This weekend, mayhem maestro Michael Bay is back with his latest mega-budget robo-blast TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION. Let’s put Bay up against another director known for ambitious big-ticket blockbusters and distinct visuals, Zack Snyder.
(Please note: Face Off is an opinion column. We’re not using any actual science to prove or disprove anything. It’s just for fun.)
In his spare time (???) Bay also produces lower-budgeted genre movies like THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE remake and THE PURGE through his Platinum Dunes company, and directs the occasional Victoria’s Secret commercial.
Snyder hung around the comic racks for a reasonably faithful adaptation of Alan Moore’s classic superhero deconstruction WATCHMEN, and then took a stab at computer-animation with LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS, based on Kathryn Lasky’s fantasy book series The Guardians of Ga’Hoole.
His first crack at original material yielded the glossy clunker SUCKER PUNCH, a series of adolescent fanboy fantasies disguised as a female empowerment story. Now he’s right back to digging in the longboxes with Superman, Batman and most of DC’s heavy-hitters.
They’ve both had hits and misses (sometimes in the same movie), and Snyder is certainly establishing himself as a talented stylist, but could use a stronger storytelling grip and a few more features under his belt. Meanwhile, Bay consistently and reliably abandons intelligent narrative for mass-market appeal and thunderous showmanship. It’s basically a matter of preference.
POST YOUR CHOICE BELOW!
