But that is not the only purpose. It's not even the most important one.
It's the most important purpose to me, a consumer.
From the perspective of someone who wishes to understand the phenomenon of bad movies being popular, it probably warrants a brief mention. Something suitably short and dismissive.
The fact that they are as popular as they are absolutely warrants a discussion. Bad or not, the Transformers movies are important.
^^^ Eh, maybe a paragraph or two. A little side column at most.
The Transformers films do not deserve to be regarded as significant, but will continue to appear so as long as viewers and critics continue to treat them that way. They have done nothing to warrant the amount of attention they are receiving.
You simply cannot ignore the fact that a massively popular, millions-grossing series like Transformers will have some impact. The idea that it won't is ridiculous.
But that is not the only purpose. It's not even the most important one.
It's the most important purpose to me, a consumer.
From the perspective of someone who wishes to understand the phenomenon of bad movies being popular, it probably warrants a brief mention. Something suitably short and dismissive.
The fact that they are as popular as they are absolutely warrants a discussion. Bad or not, the Transformers movies are important.
You simply cannot ignore the fact that a massively popular, millions-grossing series like Transformers will have some impact. The idea that it won't is ridiculous.
Avatar is the highest grossing movie of all time.
It has left nary a trace on the public consciousness.
And that impact will be brief, and it will not be deserved, and it will chiefly involve large sums of money going into the pockets of Michael Bay and Paramount Pictures and Hasbro, and that impact can be mitigated by not watching the movies or giving them more attention than can be avoided.
Like, without getting into the fact that the protagonists of these films are terrible, terrible molds for heroism that would absolutely have a negative impact on particularly impressionable people (which is a conversation massively out of my depth) these movies have definitely changed the way blockbuster movies are made. That's how movies work. Something becomes popular, then its aesthetic dominates. Are these phases temporary? Well, yes, but that doesn't make them unimportant. Their impact is still felt on the medium.
Moreover, I don't really know what alternative there is. Popular movie critics with a specialization in "geeky" properties talking about a ridiculously profitable series that was a reboot of a popular 80s product. Do you expect them to just ignore it? It's literally their job not to.
Like, without getting into the fact that the protagonists of these films are terrible, terrible molds for heroism that would absolutely have a negative impact on particularly impressionable people (which is a conversation massively out of my depth) these movies have definitely changed the way blockbuster movies are made. That's how movies work. Something becomes popular, then its aesthetic dominates. Are these phases temporary? Well, yes, but that doesn't make them unimportant. Their impact is still felt on the medium.
these movies have definitely changed the way blockbuster movies are made. That's how movies work. Something becomes popular, then its aesthetic dominates. Are these phases temporary? Well, yes, but that doesn't make them unimportant. Their impact is still felt on the medium.
How? You're the one who introduced this argument, so the burden of proof is on you to provide evidence that the Bayformers are influencing modern cinema. How are they doing that?
Moreover, I don't really know what alternative there is. Popular movie critics with a specialization in "geeky" properties talking about a ridiculously profitable series that was a reboot of a popular 80s product. Do you expect them to just ignore it? It's literally their job not to.
They can acknowledge it exists, acknowledge that it is unpleasant and lacking in merit, and devote the rest of their time to other, more deserving movies that may have escaped viewers' notice in the face of all the Transformers hype.
Moreover, I don't really know what alternative there is. Popular movie critics with a specialization in "geeky" properties talking about a ridiculously profitable series that was a reboot of a popular 80s product. Do you expect them to just ignore it? It's literally their job not to.
Greetings, I'm the Nostalgic Angry Spoon Snob Guy In The Shadows Nerd and I'm here to talk about the cinematic turdball that is Transformers 11: Still Transformin'
Now I know what you're thinking: Didn't I not review Transformers 10? Well the answer is, although I went to see it on opening day, T10 was just a recap of Transformers 5-9. I couldn't believe how many fratbro dudebro idiots went to see the movie, given how bad it was. Now let me pull up my 50$ commemorative Transformers 11 action figure to show you just how shitty even the toys for this thing are...
Okay, it is entirely possible for a movie to be high grossing and barely register a few years later. I'm talking about a series that has grossed 2.6 billion dollars and has become a merchandising and advertising powerhouse and singlehandedly made several of the cast members and the director household names and popularized the use of the Michael Bay aesthetic and is still talked about after eight years and four installments. The idea that it won't have an impact when it already demonstrably has had an impact is absolutely ridiculous and shows some pretty insane myopia.
Okay, it is entirely possible for a movie to be high grossing and barely register a few years later. I'm talking about a series that has grossed 2.6 billion dollars and has become a merchandising and advertising powerhouse and singlehandedly made several of the cast members and the director household names and popularized the use of the Michael Bay aesthetic and is still talked about after eight years and four installments. The idea that it won't have an impact when it already demonstrably has had an impact is absolutely ridiculous and shows some pretty insane myopia.
these movies have definitely changed the way blockbuster movies are made. That's how movies work. Something becomes popular, then its aesthetic dominates. Are these phases temporary? Well, yes, but that doesn't make them unimportant. Their impact is still felt on the medium.
How? You're the one who introduced this argument, so the burden of proof is on you to provide evidence that the Bayformers are influencing modern cinema. How are they doing that?
Okay, it is entirely possible for a movie to be high grossing and barely register a few years later. I'm talking about a series that has grossed 2.6 billion dollars and has become a merchandising and advertising powerhouse and singlehandedly made several of the cast members and the director household names and popularized the use of the Michael Bay aesthetic and is still talked about after eight years and four installments. The idea that it won't have an impact when it already demonstrably has had an impact is absolutely ridiculous and shows some pretty insane myopia.
