MICHAEL BAY - Understanding A True American Auteur (PART 2)

[@patrickhwillems]

1. The "Bay shot" didn't work because the lens wasn't long enough (this was on a 35mm) but mostly because that requires a dolly on a track. I did it freehand with a gimbal which is terrible for keeping objects in frame on a long lens. This illustrates my point: to do what Bay does you need the money and resources to lay down a circular dolly track. It looks expensive because it IS expensive. 2. There was a glitch with the font in that one title card that I missed and I'm mad at myself about it.

[@rikmills]

You're watching Michael Bay wrong!

[@DeusExAstra]

Well, if the question is "why dont more people imitate Bay's style", the answer is not that "it takes money". There are plenty of studios and filmmakers working with a lot of money. The answer really is just that Michael Bay has been doing Michael Bay much longer than anyone else, and trying to imitate his style like this is bound to of course seem more difficult than you'd think.

[@ahsanaslam9718]

Go through Peter Mckinons blogs. I think he kinda is able to make mundane tasks look visually appealing in his b roll. Let me know what you think!

[@poisondamage2182]

@Andreas Mueller there were some people who complained about his video about plotholes (you're watching movies wrong) something about him being a snobby, academic, leftist- sjw-type or something...

[@KennethLyVideography]

@@ahsanaslam9718 Actually, Sam Kolder is a way better exampel of that.

[@LindsayEllisVids]

As one of the foremost Michael Bay scholars working today, I had legitimately already blocked 13 Hours from my brain.

[@dougburgan1]

Lindsay Ellis can you two please collaborate? 🤩

[@twistedwell9568]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah got so excited about your shoutout and here you are. Thank you for accidentally making me love the Transformers movies. We love you Lindsay

[@marcwinegust921]

We've already hit peak "Michael Bay Academia" KZbin can stop existing now with you and Patrick monopolizing that field. Nothing to see here.

[@djchinatown]

would you say the rock is Michael Bay's best movie?

[@ajmm768]

Everybody Got Aids and Shit!

[@ajwaddanwarr3409]

Man this series really changed my opinion on Michael Bay. I honestly think its one of your best series yet.

[@TheGeorgeD13]

GiRayne, Marvel is more akin to a television Production. Meaning the most important person is the show runner. And that show runner is Kevin Feige. Feige doesn't have a style because he's not a director. He's a storyteller and you can see his way of storytelling through the Marvel films.

[@TheGeorgeD13]

Jon Favreau has said time and time again that Feige was VERY particular about what he wanted Iron Man to be and had the final say on every little thing on that film. Feige shaped the MCU as much as anyone and probably more than anyone. He's also known to give pages and pages of notes on every script and he'll have it changed to any way he sees fit. The films are so uniform because Feige made sure that they feel that way.

[@benthiele3566]

Same, I've never been more convinced to change my opinion on a filmmaker

[@mortified0]

It didn't change my opinion of him at all, honestly. Bay has never been considered a hack due to a lack of technical proficiency, but what he channels his talent toward, which is garish, bloated schlock. It can be enjoyed on a surface level, no deeper. Yes, he has a very keen eye for visuals and how to elicit emotion, but he only uses it to pursue his commercial sensibilities. Plus, as is touched on slightly, but not enough in this video, Michael Bay as viewed through his movies is a tried-and-true misanthrope. He HATES people, and wants to see them suffer. He is vulgar, crude, immature, racist, misogynistic, and sadistic. At least, thats what his filmmaking tells me. That is what his talent has been used to teach us, that this guy is a shallow asshole. I don't feel the desire to redeem the guy and say "Hey, he is actually talented and knows his stuff!" because that's obvious. He's just a prick and he doesn't make good movies.

[@gabbar51ngh]

@@mortified0 How did you get Michael bay is racist by this or the previous video on Bay?

[@markparkinson6378]

"Thanks for releasing part 2, Patrick." -A direct quote from SpongeBob SquarePants

[@johnnydolphin112]

Armageddon and The Rock are the two movies that Bay has in the Criterion Collection.

[@MagusMarquillin]

I guessed they'd be the ones, thanks for confirming.

[@danielrowson3379]

@@djchinatown Con Air isn't Michael Bay.

[@robweissman5952]

YES!.. Thank you, Zac d... I don't know how he could make that fact being such big part of his video without --- actually naming which two movies were in it.

[@MagusMarquillin]

@@robweissman5952 Maybe he was hoping we'd check out the C.Collection for ourselves and be lead to other worthy movies.

[@robweissman5952]

@@MagusMarquillin "maybe"

[@SpencerJordanPraefectum]

"If Lars von Trier can make Antichrist and get into Cannes, so should Michael Bay with Bad Boys II." Fucking wisdom right there.

