Why the Transformers Series Rocks

You’ve read the title and your pitchfork is at the ready and so I ask you to put it down long enough for me to say my peace before you will inevitably pick it up again after ignoring me. The transformers series that I am specifically referring to is of course Michael Bay’s infamous pentalogy (I looked it up this is the correct term scientific film lingo) who many accuse of raping their childhood memories. These are some of the most hated “pieces of trash” ever put to theatres in recent times so for those of you living under the metaphorical rock, here’s a quick summary of what happened in simple 4chan greentext format because it’s I find that it’s an efficient way of summarising a story.

> Studio wants a safe bet on a movie

> decides to readapt a childhood classic i.e. Transformers to cash in on nostalgia as well as sell toys

> hires a safe, experienced director i.e. Michael Bay (my man, my bay)

> makes an action packed movie that appeals to the lowest common denominator 

> hate.exe from critics and really anybody who watches movies

> movie sells well anyway

> makes 4 more with increasingly worse reviews and increasingly good sales

And that’s basically what happened. So why do people hate this movie with more passion than they have for their marriages? In my humble opinion, it has simply to do with the fact that everyone has a stick too far up their asses but for the sake of clarity and fairness, here are the reasons why. At the very core of it, it has mainly to do with the fact that audiences hate being fed something they know was only made to get them to reach for their wallets. In other words audiences despise a movie made with no love. Though the first one was made with incredible skill, even being nominated for the visual effects and sound design oscars and sadly not winning, and it had a decent story, people hated it anyway because it was trashy. This basically sums up all criticisms about the plain story, over-sexualised characters, annoying comic relief and dragged out action scenes.

Now a good argumentative article would pick apart and argue against each point of the topic, but instead I’ll take the easy way out. My stance is that everyone is looking at this movie and Hollywood movies in general all wrong. Hating on the transformers series is akin to a metalhead hating pop. Michael Bay and the genius minds behind transformers 1 through 5 never set out to make art, they set out to make entertainment. They accomplished this in boatloads and in by no means a trashy cheap, CEO-swimming-in-money-whilst-stroking-his-moustache sort of way.

What puts transformers as the cream of the trash is that though it is generic, Michael Bay certainly did not cut corners. The story, though uninspired, makes sense and has ample tension and understandable character motivation which serves to deliver the action. The acting is not Oscar-worthy but Shia LaBeouf puts in a good enough effort for me to root for Sam What’s-his-face. And the action is the center of it all, filmed in clear, flowing wide shots, was given in spades  and best of all, was completely over-the-top. On top of this, Michael Bay did not sell us short. The Transformers series was sold as nothing more than an action flick. So what more really do you want from a film like transformers?

I went in expecting to have a wild ride and nothing much more and that’s exactly what it gave in abundance. age of extinction clocked in at 2hrs 45min. Watching the trailer and then going in and expecting a beautiful movie is the same as being advertised a guitar lesson and then walking into the room with drum sticks and saying “what’s this all about?” I understand the film critics who loathe the movie for they have to measure all movies by the same yardsticks, however to the rest of the masses whom this movie only aims to entertain, I feel the hate is completely misplaced. It does only that one thing and it does it exceedingly well and by no other measure does this series deserve to be judged. Sure, Michael Bay banging on the drums may not be your cup of tea relative to Martin Scorsese delicately playing the flute, but a bad film a lack of nuance does not make.

To speak on a larger scale, I think many films have undeserved hate. Movies that do try to cheap out audiences with no substance like the crappy editing in the Resident Evil series deserve none of our money but your trashy blockbusters that bring everything to the table do not and Transformers is just the tip of the iceberg. Many of Michael Bay’s movies suffer the same fate along with King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, the Fast and Furious Series especially past number 4, Man of Steel, the Meg and the “bad” Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Just like many artsy-fartsy-fancy-pantsy movies require the audience to accept the film for what it is and just go with it, the same should be done with the Hollywood blockbuster. 

To be very clear, I am not arguing against those who hate the movies in general, I am arguing against those who hate it for the same reason why they love a Christopher Nolan movie. The purpose and audience of Michael Bay and Christopher Nolan could not be any more different. The figures show that we all watch the movies anyway, the series has been wildly profitable, so why not just own up to the fact that these films give us a great time? For those of you who only want a lovingly crafted film than watch any of the dozens of those that came out just this year. And for the rest of you who don’t but still hate the transformers series, get the stick un-shoved out of your asses.

explodes the little kid in me, in the legal way

#perspective #outlook #newlife