Michael Bay Director Spotlight

With the release of Ambulance earlier this month, I decided to watch all of Michael Bay's movies. A lot of people think of Michael Bay as a bad director because of the Transformers movies. But in reality, he has directed a lot more than just transformers with a lot of his other movies actually being quite good. His style is really high energy with a lot of action and explosions. His movies are what I call Junk Food Movies. They aren't super strong on plot or logic but they are still a lot of fun to watch. Here I am going to share my thoughts on all of his movies as well as my overall ranking of them.

15. Transformers: The Last Knight

Michael Bay's last entry into the Transformers franchise is definitely his worst. Before the release of this movie, Paramount shared that the Transformers writers went away on a retreat and came back with 17 different movie ideas for Transformers. This movie felt like they crammed all of those ideas into one movie and called it good. There are so many different storylines that it is impossible for one to be good. Optimus Prime trying to find Cybertron, Prime turning evil, Cybertron invading Earth, King Arthur, Transformers being hunted by the government, just to name a few. This movie has no focus and jumps around to too many different plot lines that the whole movie is just a mess.

Grade: D+ Score: 4/10

14. Transformers: Age of Extinction

This Transformers movie is not much better than its sequel but gets the spot above because it pretty much is so bad that it loops back around to being good. Plus you can't really go wrong with Dinosaur robots. This movie tries to cram two stories together, Transformers being hunted by a bounty hunter and Transformers being created by humans, which do not work together at all. Both of these stories would be fine on their own but just do not make any sense being together in this movie. This movie is also way too long with a run time of almost 3 hours with only about 2.5 hours of material. They literally stop the movie just to explain why it's ok for an adult to be dating a minor. Even though it is quite a disaster, there was still some entertainment to be had which is why it's not at the very bottom.

Grade: C Score: 5/10

13. Transformers: Revenge 0f then Fallen

The third Transformers movie in the bottom 3, Revenge of the Fallen is a significant step up from the previous two on this list. Though, it is still not a great movie. This movie has some interesting elements, Sam going away to college and the Transformers working for the army, but a lot of stupid elements as well, Megatron being revived because they couldn't come up with another villain, Sam's mom getting high off of pot brownies and a horny transformer that can turn into a human. The first half of this film is actually pretty solid. But about halfway through, there is a complete switch and the movie goes into full bonkers mode and is absolute chaos that just does not work or make sense. If its second half was as good as its first half, this would be higher on the list.

Grade: C+ Score 6/10

12. 13 Hours

This is Michael Bay's take on the attack on the US bases in Libya on September 11th, 2012. This movie has a much stronger plot and much more interesting characters. It was also pretty interesting to see John Krasinski in a movie serious role. You really root for the soldiers and want them to succeed and also feel the suspense of what is going on. The reason this is so low on my list is that this type of movie just isn't really my thing. I felt it was a little too heavy and started a little slow for my taste. That isn't to say it's a bad movie. I think it's pretty well made, it just didn't click with me or entertain me as his other movies did.

Grade: B- Score:6.5/10

1 1. Pearl Harbor

This is Michael Bay taking on the story of the attack on Pearl Harbor. This movie reminds me a lot of Titanic, in which there are two fictional characters with a love story during a major US tragedy, except this movie is nowhere near as good as Titanic. I think the love story itself was fine, it was the insufferable love triangle that made me dislike it. Had it just been a love story between Ben Affleck's character and Kate, then it would have been much better. The movie was also way too long coming in at over three hours. The ending with the attack on Japan also felt a bit tacked on. It should've ended after Pearl Harbor was done. What puts this above the others was the Pearl Harbor attack sequence. That part was well made and was easily the strongest part of the film.

Grade: B- Score:6.5/10

10. The Island

Michael tries to go for more of a sci-fi thriller in this one and partially succeeds. The segments that take place in the facility are really cool and interesting. However, about halfway through, the film drops that aspect and becomes a chase film which really hurt the movie. Ewan McGregor and Scarlet Johansson both do a really good job in their roles and have great chemistry with each other. The concept behind the facility is also very interesting and I wish they would've focused the whole movie in that setting. Overall, this is a mid-tier Michael bay film that has a middle act that bumps this film down from being higher on the list.

Grade: B- Score:6.5/10

9. Transformers: Dark of the Moon

As evidenced by its place on the list, this Transformers movie is a significant step up from the previous transformers films on this list. The story is a lot more straightforward, the battles are a lot better and the villains are much stronger. While this film does have quite a bit of ridiculous moments in it, it is still a lot of fun. The battle in Chicago is probably the best out of all of the transformers movies, giving moments to shine to both the human and transformer characters. It is also really cool to see Leonard Nimoy in this movie as a Transformer. All in all, this is a pretty good Michael Bay with just a few ridiculous moments that keep it from being great.

