Michael Bay Admits That The CG In His New Movie Sucks

Speaking in a promotional interview with European cinema chain Les Cinémas Pathé Gaumont, Bay expressed a passion for the emphasis on practical stunts in “Ambulance” before noting his dissatisfaction with a few particular moments that required digital effects.

“All those explosions and cars flipping, that’s all real. That’s all live, real, ratchets. It looks very dangerous [and] it could be very dangerous if you don’t know what the hell you’re doing. Most of it is real stunts. There’s very few blue screen shots on the movie. There’s not a lot of CGI,” Bay says. “Some of the CGI is shit in this movie. There’s a couple shots that I wasn’t happy with, okay? Alright.”

I still don’t know what to think of Michael Bay. He’s just bizarre. He feels like a parody of a movie director. Whether it be his overly saturated style, his incessant need to shoehorn action into his movies, or the borderline pornographic way he decides to film the women in his movies, he has always been a bit of an odd bird. Now don’t get me wrong, there are Michael Bay movies that I enjoy. “The Rock” is good. The “Bad Boys” movies have their fun moments, and I love the first “Transformers,” but when he’s at his worst (“Pearl Harbor,” the “Transformers” sequels) few directors are as insufferable. 

Despite having strong opinions about his work, I haven’t given his new film “Ambulance” much thought. It looks like a Michael Bay movie, which means it features a ton of (most likely) poorly edited action scenes and a cast full of talented actors being wasted (seriously, how was Frances McDormand in “Transformers: Dark Of The Moon?”) but as indifferent as I’ve been towards this movie, I’m a bit intrigued to see it now. I’ve never really known Michael Bay to be much of a liar. This is the same man who told Ben Affleck to “shut the fuck up” when Ben Affleck questioned the absurdity of “Armageddon’s” premise. 

Making movies is hard, and making a great movie is even harder. There’s part of me that respects Michael Bay for doing this. I prefer to be warned about how awful the CG is in his movie so I can brace myself before I see it. Part of me wishes more directors would do this. What would’ve happened had George Lucas called a press conference in 1999 warning us about Jar-Jar Binks? Would we have hated “The Phantom Menace” the way we did? Okay, probably, but it’s the thought that counts.