Michael Bay is the very definition of divisive, I don’t take any of the arguments on here personally. I actually agree with some, but his style over substance, visuals over everything else is the reason I love his films, and others hate them.

I guarantee as Travis gets more exposure he’ll get his detractors too(not to the extent of Bay) but he also has his own style, and seems to be a distinctive film maker in his own way. I like what I’m seeing from him though so far, that’s all I really ask of any director that does these films. Stamp your own style on it.

 

This and King of the Monsters are what happens when you get people who genuinely care, and are fans of franchises like this to make films. It’s of course, not always a guarantee that said films will be automatic success stories. But, at the very least, you still have someone who cared enough about the franchise to try their very hardest at making something great, and that the fans would hopefully really enjoy.

Good on Knight for this letter; I appreciate the passion oozing from him about this movie.

 

Yeah, it seemed to me that the Movieverse was the way it is because Bay madTransformers into something he liked.

I do think he started phoning it in with AoE and TLK.

 

no, you're right the first time.

Although Michael Bay isn't some random person on the internet, he's a public figure with all that goes along with that. I wouldn't talk like that about a member on this board, and perhaps the same standard should apply when talking about bigshots. I don't actually believe that he's immune to human feelings, and totally insulated from reality by his wealth and status. We have to allow people a certain human dignity regardless. I don't blame you for opposing the dehumanizing and coarsening impulses of internet discourse.

... although I'd be amazed if my words reached anywhere near the guy from this quiet corner of the web. I think he's gonna be okay.


I'd like to come back to something else you mentioned in your post:

If Paramount would give me a hundred million dollars to work with and Hasbro allowed me the rights, I'd certainly give it a shot! Incidentally I did lower my expectations with each movie, and I don't dismiss them entirely!

I have little doubt it could be done significantly better than it has been, although I'm not so arrogant as to assume I'd be the best person for the job, and we all know it doesn't work like that. I expect you would have quite a long queue of people willing to take that gig, but I think with the enthusiasm of this letter and his track record it is clear that they've picked an ideal candidate!

 

tl;dr This isn't Bay's Transformers. This is a real movie.

Sounds good, Travis.
Just redub Blitzwing's lines and call him Starscream and we're good.

 

Nah. He's good without your approval. Perhaps this just isn't the film for you. I don't like when people haven't even given the man a chance and demand things like they know him personally or he somehow owes them something. He isn't, he doesn't.

YOU OWE HIM. A chance. If he screws it up, then and only then do you get the right to complain and demand anything from him. And even then, only within reason.

 

I hope Paramount isn't expecting another $1 billion out of this because if they are then this'll pretty much be the last TF film we'll ever get.

 

Well you certainly couldn't raise your expectations with each successive movie. l mean, I guess you could, but that would be delusional.  :

 

Travis Knight might just save this franchise. The letter is really sweet.And as much some of us enjoy the Bay films there's no denying they were poorly received. Knight sounds like just the guy the franchise needed. It would be cool to see him become the Kevin Feige of the Transformers universe.

 

While it's way too early to say if I will agree with everything Travis Knight does with the film from the letter it seems safe to say "One of us, one of us. Gooba-gobble, gooba-gobble".

He's a Bumblebee fan so no one is perfect but he did talk about the Decepticons so it's a really encouraging sign that perhaps Knight will see the Cons as characters and not just something to kill off because getting the hero's body count up is more important than building something if there is going to be a sequel. Knight might end up on my enemies list if he kills off Blitzwing, but hopefully it would be for a damn good story telling reason and not just because it makes Bumblebee look like some sort hard core bad ass to go killing left and right.

Only caution I would have is a fan in the director's chair doesn't always end up cranking out what their fellow fans were looking for. Jon M. Chu is a really nice and even though he doesn't have a reason to promote GI Joe he still talks nicely about his fellow GI Joe fan. But the studio ham stringed Chu so badly between the budget and having to fit a continuity that his GI Joe movie is really bad. So even the nicest person with the very best of intentions can fall prey to the studio getting stupid. I think we should cross our fingers that Paramount was fairly hands off to let Knight do the sort of story he wanted to do with Bumblebee.

 

Well this post is something.

I just express that I would like it if the transformer that is modelled after starscream actually be starscream, and some dude on the internet goes on a rant about how the director is a big confident boy and I owe him one and maybe I shouldnt see the movie.

Some of yall are just really really weird and go from zero to ten for no reason.
Tell me more about what I'm allowed to feel about transformers.

 

You can feel anything you want about Transformers, you're in no position to demand anything from the director. Especially when you haven't even seen what he's bringing to the table, yet.