[@robnobert]

💯💯💯

[@ForOrAgainstUs]

The Rock is one of my favorite movies. It's got heart. And Michael Biehn's performance in it was unstoppable.

[@MariaVosa]

It's the only Bay movie that I think is genuinely good from start to finish. I wonder what the magic ingredient was?

[@Kaurideuce]

Is your username in reference to that quote in The Rock?

[@ItsTheFizz]

THE WHOLE PLATE is simply the best...

[@utubrGaming]

Thanks! I hate it!

[@tatehildyard5332]

It’s fine...it’s fine....it’s fine.....it’s fine.....it’s fine...........it’s fine.

[@utubrGaming]

*beleaguered sigh*

[@no-man_baugh]

Michael Bay studies in general are THE MOST IMPORTANT SUBJECTS OF MOVIE THEORY & CRITICAL ART ANALYSIS WE HAVE YET TO FULLY COMPREHEND AS A SPECIES!!!

[@ItsNickFox]

One of the big reasons your shots don't "feel" 100% bay-like is because you're shooting on short lenses. If you look at the way he compresses background and subject to make things hyperreal, you'll notice he's shooting further away with longer lenses than you are, which also makes it easier to fit in your stars/action and keep them in the shot through the camera moves.

[@plasmaoctopus1728]

@@KevinJDildonik Well, maybe the budget is the biggest hurdle 😆.

[@CharlesGaines]

I’ve never really forgotten Michael Clarke-Duncan screaming “I want to liive!!” as he gets winched back into the operating room in Island.

[@FilmsStuff]

BOOM! BAYHEM!

[@oneshot2139]

Whoa it’s Films&Stuff. What is this a crossover episode? Love your content dude

[@DeadVirus0]

And with that, Patrick is redeemed.

[@davissteffens]

The head shake after stating the 'MB CAN story-tell' and before "He just usually doesn't choose to.." is pure awesome.. Thank you. I will now rewind that part 5 times to concur with myself.

[@lawrencecalablaster568]

I never thought that I'd see the Shockwave scene in Age of Extinction be compared to a Boccioni painting, but I guess that's what I get when I watch a Willems production :)

[@PieroMinayaRojas]

It was in Dark of the Moon...

[@darkthorpocomicknight7891]

@@PieroMinayaRojas How can you tell??? LOL

[@86Fallowcp]

@@darkthorpocomicknight7891 Filters, one head, different city. Plus, some are transformers fans so they can distinguish between scenes

[@jabyalex7868]

Pain an Gain and Bad Boys 2 are fucking classics, no one can change my mind on that

[@Shezmen88]

I gotta say dude, this video (series) was really well written and put together, 10/10.

[@AFuller2020]

He should make a movie and let us be critics.

[@FullFatVideos]

"And it makes milk look like the most precious, live saving substance in existence" WELL IT IS. Great video as always Patrick.

[@keesalemon]

Oh it's cool to see you guys here!!

[@keesalemon]

Great comment :p

[@markparkinson6378]

NEVER FORGET.... MICHAEL BAY HAS TWO MOVIES IN THE CRITERION COLLECTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Which ones?

[@markparkinson6378]

I don’t know, actually. I’m just quoting what Patrick said at the end of the video.

[@TheNickNuttall]

The Rock and Armageddon, I believe.

[@Largentina.]

@Thulsa Doom NO

[@myriad2878]

Hot Fuzz parodied Bay's style pretty well in certain scenes, including the obligatory Hero Rotisserie.

[@jacthwakk8328]

Michael Bay and Rob Liefeld are kind of like each other's counterparts.

[@Spthomas47]

Okaaaaay. Ya got me. I lol'd despite myself. Liefeld's feet(and most everything else...) are Bay's plots(by and large). Bay's "s'plosions" are Liefeld's pouches. Both have absurdist(and offensive*) potty humor and (offensive*) visions of females. *even if I'm not offended by a lot of it.

[@kennygibson1712]

Jacob Levin-Fay more like Tarantino and liefeld

[@v-trigger6137]

That's the perfect counterpart ever. especially when you consider Liefeld's style and starting point of his career. he is from the 90s Image comics artist. when they used to draw every single character as the most steroided specimen of the planet, and every character used to wear big military boots and camo pants with hundred of paoches. and the comics used to be full of explosions and one liners. in true Michael Bay style

[@MrBazBake]

So, weird story about Pain and Gain. In a screening for it, I said, "It feels like a Coen Brothers' movie... in a good way!" The audience derisively sneered at the suggestion, as if I was speaking blasphemy, but I grew up on those movies and knew exactly what language he was using. On the way out, I turn around and sitting at a table in the center of the theater taking notes was... Michael Bay. I nodded at him and he pursed his lips like, "At least someone got what I was trying to do."

