Michael Bay doesn’t care about Transformers: Age of Extinction criticism

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION was clearly going to be a critic-proof film from the moment that it was announced. With each film in Michael Bay‘s franchise receiving fewer positive reviews, the latest film is by far the worst with a measly 17% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But, it also hauled in $100 million, so who are the real losers in this situation?

Speaking with MTV about the hate his films get, Bay seemed to give less than a shit as to what critics think.

“They love to hate and I don’t care; let them hate,” he told MTV’s Josh Horowitz. “They’re still going to see the movie! I think it’s good to get a little tension. Very good.”

“I used to get bothered by it, but I think it’s good to get the dialogue going,” he said. “It makes me think, and it keeps me on my toes, so it’s good.”

I have always enjoyed Michael Bay films, to an extent. When he was making movies like THE ROCK, ARMAGEDDON, and BAD BOYS, there was a level of fun to his movie-making that made the films themselves a little more special. But, after getting the worst headache I have had in years seeing TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION (in 2D, no less), I realized that I concur with our reviews of this nearly three hour commercial. It may speak more to what fans like versus what critics do in that the movie had a solid A- CinemaScore rating, so I would expect any future films in this series to be louder and definitely not smarter.

TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION is now playing.