Everyone knows a Michael Bay popcorn blockbuster is never going to be considered a cinema masterpiece. The same tricks — explosions, 360-degree shots, lamp posts, etc — are used over and over again. But he’s entertaining! Tony Zhou of Every Frame a Painting goes a little deeper to explain Bay’s ‘Bayhem’ bag of tricks and why Bay just isn’t a director that movie buffs like.
It’s fascinating to see the breakdown. Bay creates his epic scale by making shots feel huge with the help of movement, fast editing, specific lenses and so forth. There’s a lot of illegible action going on which leaves very little room for, well, a movie.
But still! Explosions are fun.