Michael Bay Can't Do Action....
Jul. 2nd, 2011 05:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
philosoraptor42Okay, I've not seen any of the Transformers sequels, but with all this discussion about it recently I've just realised something important. Michael Bay is a crap action director....
Now let me make this clear. I'm not saying that he's an action director who's crap. I'm saying that he's crap at doing action. Now I can't say that I have absolutely hated every single thing that Michael Bay has ever done, but when I think about what he's done that I enjoyed, it's never been the action scenes. Seriously!
Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery actually made a pretty good team-up
So let's see. What stuff did I quite like. Well there was "The Rock". Let me see, what did I like about it? Well it definitely wasn't that random "tram in peril" scene. Yeah, I suppose the car chase wasn't bad. However, the real thing I enjoyed there was Sean Connery saying funny stuff. (And oddly enough he had really good chemistry with Nicolas Cage. I mean it!) I think Michael Bay might have just chanced upon a decent script.
What was initially a fairly entertaining car chase suddenly becomes laughably stupid when a tram gets blown up. Was that bit exciting? Ummm... no.
What other movie of Bay's did I like? Well, this might sound odd, but I really liked "The Island". I liked it right up to the point where it suddenly turns into an action movie at the end.
And I seem to remember that the dialogue was actually pretty good during these bits too.
The Island did some decent ideas-based science fiction work to start with. What happens when you have a group of clones who are shielded from the outside world? How do non-clone workers treat them, knowing that they are being exploited? How do you stop them getting curious and won't there always be people who need to explore for themselves?
So yeah, the movie has just reached a rather dark stage where we now realise the political rammifications of this cloning conspiracy. So, instead of exploring that further the movie chooses to resort to ridiculous action scenes. Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johanson have both been arrested, they are in a police car. Suddenly, out of nowhere, *BANG* action-movie time! That's the moment where everything that was good about that movie gets chucked down the toilet.
Am I the only one who was bored at this stage of the movie?
Also let's consider some movies that were pretty awful....
Armageddon includes some funny lines from Bruce Willis, but action? Seriously? Heck, I can't even remember any of the action. It's probably there, but I couldn't for the life of me tell you about any of it. What I can tell you about however, is the psychological tests where the miners all fail and the "failed" stamp is eclipsed by a massive stamp saying "Nasa Approved". I can also remember Bruce Willis' dreadful "I'm going to die to save my daughter's idiot boyfriend" scene. So yeah, Bay can do things wrong asides from action. Make no mistake.
Bad Boys is probably one of the few movies where Martin Lawrence is actually funny, so that's a good thing. (At least, I seem to remember him being vaguely funny at the time. But, oh my goodness, the ridiculous running scene towards the end is so utterly stupid.
I'm sorry, but Michael Bay is not someone who can only do action. He's someone who is awful at doing action. It's like saying:
Just because a successful movie includes something, doesn't mean that it's one of the director's strengths. I'm not about to say that Michael Bay is at Uwe Boll levels of horrendousness (though admittedly I haven't seen any Uwe Boll movies), but I've no idea where this idea came from that the only thing he can do is action. The one thing I'm pretty certain that he can't do at all well is action.
Now let me make this clear. I'm not saying that he's an action director who's crap. I'm saying that he's crap at doing action. Now I can't say that I have absolutely hated every single thing that Michael Bay has ever done, but when I think about what he's done that I enjoyed, it's never been the action scenes. Seriously!
Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery actually made a pretty good team-up
So let's see. What stuff did I quite like. Well there was "The Rock". Let me see, what did I like about it? Well it definitely wasn't that random "tram in peril" scene. Yeah, I suppose the car chase wasn't bad. However, the real thing I enjoyed there was Sean Connery saying funny stuff. (And oddly enough he had really good chemistry with Nicolas Cage. I mean it!) I think Michael Bay might have just chanced upon a decent script.
What was initially a fairly entertaining car chase suddenly becomes laughably stupid when a tram gets blown up. Was that bit exciting? Ummm... no.
What other movie of Bay's did I like? Well, this might sound odd, but I really liked "The Island". I liked it right up to the point where it suddenly turns into an action movie at the end.
And I seem to remember that the dialogue was actually pretty good during these bits too.
The Island did some decent ideas-based science fiction work to start with. What happens when you have a group of clones who are shielded from the outside world? How do non-clone workers treat them, knowing that they are being exploited? How do you stop them getting curious and won't there always be people who need to explore for themselves?
So yeah, the movie has just reached a rather dark stage where we now realise the political rammifications of this cloning conspiracy. So, instead of exploring that further the movie chooses to resort to ridiculous action scenes. Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johanson have both been arrested, they are in a police car. Suddenly, out of nowhere, *BANG* action-movie time! That's the moment where everything that was good about that movie gets chucked down the toilet.
Am I the only one who was bored at this stage of the movie?
Also let's consider some movies that were pretty awful....
Armageddon includes some funny lines from Bruce Willis, but action? Seriously? Heck, I can't even remember any of the action. It's probably there, but I couldn't for the life of me tell you about any of it. What I can tell you about however, is the psychological tests where the miners all fail and the "failed" stamp is eclipsed by a massive stamp saying "Nasa Approved". I can also remember Bruce Willis' dreadful "I'm going to die to save my daughter's idiot boyfriend" scene. So yeah, Bay can do things wrong asides from action. Make no mistake.
Bad Boys is probably one of the few movies where Martin Lawrence is actually funny, so that's a good thing. (At least, I seem to remember him being vaguely funny at the time. But, oh my goodness, the ridiculous running scene towards the end is so utterly stupid.
I'm sorry, but Michael Bay is not someone who can only do action. He's someone who is awful at doing action. It's like saying:
"A lot of people like The Fifth Element, didn't they? We need to put Chris Tucker in more films!"
or
"Hey lots of peope went to see Star Wars: Episode One didn't they? You know what this means? We need a Jar Jar Binks spin off!"
Just because a successful movie includes something, doesn't mean that it's one of the director's strengths. I'm not about to say that Michael Bay is at Uwe Boll levels of horrendousness (though admittedly I haven't seen any Uwe Boll movies), but I've no idea where this idea came from that the only thing he can do is action. The one thing I'm pretty certain that he can't do at all well is action.
