Just When We Needed Them Most, Sydney Sweeney and Michael Bay Are Swooping in To Save the Big, Bold, Ridiculous Action Movie With ‘Outrun’
During the promotion of his new documentary at the SXSW film festival, Michael Bay admitted to having trouble finding a new project. There was a period of time in which Bay was viewed as the epitome of what the worst of blockbuster filmmaking had to offer, as critics were particularly scathing in their assessment of the Transformers film. However, Bay is also a filmmaker who propped up the theatrical business by creating massive global hits, which employed thousands of VFX artists and crew members; although there has been more public interest in budgets than ever before, Bay made films in which the money was undeniably on the screen. In an era where the dominance of streaming has put the theatrical market in danger, Bay is the savior that Hollywood needs and deserves a comeback.
Like It or Not, Michael Bay Is an Auteur
One of the biggest issues that commercial filmmaking faces today is the lack of creative distinction within studio films—many of which feel like they are made by a committee; filmmakers like Jon M. Chu and Shawn Levy epitomize this cynical way of making bland, unobjectionable products that intend to appeal to four-quadrant audiences. Bay consistently made bold choices and developed his own idiosyncrasies, as there was an element of chaos and comic mayhem to each of his projects that made them distinct. Bay was never a filmmaker who was interested in “cinematic universes,” as even the sequels he made in the Transformers and Bad Boys franchises incorporated every idea on the table. While his work would often inspire divisive responses, a new film from Bay was certainly an event that the industry had to take seriously.
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The Bonkers Social Satire Behind ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’
Beyond the nonstop action, there was also some interesting social commentary in the third ‘Transformers’ movie.
Bay has a much better track record than he is given credit for, as his career shouldn’t be defined by the work that he did in the Transformers franchise, even if the first installment in the series holds up very well. The Rock is one of the greatest action films of the 1990s, as it united two legendary stars in Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage; Armageddon is a highly self-aware disaster film that coasted on the charisma of its impressive ensemble to be great entertainment. One of the benefits of Bay’s work on the Transformers films is that he was given the freedom to work on relatively smaller projects that appealed to more niche audiences. Pain & Gain is easily the most underrated film of his entire career, as he used a strange true story as the inspiration for a Coen Brothers-esque crime caper that satirized toxic masculinity and American capitalism. 13 Hours was an underrated war film that succeeded thanks to Bay’s political obliviousness; while a more nuanced filmmaker may have attempted to use the film to speak on electoral subjects, Bay simply made a riveting action thriller that captured the brutality of war.
Bay Is Making the Type of Films Hollywood Needs More Of
Hollywood is in need of the type of original films that Bay is making, as he has approached established genres and modernized them for a new generation. Although Ambulance was unfortunately a box office disappointment, it offered the type of propulsive action filmmaking that fans of Speed or Air Force One must have appreciated; despite the more classical inspirations, Bay made the action feel fresh thanks to his use of drone photography and digital filmmaking. While it’s unfortunate that a filmmaker as loyal to theaters had to get a project made at Netflix, Bay’s 2019 action film 6 Underground has the type of relentless, death-defying stunt photography that puts other streaming releases like Red Notice and The Electric State to shame.
News that Bay is set to direct an adaptation of the OutRun video game series for Universal Pictures, complete with the addition of Sydney Sweeney is simply exciting. Because the premise is clearly one that he can execute; given Bay’s aptitude for kinetic chase sequences and indulgent photography of the beach, it’s hard to think of material that is better suited to him. Bay has never made apologies for his work, and Hollywood certainly doesn’t need to approach his work with any less of a critical eye. Nonetheless, Bay’s track record speaks for itself, and it’s in the best interest of the theatrical business if he is allowed to keep making wild, entertaining blockbusters. Let’s see what he and Sweeney can cook up, but until then, there are plenty of explosive Bay films to check out in the mean time.
