It is safe to say that no one is surprised about the critical reaction to Transformers: Age of Extinction. It’s barely hit the big screen and already it has an 18% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and has inspired a slew of angry, disgusted Tweets, reviews, and posts from around the film community. But regardless of what the critics think of the film, it has already cashed in at the box office – Deadline thinks that it will break $300 million worldwide if Sunday estimates are correct. There’s no doubt that director Michael Bay will be laughing all the way to the bank on this one.
But even vulgar auteurs have feelings, and Bay recently admitted that negative reviews and comments used to bother him a great deal. Not so any more though, according to the man himself. Bay told MTV (via Screen Rant) that he no longer cares what the haters say:
They’re still going to see the movie! I think it’s good to get a little tension. Very good.
Touche, Mr. Bay. As much as I hate to admit it, the director is actually right: all the negative publicity that critics and other viewers have created for Transformers: Age of Extinction is still doing marketing work. People will continue to see the film, whether it’s because they actually want to watch CGI robots beat on each other for two hours, or because they want to see if it’s really as bad as everyone says it is. If this all feels remarkably cynical, that’s because it is remarkably cynical. Box office receipts do not understand irony; even if everyone who goes to see Transformers: Age of Extinction does so ironically, it’s still going to translate into a lot of money.
The continued success of Transformers: Age of Extinction means that it’s likely we’ll get to see another entry into the franchise in a few years, as Paramount recently reported they want a Transformers 5 by 2016. While Bay himself is not sure if he’ll come back to direct another Transformers film, it isn’t like he has anything better to do, right?