Terminators & Transformers

Well 2008 saw a lot of good movies come out, and now that we are in 2009, as always the new year brings new hype. There are many big movies coming out this year - "Night At The Museum 2:Battle Of The Smithsonian", "GI Joe:Rise Of Cobra", "Underworld:Rise Of The Lycans", "The Wolf Man", "Sherlock Holmes", "X Men Origins:Wolverine", "Avatar", "Watchmen", "Star Trek", "Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince". That's some list isn't it? That is only the really high profile movies, there are always the ones that will take us all by surprise and who knows what films will do that this year.

Two of the highest profile movies coming out are "Terminator Salvation" starring Christian Bale, and "Transformers:Revenge Of The Fallen". Both big name franchises, and both by directors that people seem to really like or really hate.

I have talked about Michael Bay before (he is directing Transformers), he makes brainless popcorn movies that, despite what detractors say, entertain people. He is not an artist by any stretch of the imagination, but like it or not, he makes movies that people like. When the first Transformers movie was such a huge hit, everyone knew there would be a sequel, and this summer, we are getting it. Mr. Bay will be letting loose again with big robots, big explosions and as always, minimal substance.

McG, the director of "Terminator Salvation" is another director who people have varied opinions on. He directed the first "Charlies Angels" movie, which was well liked by most. But then he hit the wall with "Charlies Angels 2:Full Throttle" which was in a word, terrible and most audiences agreed. He did a little better with the true story "We Are Marshall", but he has only done 3 feature films and when it was announced he would be directing "Terminator Salvation" fans, including myself, became concerned. The first two Terminator movies were directed by the great James Cameron, and the third film was directed by Jonathan Mostow, and even though Mostow is no Cameron, I felt that T3 was a good entertaining film and a worthy addition to the franchise. McG has stated he is taking this film seriously and wants to do right by the franchise. So far what I have seen from the movie, it is looking like he is keeping his word. Add to the fact that Christian Bale is a good judge of scripts, as I have not seen a movie he was in yet that I did not enjoy, so to me that adds some credibility to the film as well. Apparently the studio also has a lot of faith in the film, as two more sequels have been approved, although no word if Bale will be returning, but studio support is always a good thing. This could be a career making film for McG, so he had better be a man of his word, because it could also be a career killer if the film flops. Oh and one more thing, he really needs to change the whole McG thing, just use your real name dude.

There is not much to say about Michael Bay that hasn't already been said. He is really hated in many circles, I have been on many other websites and have seen some very harsh words said about him. But as already stated, he makes movies that people enjoy. One of the things that people complained about in the first Transformers movie was not enough robots, and word is in the next film there will be a significantly higher robot count. The dizzying editing style of the first film is also something a lot of people didn't like, including myself. I can handle fast paced action, but when I cannot tell what is going on and who is fighting whom, things needs to slow down. As always you can't expect much substance from Bay and co. Big, loud, dumb fun. It has been said that a movie can be big and loud and still be intelligent, as proven by "The Dark Knight", that we should not have to "turn off" our brains at a movie. Well, why the hell not? If I want deep meaningful entertainment I will seek it out, but I don't want nor do I expect meaning from Michael Bay. If Transformers was being directed by Christopher Nolan, I would expect a lot more substance, but it isn't. So I like big dumb fun, why is that so bad? Most of the world likes it as well and that's why Bay continues to make movies and they continue to do well at the box office. I am looking forward to the next Transformers movie.

It looks to be a good year for robots, on one hand you have giant robots kicking the crap out of each other, and then you have an army of robots pretty much killing everything in sight. There is definitely more at risk with "Terminator Salvation" then there is with "Transformers:Revenge Of The Fallen", because everyone knows what to expect from Bay, but McG is the mystery here, can he take hold of the Terminator name and give a film worthy of the name? Only time will tell, but I am going to say that I think he will deliver the goods.