[@nolin335]

Theres not one chance this actually happened

[@robnobert]

​@@nolin335 I have a feeling it did happen or at least could have happened. I've been making the same points Patrick is making about Bay in this series for years and have gotten nothing but ridicule and derision especially from those claiming to be "true film fans" 🙄🤦‍♂️ I'm not especially smart -- but Patrick didn't notice these things because he's a super genius either, he noticed them because they're true and they're there to be noticed by anyone willing to drop their prejudices about what a good movie should be - which is a rare trait Patrick has also. Although he is much smarter than me and makes the points way more competently than I did 😅. Maybe OPs story didn't happen idk. But from my personal experience... it's believable AF. People who aren't as cool as Patrick (me) and who make observations earlier than most people will accept, tend to get hated & treated as crazy, and then finally treated like a liar who misportrayed how badly they were treated when the other side finally comes to see their point of view. Just an aspect of human behavior that kinda sucks sometimes. But it's just one aspect. People are good in many ways also.

[@KayosWONER]

Michael Bay wants to live in the last action hero world ahahahahah

[@veronicasilk8429]

It'd be so meta. A director getting sucked into a movie he constantly dreams about making and then directing a movie within a movie.

[@hugo59208]

damn ebert was angry about Bad Boys 2 lol

[@nicholaspeters1400]

Roger Ebert was angry about a lot of things.

[@myztik5716]

Check out his Freddy Got Fingered review

[@hiimchrisj]

I mean he had a point tho when you really think about it it's a really disgusting movie for something made to appeal to a general audience

[@FirebirdCamaro1220]

@Jacob Forster shit just got real lol; I like how it was referenced in Hot Fuzz

[@rodrigoodonsalcedocisneros9266]

Didn't he actually defend FGF??

[@thedashboard9562]

I remember looking at the opening shot of "The Island" and thinking to myself, man, if Bay didn't have such shitty things to say about...well, everything, he'd direct the hell out of a Lord of the Rings style fantasy film.

[@vicenteortegarubilar9418]

I was waiting for this video all week.

[@jokarpinski22]

Cue "Shake ya tailfeathers" for the 7th time

[@reecegallagher1822]

Same

[@markparkinson6378]

Now I understand why the cinematography in the Transformers films are beautiful.

[@TheAuteurist]

I'm not a fan of Michael Bay, but he really is an auteur-director, which I mention in one of my own videos on Auteur Theory. I still enjoyed your essay on his filmography. Well done :)

[@joeypethan5083]

Ok now do Zack Snyder.

[@adamtherock2008]

Michael Bay but without the self awareness. There you go.

[@joeypethan5083]

@@adamtherock2008 Well that's a pretty shallow way to look at it.

[@lonelysoul954]

Better yet - Uwe Boll.

[@adamtherock2008]

Joey Pethan I’m taking the piss mostly but if I had to sum Snyder up in one sentence it’d be that.

[@joeypethan5083]

Really, like you could make movies that are better? He has his own distinct style and has an eye for detail, symbolism, and visual storytelling. Plus his movies age well over time, Watchmen is much more relevant now than it was nine years ago.

[@elmoisred616]

It's funny how all of Bay's movies make him seem like a blowhard American puntz but based on his quotes he actually sounds pretty intelligent and at the very least he's aware that he's placating to the lowest common denominator.

[@utubrGaming]

"I make movies for teenage boys. Oh, dear, what a crime. " Bay to his critics.

[@riotbreaker3506]

Well he didn't get to be a household name director by being a moron, he's a professional, to a point.

[@Indielancer]

elmoisred616 completely agree, he’s a profesional and is focused on what sells

[@andrewd084]

He is a "blowhard American puntz." The fact that he has deliberately made himself into this doesn't change that at all. Shilling trash to the "lowest common denominator" does not actually elevate anyone above that denominator - greedy self-important fucks just like to pretend that it does.

[@worldofcardboard3203]

The fact that Bay wants to make dumb entertainment doesn't make it or him any smarter.

[@andregusmao5472]

I really hope Michael bay watches these videos.

[@rahulgunwal3097]

Andre Gusmâo he will say What da hell this fuck saying understanding bays science is not easy job he didn’t get it correctly.

[@bpcgos]

I never thought 13 hours to be a Bay movie... And Im quite loving it...

[@davidcameo]

Holy shit. What a wild fucking ride! Did not expect the twists and turns this series would take. Glad I'm a Patreon~

[@Dafmeister1978]

As a description of Bay and his filmmaking sensibility, I don't think you can beat this quote from Mark Kermode's review of 'Pain And Gain': "It is a movie in which Michael Bay makes his little arthouse movie to show us his soul and we look into his soul and we find ourselves looking into a void-like abyss of blackness the depth and enormity of which it is impossible to comprehend. Werner Herzog could look at Pain & Gain and I think he'd actually be scared."

