[…] Writing for Michael is very — he’s a very sensory director, and sometimes an “overload” director. He’s someone who is always looking to top himself, certainly from an action perspective and a stylistic perspective. So very early on we’re throwing ideas back and forth. We talk about sequences and visuals and moments. Whereas in some other films, or “ordinary” films, you might be very slavish to story and narrative first, and logical sense above all. When you’re talking about …read more […]

Fascinating. It reads like a desperate rationalization of the depressing truth that Kruger is working with someone who has lost all interest in story and character. "Quasi-experimental"? Makes it sound like Bay is this brave auteur filmmaker that no one 'gets', as opposed to someone who is now (though in the past this wasn't true) basically a glorified special FX technician, who now only cares about making even bigger things go bigger boom. The fact is, you CAN have a movie about giant robots that still has a decent story and believable characters. Just look at Pacific Rim. Kruger knows this, and it probably eats away at him. But the money is probably good. I certainly wouldn't turn down an offer to write a Michael Bay film, even if I know it meant I was basically being hired to string a bunch of action sequences together with random narrative mumbo jumbo.

Yes, John, the fact is, someone is going to write Transformers and movies like it. You and I may not think there's much going on in the way of character or even narrative, however the people involved in these productions must have determined that the audience for Transformers -- and it is a huge one -- just don't care about that 'stuff'. As to "quasi-experimental," I'll say this: If Transfomers were just an exercise in pure commercial exploitation, Bay would make a movie less than 100 minutes in length so the exhibitors could squeeze one more screening per day. The fact this movie is nearly 3 hours long suggest there is at least something going on in Bay's mind relative to a creative 'vision'. As to whether the result constitutes "quasi-experimental," I'd have to see the movie to judge.

I don't think Michael Bay doesn't care about story or character. From his interviews, it seems like in his mind, he is making a good movie. He even seems like he thinks this one is a fresh take on the franchise. Unlike directors like James Cameron that have actually sat down to write their own scripts, Bay wouldn't have the experience of working with story on that level...and probably doesn't know what he doesn't know....and is completely dependent on whatever the writer delivers. Bay is not the only director to have set pieces ahead of time. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg had pieces in mind and asked writers to string together a story around it. It's really up to the writer to come up with something good to fit around it. I remember the previous transformer movie had a completely irrelevant silly scene with Shia LeBouf going to his girlfriend's office and hijinks ensue--the point of it I could not tell you. I don't think you can really lay that at the feet of the director...it's just a weirdly constructed scene. Or if there is blame then, it would be that Bay should have read it and said let's rethink this scene. Dramatically, this has no bearing on the story we're trying to tell. He might want to think of using the Pixar approach.