Michael Bay had the opportunity to continue making one hit blockbuster after the other when he was calling the shots for the Transformers movies. However, it appears that even he regrets how long he was involved with the franchise, something Steven Spielberg advised against.Bay, whose new film Ambulance was just released in theaters, reflected on his time directing the Transformers movies from 2007 to 2017. Like any director in Hollywood, he was just trying to make some entertaining movies. For what it’s worth, regardless of quality, no one can deny that the films directed by Bay are visual spectacles. Still, in hindsight, Bay wishes he had stopped earlier despite the fun he had while making them and the financial success.RELATED: Ambulance Review"It was a fun experience. It made more than [$709 million], that’s a lot of movie tickets and a lot of people that have seen it," Bay said during an interview with Unilad. “I made too many of them. Steven Spielberg said, ‘Just stop at three’. And I said I’d stop. The studio begged me to do a fourth, and then that made a billion too. And then I said I’m gonna stop here. And they begged me again. I should have stopped. They were fun to do.” Even if they weren’t well-received critically, Bay said he put his passion into every project like he would for any movie. “I’m passionate about any movie I do, from Pain & Gain to 13 Hours. I like going from big to small, you want to move off the same thing.“It’s pretty easy to see why Bay has some regrets years later. In spite of the franchise’s success, Bay’s name started to become an inside joke among moviegoers. The Transformers movies were seen as pure popcorn flicks with very little substance when Bay was at the helm. They were cutting edge when it came to action, but downright laughable when it came to characters and dialogue. Bay’s comments seem to imply that he understands that while the action was respected, not much else was.So now comes Bay’s next film, Ambulance, which is being advertised as a crime thriller but doesn’t seem to have the same CGI spectacles of Bay’s previous Transformers films. Sure there will be plenty of action, which is probably why they chose Bay to direct, but this project does look like Bay is trying new things, or at least something relatively new like exploring character dynamics and black and white. Maybe it’s this film that will get some respect under Bay’s name when it comes to the non-CGI aspect of filmmaking.It’s been prone to happen. Before Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, Todd Phillips was regarded mostly as a comedic filmmaker. Next thing fans know, he’s getting nominated for best director and best screenplay at the Academy Awards. Little was known about how Jon Favreau would handle Iron Man considering his previous best-known credits were Elf and Zathura. Now he gets credit for spearheading the superhero movie revolution. Based on his track record, the odds of Bay changing moviegoers’ perception of him with Ambulance are not in his favor, but at least he’s making the effort. That’s valiant enough.Ambulance is now playing in theaters and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts hits theaters on June 9, 2023.MORE: Every Michael Bay Movie, Ranked By Rotten TomatoesSource: Unilad