[@michaelotis223]

Lol... Yeah Kermode reaaaally went hard on Pain and Gain!!! My favourite Kermode rant of a Bay film is his Dark of the Moon review!!!

[@Dafmeister1978]

@@michaelotis223 I've got to go with his review of Sex And The City 2, where at one point he starts singing the Internationale. The fact that he used that review as a benchmark for how bad Entourage is just adds to the fun.

[@michaelotis223]

@@Dafmeister1978 "compared to this (Entourage), Sex and the City 2 is a call to arms for the dispossessed masses of the world to rise up. In terms of its gender politics, Human Centipede is more sensitive.." Kermode went hard as a melonfarmer on Entourage!! He was legit angry on that!

[@andrewbrimstone1910]

Just rewatched both your Bay videos - these are full on masterpieces! 5/5

[@timothycook4782]

"What you call Hamilton was invented by guys like me to sell milk"- Michael Bay at his Clio acceptance ceremony.

[@Scerttle]

Great video mini-series. I never thought Michael Bay was a hack, and it’s good to hear a strong case for him knowing what he’s doing. Which is precisely why I don’t like his movies. I can’t stand the world view he’s presenting, or how he presents them. Maybe it’s because I’m not from the US and I wasn’t subjected to his commercial style growing up, but I find the look of his work off-putting, from ads to film. The fact that he knows what he’s doing kind of makes it all worse. He might hate every day State Americans, but he’s part of the reason why they behave like people he hates.

[@TheGeorgeD13]

Michael Bay, probably doesn't hate anybody. He just loves the color of money and knows how to get that money from making movies better than most people ever will.

[@Scerttle]

I hope you’re right! He definitely seems like a more thoughtful person than you’d believe from his work. And I struggle to feel that anyone who feels passionately about animal welfare could be a bad person.

[@danelmore6553]

I had never heard of The Island, and was watching it on TV as I was in a hotel with no better options for entertainment. I do not recall a ton about it now, other than thinking it was a decent sci-fi movie (by TV in a hotel standards). What I do recall vividly is that, as the credits rolled and I read the name Michael Bay, I realized - embarrassed to say, for the first time - that one of the principle foundations of Bay's aesthetic is that it is always thirty mins before sunset. I can only surmise that I had never consciously made that observation about him previously because of exactly what you pointed out in part 1 of this essay - That Bay is like abstract art. I found this assertion to be profound, and astute. As with abstract art, for which intent and narrative have little to no function, I believe I learned instantly that watching a Bay movie can only be enjoyable if one just experiences it, feels whatever they feel while viewing it, and giving it no further or deeper consideration. Due to this, when I read the synopsis of Pain and Gain and thought essentially that it did sound very much like a Cohen brothers script, I knew I had no desire to ever watch it. Though he may well want to make other kinds of films, he simply can not. Partly because of his dependence on visual style, partly due to your observation of his utter lack of empathy, but mostly because one can neither expect Jackson Pollock to be able to paint like Van Gogh or Rembrandt. Bay does have lovely shot composition, which creates some pleasing colors for him to paint with, but all he is capable of doing with those beautiful colors is hurling and dripping them on a canvass and letting the viewer imagine whatever they wish might exist for some "deeper" meaning. I think the overly symbolic shot of Will Smith with the cross is the purest example of this "abstract intent" - He just puts things in an image that he thinks should be meaningful to people, and then hopes the viewer will give him credit for being deeper than he actually is.

[@battleupsaber462]

WHAT I'VEEE DOOONNEEEE I FACE MYSELF

[@markparkinson6378]

I love that song. One of the greatest in any film.

[@logancox6548]

AND CROSS OUT WHAT I'VE BECOOOOMMMEEE ERASE MYSELF

[@michaelotis223]

R.I.P Chester Bennington!!! Rare human being

[@megumintheexplosionqueen297]

Linkin Park is the best.

[@gabe6550]

"New Divide" is even better! My favourite song by LP! But sadly it's on the soundtrack of one of the worst movies ever made. :(

[@didrikjohanstonghaugen8586]

The Island = Minority Report and every J J Abrams movie ever

[@OK-1K1]

You know this is actually very accurate. It's trying to emulate Spielberg (And Tony Scott to some degree), but ends up looking like early work by JJ "Lensflare" Abrams.

[@Genhector]

The Island was pre-feature film JJ. Feature film JJ was heavily influenced by Spielberg... you could say that “look” is the result of Spielberg.

[@megantaylor3946]

I love this so much! I love the way you put your reviews together with a narrative that is entertaining but doesn't get annoying or distract from the content.

