Arbiter of cinematic quality Michael Bay, during a CinemaCon presentation for his upcoming film Pain & Gain, took Hollywood to task for the “rip-off” robot movies that have been made since Bay’s Transformers. Now, we don’t know whether that was intended as a dig at Guillermo del Toro‘s Pacific Rim, which had a CinemaCon presentation the following day. But based on del Toro’s statement to The Hollywood Reporter, he sure took it as one.
Any day where someone takes Bay down a peg is a good day. Click the cut and revel in the snark.
“We are far, far, far away from [Transformers] in a very willing fashion,” explained del Toro. “For good or bad, this is my movie. This is my universe and my creation, and I do not create through comparison.”
Further (emphasis mine),
“The fights don’t occur in well-lit, supercool, car commercial-looking environments. They occur in the middle of a raging sea storm or in a savage snowstorm. They happen in a universe that is incredibly saturated.”
Burn.
He went on to say that robots aren’t exactly a new thing in sci-fi, “and to some degree, the source of all artificial life is Frankenstein.”
“Insiders close to Bay” say that the director wasn’t calling out Pacific Rim at all, and THR notes that he was likely referring to Battleship and Real Steel. Still. This whole thing is kind of funny. Your mileage may vary on how valid a criticism “it’s a rip-off!” is (not very, says I), but even if you think it is valid, you’ve gotta admit the idea of Bay as a guardian of Hollywood’s moral integrity is hilarious.
You tell ‘im, del Toro.
(via: blastr)
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