If the finished product is a hollow sell out, then by all means complain, but if it's genuinely a good movie and Blitzwing's design/look is the only real casualty of the film, then it's a small price to pay.

And it grinds my gears that you post things like "fix and we'll be fine.." and it's like "WHAT?!" Those requests are so ludicrous that it boggles my mind that any of you are serious! Oh, yep, they're going to change a multi million dollar film, nearly at the last minute, to appease you. Because you said so.

Don't go see the film, then! Don't demand outrageous things from a man who will probably never see your posts and it shouldn't have to be explained to you that you are owed nothing.

Give the man a chance, if he fails you then you can complain and make some demands.
It's like asking a bird to fly, nay, demanding it and then being upset at said bird even though you're the one holding its wings back. At least let it try and fly before you pluck those feathers.

 

I admit I went a little too much into a lecture mode. I wanted to focus on one of the points in your post and not really on you personally. The liberal use of 'you's in my post made it more personal, I guess. I tried adding 'generally speaking' at the end, but it appears that it didn't work as I intended.

I don't think that the money was ever the issue with the movies. They did have it and supposedly hired some professionals with it, but look how it turned out  

 

-don't sweat it, we cool.

 

not a thing wrong with that!

Bumblebee is really just about the last TF that should ever be portrayed as a badass. That's really not the best way to go about demonstrating this character's worth, and it shouldn't devalue the character to present him as something other than a badass.

From what I can see he takes a lot of punishment, and when he does fight back, it's in more of a protective/defensive capacity. Well, I wouldn't expect him to be ripping bots to pieces and taking faces like a Bay movie! But we'll see how that goes.

 

I actually don't think that's true. However, I don't think Bay (and a lot of other media) truly understood what it means to be a badass, and how a character such as Bee should earn his victories.

Bee's moments of heroism and "cool" should be relative to him. I assume he's going to defeat both Shatter and Dropkick by himself, and it will probably take up the majority of the film's climax. If Bee has to fight tooth and nail against opponents who outclass him, and only just manage to best them with what strength he has, that's far more "badass" to me than him mowing down scads of faceless nobodies like he's Doom Guy or tearing apart mini-bosses without hardly a scratch. Make Bee feel like a badass by fighting whilst at a clear disadvantage, not look like a badass by just being completely unstoppable. In the trailers we see him driving around quickly, using his small size and speed to launch himself at Dropkick, and using found weapons and the environment to get every leg up he can, and to me that's cool. It's cool because he has to work for it, and doesn't just enable God mode and auto-aim.

I agree. They seem to be making him more vulnerable and realistic in his abilities. I mean, even the weakest giant robot completely outclasses human ability, so he's automatically cool just for being one, but the movie actually seems to be establishing that he's not the best fighter. The entire premise is based on him getting his ass kicked so hard he has to basically go into a coma and loses his memories.

 

Why can't he be? He doesn't have to be John McClane, but he doesn't have to be Elmer Fudd, either.

And look at Short Circuit. Johnny 5 outsmarted his enemies in the first one and was a charming little lovebug of a machine. In the second, he was awesome. Yeah, he was backed into a corner but he took it to the next level when push came to shove.

If Bumblebee has a bit of column A (Bay Murderbee) and a bit of column B (Johnny 5), that would be fine. And even if he's not super gentle and has moments of super bad@$$, there's nothing wrong with that.

Bay went too far with Murderbee, but he at least set up the idea that Bumblebee was a capable anything.

 

Of course Bumblebee will be heroic and have odds stacked against him and presumably prevail. I think the term 'badass' implies totally outclassing your opponents in a very nonchalant manner. Walking away from explosions without flinching etc. I don't think it matters so much if Bumblebee panics a bit and isn't totally calm and collected in the face of terrible danger. Characteristics of youth, exuberance, inexperience would not be out of place.

I feel the better way to handle it would be where he finds ways to achieve his goals and outwit his opponents without having to resort to outright killing them. Perhaps they are destroyed through their own misjudged actions. If his focus was on protecting his passengers and getting them to safety rather than defeating Decepticons, for example.

We don't always have to demonstrate heroism through violence.

But perhaps that's not what everyone wants, like there's probably some that would rather see a movie about an angry scowling Bumblebee out for brutal revenge. I know Paramount and Hasbro don't make these movies for me specifically! We'll see what we get.

do you consider Johnny 5 a badass worth aspiring to? No one was suggesting Elmer Fudd.

'float like a butterfly, sting like a...'

 

Heck I'd settle for something like Bumblebee in Transformers Animated. A little guy that wasn't going to just step out and put a beat down on anyone but a bot that had to fight smart to defeat the Decepticons. Something just more entertaining when it's not such a forgone conclusion that the good guys will win.

 

Seems like he actually cares