[@michelesims8619]

Patrick, thanks for making this. I've always FELT these things about MB's flicks - most of which I don't like - but didn't know WHY, until now. You put into words what I couldn't. I'll bet you will be a great filmmaker someday, when a Producer gets you the millions needed. I'm now a subscriber, and intend to watch a few more of your vids right now.

[@onee]

4:09 If you would ask Bay himself, he would probably say something like "It looked cool."

[@_AZBT_ASHUTOSHKUSHWAHA]

Every still frame of his films can be used a wallpaper or poster. They look flashy vibrant grim filled, basically anything for a edgy teen to get a hard on

[@gunnersubbu]

I agree his technique creates great visuals, but the trouble is that when every frame tries to be awesome, by the time you get to the parts which SHOULD stand out - be it action set pieces, emotional moments, or even establishing shots, the constant high-intensity of every single shot that has led up to it has desensitized the audience. We remember great sequences like the T-rex's escape and attack and Arnie's chase of a truck on a Harley while firing a shotgun with one hand because they stand out from the quieter, calmer narrative that led up to it, marking a contrast that defines the moment and making them stick in our memory, becoming iconic. In a Michael Bay movie, when every shot tries to be iconic, none of it stands out, and in spite of the great visuals, none of it sticks in our memory. Think about it - when I mentioned those example scenes you knew which movies I was talking about - but how many Michael Bay awesome moments/sequences can you describe in a way that'll make people immediately recognize which film it came from? Bayhem is cool to watch, but immediately forgettable. I believe he CAN make good movies, but at this point it's nigh impossible, because his work so far has given him way too much status. If a good producer could restrain his more eccentric instincts, he could very well make something truly spectacular. But now? After the the success he's had? Which producer would try? And why would Bay put up with it? The creative freedom he's earned for himself is pretty much a guarantee that he'll never make a true masterpiece.

[@TheGeorgeD13]

He does have a true masterpiece: Bad Boys 2.

[@givemeasniff788]

I'm really upset that you really didn't focus on the 1st 2007 Transformers film if you looked at it at its own it's a pretty standard and solid film and you could have talked about how it brought a new wave of blockbusters like the mcu.

[@jp3813]

The only MCU films that resemble Transformers are the Avengers movies.

[@givemeasniff788]

Did you not see that ILM documentary about their special effects and how are Jon Favreau said they would have not made iron man the way it was if Transformers hadn't came out with it's special effects with robotics.

[@jp3813]

There are many ways to do special effects, but the anchor will always be the story & characters. Iron Man was one of the last films worked on by Stan Winston. The man who made such blockbusters as Aliens, Predator, Terminator 2, & Jurassic Park timeless. Hence, I wouldn't say that the MCU's existence is specifically owed to Transformers.

[@LiquidArmProduction]

I don’t think discussing the first transformers impact on modern blockbusters fit with Patrick’s focus on who Bay is, but I do think there was a missed opportunity to at least delve into the first transformers to analyze what happens when you give a misanthropic film maker like Michael Bay a project where he has certain expectations put on him by the studio and toy company hasbro, and making a film that would get the money of general audiences and fans pre established franchise. We’ve seen what Bay does when he builds a world and story from scratch, but what happens when he has to put characters who are an icon for heroism up on the screen such as Optimus Prime. The answer is you make him say a line about freedom every now and then, and then you have him murder everything in his path and make it look as “cool” as possible.

[@shiranuiaensland1442]

@@LiquidArmProduction 13:04

[@kasig2013]

Never thought I'd say it, but I have a newfound respect for Michael Bay. Awesome job, Patrick.

[@TheDrudgenator]

The one movie where Michael Bay shows his true Psychopathic action edge to the world is Pain and Gain . I like it because at least is extremely true to its satirical self. Obama’s commercial success came from a great campaign arm . Something Bay was very familiar with . Politics and narrative seem to run each other into the ground . Straight forward portraits of events are better than hamfisted pinko politics. The way 13 hours goes it feels the closest he’ll get to making something Fincheresque

[@mr.shyryhud1659]

Michael Bay has produced some genuine great movies

[@stein-erikrutledal2884]

Bad Boys II is a self indulgent masterpiece

[@extraordinary_ordinary]

I firmly believe that 13 Hours is the best movie Michael Bay has made.

[@deathmetalguy6662]

Btw that's not nihilism that's misanthrope meaning "human who hates all other humans". Nihilism is a philosophy based life having no meaning. Two completely different things

[@threeblindchickens]

deathmetalguy666 yeah I was angry about how he presented nihilism

[@ezrablock3218]

It would be nihilism in that he depicts things as better destroyed then structured. There's no inherent purpose to the action, it exists for the purpose of our voyeurism. But I understand what you are saying. It's also possible he is a hateful nihilist, he doesn't use it as a purpose for ideological optimism like some people too. Plenty of folks are misanthropic and nihilistic (just look at George Carlin).