Grade:B Score: 7/10

8. 6 Underground

This is Michael's dip into the spy/heist genre. This movie was a lot of fun, Michael Bay was given a ton of money to make an insane over-the-top action movie which is exactly what he did. The movie feels like it's on caffeine with how wild it is. The characters are a lot of fun in the film, each having some pretty funny moments as well as cool action moments. The only thing that keeps this one back for me is that it is a little scattered in the storytelling at the beginning, once it hits their mission, it is full steam ahead and a blast to watch.

Grade: B Score: 7.5/10

7. Transformers

The first Transformers movie is the best Transformers movie. This movie is the most straightforward of the Transformers movies working as a boy and his dog story, or in this case, a boy and his car. The action doesn't seem too over the top but still enough so that it's enjoyable to watch. The Transformers and Sam are all really fun to watch with each having some great moments. The main issue with this movie is there there are way too many characters and stories in the first half. There is Sam with the Transformers, the soldiers being chased by a Decepticon, the computer hacker trying to figure out what the Decepticons want and when they all come together, half of them don't even do anything in the finale. Had they trimmed down the characters, this may have been top 5 for me.

Grade: B Score:7.5/10

6. Bad Boys 2

Michael Bay's first sequel is his best one. Bad Boys 2 is a lot of fun. With Will Smith and Martian Lawrence having a lot of fun banter. This film takes what was good about the first film and cranks it up to 11. The action scenes are more over the top, the humor is better and the finale is bigger. Adding Marcus's sister into the story adds a fun new dynamic into the mix between Mike and Marcus and makes some moments really funny. This is just a great movie and a lot of fun to watch.

Grade:B Score:7.8/10

5. Bad Boys

This body cop action movie is really fun to watch, Mike and Marcus are just so good together and make me laugh a lot. The action in this movie is also really good. The action sequences in this film are a lot more grounded as the budget was smaller and that is what makes this movie better than the sequel. As usual Will Smith is very charming and steals every scene he is in. The only thing that keeps this from the top 3 is that the bickering between the two would somewhat annoy me at times.

Grade: B Score: 7.8/10

4. Ambulance

Michael Bay's remake of the film of the same name is one of his better films. His characters are so relatable. You can understand why they are doing what they are doing. The action is very good probably because the movie is like 80% car chase and the chemistry between the characters in the ambulance is also very good. The main reason this movie is lower is because of the major tonal shifts in the movie and the out-of-place humor that sometimes ruins the vibe of the action sequences. Otherwise, this film is very exciting and very enjoyable.

Grade; B Score 7.8/10

3. Pain and Gain

Pain and Gain is a very odd, very humorous yet horrifying at the same time, movie. The three main characters are all super likable and funny yet very messed up because of what they do. The movie itself is very funny and never dull. The crime the three guys pull is very interesting yet crazy because it is based on a true story. That is what really makes the movie is that the stuff they do is so messed up that you are shocked that it is based on a true story. The story itself is pretty straightforward and doesn't really go over the top in terms of action. If you have a dark sense of humor and enjoy crime movies then you'll really enjoy this film.

Grade: B Score 7.9/10

2. The Rock

The runner-up on this list is one of Michael Bay's earliest movies, The Rock. The cast here is fantastic with Nicolas Cage, Sean Connery, and Ed Harris. It is just really cool to Sean Connery in this kind of role. The story is exciting and has some funny moments and you really get to know Nick Cage and Sean Connery's characters. Ed Harris plays a very sympathetic villain where you can understand why he is doing what he is doing basically doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. The action sequences are all great both before and once they get to Alcatraz. Overall this movie is just a lot of fun and is one of the movies that make Michael Bay stand out.

Grade: B+ Score: 8/10

I. Armageddon

This is the best of Michael Bay's filmography. It is a great story, has memorable characters, and has a lot of exciting action. Sure this movie has a ridiculous premise, a bunch of oil drillers fly into space to blow up a meteor, but that's what makes it so great. This is a prime Junk food movie and Michael Bay at his finest. The cast is great with a lot of well-known actors, Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Owen Wilson, Steve Buscemi, and Billy Bob Thornton. The characters are all super likable, the action is great and the movie has some surprisingly emotional moments. You can nit-pick the movie and question things like why is it easier to train a bunch of oiler drillers to be astronauts than it is to train some astronauts to drill oil, but if you take it for what it is, the movie is a lot of fun.

Grade: B+ Score: 8.2/10