transformers it's the MacGuffin. If they really want to Univerize this thing, meaning a huge chunk of Paramount's finances to create content goes solely to Transformers then they need to be forced to be genuinely creative. Who knows, if forced maybe in five years time Paramount will have made a genuinely great Transformers film that plays for everyone. It's possible. Just not if they keep following down this same creatively empty path.

[Ray]

Well I was never expecting to see this thread opened again. . .

[Reichu]

Revived it (with a now-genericized title) because a string of Transformers posts was forming in the trailers thread, and having a TF thread makes sense anyway. This one fit the anti-Bay sentiment of GP's posts all the way down to the 90's Batman comparison. Chances of fire breaking out again seem slim since there's been a three-year break, plus the bulldog is no longer with us.

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Michael Bay captures the tone and mood of Transformers perfectly, and adds PG-13 boobs. That is why.

Even so, while an appreciation for that alone might be cause for a sequel, is it also cause for 5 whole movies? Seems like that gimmick will get boring after at least 3 movies. I can see why you went to the beach instead.

At this point, I actually kind of feel bad for Michael Bay. I mean, I still don't like him as a director, and in my opinion these Transformers movies are awful, but not even Michael Bay likes these movies either. He hates them. His response to directing the first one was "Why would I want to make a toy movie?" and he only accepted the job because turning down Steven Spielberg is generally considered a poor career choice in Hollywood. Now he has to pay for that decision with every new film Paramount wants to pop out.

Not only does Transformers deserve better than Michael Bay, I believe that Michael Bay deserves something other than Transformers.