[@TheGeorgeD13]

He's more than likely also a nihilist, though.

[@farazkhan0]

This is probably one of the best analysis of any thing ever!

[@BeverlyChillzz]

This is eyeopening and incredibly well put together and straight up funny. Thank you for the quality content Pat!

[@MorganInForm]

This is why you're one of the best KZbinrs out there. Great work, the type piece I wouldn't have thought I'd care about but was actually one of the best.

[@mormegil231]

I agree he is sincere, technically insanely adept and truly every movie is a personal expression of his viewpoint. Anyone calling him a hack have no idea what they are talking about. And still his movies are still aesthetically awful (imo), confusing, mean-spirited and forgetable. Just because an artist creates distinctive creations does not necessarily deserves respect and to be taken seriously. Respect is earned and in my humble opinion as a viewer nothing i have seen after The Rock deserves that respect.

[@thenout]

Feel the same way. All the more, I believe that an auteur needs to use his medium to bring some point across (or you'd create shallow art, and what's the worth of that)... Yet as it's mapped out in the vid, his "world view" is barely comprehensible and needs to resort to cynicism to account for anything, so what gives.

[@jonathanbaumler798]

The Island is a GREAT film. One of my absolute favorites.

[@RexusKing]

Focal length might be not long enough for imitating "the classic Bay shot"

[@robnobert]

💯

[@robnobert]

Pain and Gain was so great 😅❤️ SO underrated 😅 just pure fun

[@Afineaddition]

I hope he cranks the dials to 11 if he does Bad Boys III

[@ScottPress]

11/10 is Bay's standard setting

[@Gemnist98]

He’s not directing Bad Boys for Life, it seems.

[@adamjaxn3156]

Joe Carnahan is doing Bad Boys III

[@FirebirdCamaro1220]

@@adamjaxn3156 he could improve it, if he takes cues from two of his earlier films, Narc and Smokin Aces

[@lord_vwphaeton1883]

There IS a Bad Boys 3. Just not directed by him. Maybe that's why that movie is LEGIT good...

[@oklahomasoccer]

Holy cow, Patrick (H) Willems. This is, perhaps, one of your best videos. You took a hard stance on a complicated director and moved me. Thanks.

[@custommadename]

With these two parts together, you've made a feature length video about Michael Bay. That's pretty cool!

[@redxsage]

*_EXPLOSATHON!_* Finally! A critic who actually has something to say. Thank you.

[@TheGreenLife]

This was amazing, Bad Boys II is a masterpiece

[@YouTubeKnight]

When John Goodman was doing voice for his role in the Transformers movie, Michael Bay was sitting in the room right next to him. On the other hand, Bay never even met Hugo Weaving who did the voice for Megatron for years, which makes Coens' influence on him kinda more obvious to me. You can check out the video somewhere on youtube.

[@jonathantefft2902]

This was awesome and everyone is saying for you to do the same thing for Zach Snyder but I would like to see you do a simular video analyzing Dwayne Johnson's acting career.

[@autolosss]

Years later, he indeed does make videos doing great critiques for both of them.

[@jeremy_woods]

When the Rock came out it was amazing. Nobody made movies like that at the time. He ushered in what now seems like the Nickelback aesthetic. I feel he really nestled into his sweet spot with The Rock, because after that the pressure was ON. Faster turnaround, crazier budgets, higher expectations. It’s honestly his magnum opus imo. His sophomore effort. The scene between Ed Harris and Sean Connery was done well. It was the perfect blend of pace, Bay’s action style, and story.

[@joshlagreca]

Well done man. Michael Bay was the one who first got me into filmmaking, gotta love the 2hr behind the scenes documentary of the first TF movie. I wish they did that sort of thing for more recent and popular movies. I guess things are too secretive these days. :(

[@UntitledGaming92]

I remember watching The Island in cinema and ranking it as one of my favourite movies. I loved that world

[@ambi17s]

Great video as always. Finally someone on the net treating Bay with a bit of respect. I would love it if you did a Zack Snyder video. Coz I feel you are only youtuber who can give us an objective take on him instead of just pure hatred

[@groovymovies390]

" I would love it if you did a Zack Snyder video. Coz I feel you are only youtuber who can give us an objective take on him instead of just pure hatred." On twitter, Patrick said he thought of Snyder as "what if Bay was pretentious" so........

[@ambi17s]

Ya, I had read that. Here's to hoping that a number of comments from many people like me convince him otherwise. 😃

[@samwallaceart288]

Snyder is great at making scenes, but only soso at making films.

[@Major_Winkee]

Pain And Gain is a classic and I will die on this hill.