I for one am not so much saying it won't have an impact as saying it's shit and therefore we, as a culture, should stop being impacted.
Transformers was the fifth highest grossing movie of 2007. Coming ahead of it were Shrek 3 (which signaled the end of the era where anyone cared about Shrek), Spider-Man 3 (after which no one really talked about Spider-Man devoid of the context of "Spider-Man 3 was bad," at least until the reboots came out) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (which, y'know, Harry Potter), and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (When's the last time you ever heard anyone try to talk about Pirates of the Caribbean in any serious capacity?) After 2007, there was a marked increase on special effects driven, explodey action movies, and moreover the idea of a reboot of a comic book property (or, really, anything "nostalgic) became much more marketable and popular. Take, for example, the rise of the MCU, or the fact that after 2007, Googling "action movies of 20**" I came up with 23 movies that through means of primary aesthetic (explosions, long running time, thin characters, quick cuts, constant action, rarely having still shots) or similarities in conception (revival of a nostalgic property) that can in some way trace their origins to the popularity of Transformers. To ensure that this was a pattern caused (or at least signaled by) Transformers, I went back an equal amount of years from 2007 and included 2007 as I went forward from it, and came up with 15, although in that case the majority of these were superhero movies, which in large part were coming off of residual Spider-Man hype and didn't gross nearly as much money as the Spider-Man movies nor did they remain in the collective consciousness as long. In addition, action movies from 2001-2007 tended to be more akin to The Matrix or the Bourne series, whereas action movies from 2008-2013 had an aesthetic that brings war to mind rather than covert espionage.
Transformers was the fifth highest grossing movie of 2007. Coming ahead of it were Shrek 3 (which signaled the end of the era where anyone cared about Shrek), Spider-Man 3 (after which no one really talked about Spider-Man devoid of the context of "Spider-Man 3 was bad," at least until the reboots came out) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (which, y'know, Harry Potter), and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (When's the last time you ever heard anyone try to talk about Pirates of the Caribbean in any serious capacity?) After 2007, there was a marked increase on special effects driven, explodey action movies, and moreover the idea of a reboot of a comic book property (or, really, anything "nostalgic) became much more marketable and popular. Take, for example, the rise of the MCU, or the fact that after 2007, Googling "action movies of 20**" I came up with 23 movies that through means of primary aesthetic (explosions, long running time, thin characters, quick cuts, constant action, rarely having still shots) or similarities in conception (revival of a nostalgic property) that can in some way trace their origins to the popularity of Transformers. To ensure that this was a pattern caused (or at least signaled by) Transformers, I went back an equal amount of years from 2007 and included 2007 as I went forward from it, and came up with 15, although in that case the majority of these were superhero movies, which in large part were coming off of residual Spider-Man hype and didn't gross nearly as much money as the Spider-Man movies nor did they remain in the collective consciousness as long. In addition, action movies from 2001-2007 tended to be more akin to The Matrix or the Bourne series, whereas action movies from 2008-2013 had an aesthetic that brings war to mind rather than covert espionage.
In addition to this, there's the simple fact that being talked about is what makes something important, and for better or for worse people have been continuously talking about Transformers for the past seven years.
This is not- in any capacity- me praising the Transformers series. But the fact that it is one of the highest grossing series of all time (Dark of the Moon is the seventh highest grossing movie of all time and of the top ten is the only one that is almost inarguably terrible) absolutely warrants a discussion. And if you don't need or want anything further than a simple assessment of good or bad, you don't have to pay attention to any of this discussion.
it is not important to what i care about and i so not wish to hear of it any more. it disgusts me. i would rather lap my own vomit out of a dog bowl on the floor than hear about thus franchise any further.
it is not important to what i care about and i so not wish to hear of it any more. it disgusts me. i would rather lap my own vomit out of a dog bowl on the floor than hear about thus franchise any further.
And listen to people who's jobs are actually to review it, and not just internet reviewing jobs, many of which do not even overlap with the transformers franchise.
AND NOT PUT MONEY IN MICHAEL BAY'S POCKET WAKE UP IRONIC SHEEPLE
That said, you really didn't specify that you were talking about your interests (which decidedly do not include popular action movies) and you did on more than one occasion say something directly counter to what I was saying in a manner that indicated you said them for their own sake rather than for the sake of shutting me up.
these movies have definitely changed the way blockbuster movies are made. That's how movies work. Something becomes popular, then its aesthetic dominates. Are these phases temporary? Well, yes, but that doesn't make them unimportant. Their impact is still felt on the medium.
How? You're the one who introduced this argument, so the burden of proof is on you to provide evidence that the Bayformers are influencing modern cinema. How are they doing that?
The impact is an awful one which might be a good one in the long run for the backlash it might create. I'll put it like this: Bay's Transformers movies, especially the first one, gave a lot of big movie studio executives the impression that a certain kind of movie with a certain kind of "relateable" protagonist with lots of nostalgic fanservice would be inherently profitable, so more of those sorts of movies get green-lit than "riskier" ventures.
The good news is that this is unsustainable and will in time only be remembered for how it dug the studio system's grave for the second time in fifty years. The bad news is that in the meantime...
Comments
The Transformers films do not deserve to be regarded as significant, but will continue to appear so as long as viewers and critics continue to treat them that way. They have done nothing to warrant the amount of attention they are receiving.
And that impact will be brief, and it will not be deserved, and it will chiefly involve large sums of money going into the pockets of Michael Bay and Paramount Pictures and Hasbro, and that impact can be mitigated by not watching the movies or giving them more attention than can be avoided.
They can acknowledge it exists, acknowledge that it is unpleasant and lacking in merit, and devote the rest of their time to other, more deserving movies that may have escaped viewers' notice in the face of all the Transformers hype.
The Sacrifice