[@tomlion0116]

I Just LOVE Bad Boy's 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@imetastory9039]

Your version of Bay reminds me of Salvedor Dali---an unmatched technical genius of color and frame whose choices in subject matter were dominated by a keen commercial instinct and a fetishzation of dismemberment and distruction... also lots and lots of blue and orange and upward angles.

[@OK-1K1]

Good stuff dude. Pain and Gain was a real eye opener on what Bay can do after all the Transformers fatigue. Definitely STILL A LOT of potential in him. Most surprising was that he can get real nuanced and interesting performances from very unusual actors - I'm referring to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. He's fuking phenomenal there, on par with what Steve Buscemi did in Armageddon - very organic to the world of the movie. 13 Hours was strange... He took a real event and tried to be as true to it as possible (even involving the real men who lived through that night) but still using that Bad Boys/Transformers visual language. Just kept it off the afterburner for 99% of the movie. It's like he can't help it or doesn't want to. It's definitely less spectacle oriented than his big budget work, but even then it's pretty obviously Bay branded.

[@TheGeorgeD13]

I'd say 13 Hours is his most mature movie by far and it really seemed like he tried to honor the real life events and the men that lived it as much as he could. I'll give him that. But yes, it's still very much a Michael Bay film.

[@OK-1K1]

@@TheGeorgeD13 yeah, if we go with Patrick's analogy to Black Hawk Down - Bay felt short of the mark and ended up more in Tony Scott zone. Not style over substance, but style getting in the way of substance. Visually it's too polished and smooth. I am really looking forward for Bay to do a more grounded and character driven project with all the visual flair applied in moderation and in service of the bigger picture. Man needs to learn balance. In a perfect world i'd love to see Nolan or Villeneuve collaborate with Bay as a producer. Or Fincher )) That'd be sick...

[@DavidAWA]

You used your intellect and your built up trust to elaborate on something that if said in a KZbin comment section, would get you ridiculed. I learned something today. Thanks.

[@joaodealmeida5900]

the connection you made between the transformes fight scenes and the futurist movement is perfect on so many levels! I'll definitely write a paper about this.

[@LarryOfCamalot]

How did your paper go?

[@joaodealmeida5900]

@@LarryOfCamalot I aced it, if I remember correctly. It was a philosophy of communication class. Walter Benjamin was my main source.

[@Limubi1]

There are some really interesting insights into Bay as a filmmaker here, and I think it's an excellently well written essay; congratulations.

[@luizLPMCR]

This was an absolute blast. Great production. It's nice to see how you guys integrate a narrative inside a video essay. You yourselves have a unique style in these things. Keep the good work.

[@jildragon3277]

Thank you for this video. My love for Michael bay just went up!

[@joshuageraldbutler8037]

Yes, its almost 2am in the UK, and ive been waiting for this.

[@slackstation]

Legitimately, this is so impressive, it comes to commercial levels. I could see this as a TV show on a cable network. Now that I've said that it almost seems like an insult but, it's so good. I had so much fun watching it and it was so informative even having watched both the Every Frame a Painting and Lindsay Ellis' The Whole Plate series. There was both new information and had both a broader view of his work and more detail of his individual films. It left me feeling hopeful of what Michael Bay will make next.

[@kaiwilliams141]

FYI the films in the criterion collection are The Rock and Armageddon.

[@BrothamanASMR]

Excellent video. Getting through 40 min of content in most cases is impossible but you make it fun. You are objective and did your homework.

[@williamjoyce4313]

4:52 You definitely just said wosn't. That wasn't even close to a 'a' there.

[@francis6775]

I'm not going to o unheard that, now. Sounded like the British pronunciation

[@jacobmacdonagh4070]

william joyce His mother is Irish so that’s probably passed down to him as that pronunciation is quite Irish

[@williamjoyce4313]

​@@jacobmacdonagh4070 Oh, that kinda makes sense. I had a friend when I was younger that had a surprisingly thick Korean accent despite being born and raised here in the US, so I can definitely believe that.

[@no-man_baugh]

That shot where you raise your megaphone to your mouth, eye *bleedingly* over saturated and wrist strap whipping in the air in the most perfect way at 32:25: is quite possibly the closest anyone has gotten to Michael Bay I have yet to see... Or maybe I just really like that wrist-strap-whip idk

[@oehpsk]

I know your intent was to take Bay seriously as an artist, but I actually came away from this feeling even more negatively towards him. The fact that he is capable of creating such powerful, affecting images, makes me even more upset that he applies these gifts to such misogynistic, incoherent, idiotic stories. Spielberg also figured out at a young age how to play the audience like a piano, but then he decided to apply this to more interesting subjects, like racism, the holocaust, and World War 2. Even something like Jurassic Park is so much more thoughtful in how it approaches animals and science than anything Bay does. I guess this is just who Bay is, but I don’t think “he’s a terrible person, but he’s good at his job” is actually a good defense of someone.

[@TheRedArrowExpress]

I think the objective was more a defense not in the way of saying this guy is great more in the way this guys isn't to be easily dismissed for making dumb movies and to bring attention to how his work has more going on than on the surface.

[@erguille]

Amazing Paragraph, right there with you mate, makes the work of Michael "Explosions/Kaboom" Bay all the more Infuriating

[@F3ldman]

great job man! this is some of your best work to date

[@OK-1K1]

Your Bay styled spinning shot with 2 dudes failed partly because dudes are well... mediocre. They are not nearly as rugged and stylized as men on 13 hours, The Rock or Armageddon. It's the package of everything with Bay.

[@Sillos09]

True, but I'm pretty certain that it mostly failed because he used the wrong lens. The power of the shot comes mostly from the background rushing by. I think it would work with a telephoto lens, and the background being further away from the actors.

[@dwsmarter]

Don't forget needing a longer lens to make the background move faster. ;-)

[@jonathansalvador5037]

Bay would have been able to pull a version of that shot off. It's not just the muscular dudes, but his understanding of depth of field that makes that shot work.

[@RudieObias]

Michael Bay is a true cinematic artist!

[@CITIZENACTUAL]

Love the Lindsay Ellis shoutout. For those who haven’t seen it I highly recommend the feminist film theory episode since it offers an alternate reality where the first Transformers movie could have been great if framed around Mikaela and just overall female empowerment instead of around the bumbling idiot which is Sam.

[@MariaVosa]

I was unable to watch Transformers 1 the same way again after that video.

[@travisspazz1624]

Only problem is that Labeouf is a far superior actor than Fox.

[@RemixedVoice]

@@travisspazz1624 INDEED lmao

[@tylermane77]

LOL. No.

[@uanchovy9480]

...is that film criticism, or is that imagining a different film entirely? Don't get me wrong, the Transformers films are not stupid and they are more clever and subversive than they're made out to be, but I don't think that alternate film suggestion is doing much with what the films really do.

[@hermanmelvelleiii2212]

2:48, I see what you did there ;) .... much appreciated

[@texhnolyze8326]

My problem with Michael Bay is that through his acolytes (J. J. Abrams, Orci, Kurtzman) his style of storytelling has infiltrated other franchises like Star Trek and Star Wars. Armageddon (1998): Directed by Michael Bay Screenplay by J. J. Abrams The Island (2005): Directed by Michael Bay Screenplay by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman The Legend of Zorro (2005): Story and Screenplay by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman Mission: Impossible III (2006): Directed by J. J. Abrams Written by J. J. Abrams, Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman Transformers (2007): Directed by Michael Bay Story and Screenplay by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009): Directed by Michael Bay Written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman Star Trek (2009): Directed by J. J. Abrams Written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman Cowboys & Aliens (2011): Directed by Jon Favreau Screenplay by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof Prometheus (2012 film): Written by Damon Lindelof Star Trek Into Darkness (2013): Directed by J. J. Abrams Written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014): Story and Screenplay by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015): Directed and Written by J. J. Abrams The Mummy (2017 film): Directed and Story by Alex Kurtzman The Dark Tower (2017): Produced and Screenplay by Akiva Goldsman Transformers: The Last Knight (2017): Directed by Michael Bay, Story by Akiva Goldsman Star Trek: Discovery (2017): Created by Alex Kurtzman, Executive producer Akiva Goldsman "The Vulcan Hello" Story by Alex Kurtzman, Teleplay by Akiva Goldsman

[@deletenotyet3612]

The Island was my favorite Bay film of all time.

[@dude7266]

So let me get this straight: Michael Bay was actually the biggest troll in the film industry and we all fell for it Damm it

[@ephramwest8368]

This second part is making it all the more apparent how keen Patrick is to sound structure in film.

[@djchinatown]

I really like your analysis of Bay. however his Masterpiece is always going to be the Rock

[@THEBLACKBELT]

One reason Bay has 2 movies in the Criterion Collection, might be because his former professor, Jeanine Basinger is a board member there.

[@bruhh489]

Explosions... Not enough explosions.

[@mondodimotori]

15 minutes ago I was cheking the channel for the part 2. "I guess it didn't come out yet". Came back now to check another video of yours... LUCKY ME.

[@Evan-nx9ng]

Patrick grew up as a true american auteur

[@collinsmith7078]

Thanks for another incredible video essay, Patrick!!

[@lawrencecalablaster568]

This is a real uplift to my day- I had a good time working concessions at a winning Penn State game, only to discover my hamster dead when I went to feed her. Thank you for this.

[@brendanhughes9642]

This Michael Bay video essay series is more well paced than most movies. I have a feeling you storyboard your videos