@MUTO123 - Mike Bay taking a lot of heat though....

@captquirk - Chronicles of Riddick

@PirateCipher - it was the Village Voice.

https://www.villagevoice.com/2017/06/20/heres-what-the-new-transformers-movie-is-like/

...and wow... wtf!? Lol

@PirateCipher - The funny thing is that you can translate it. Here's the translation with the extra text included:

fiiigjhkwetwnwwwjsahafajhwfohofoehaoowofoeoicioeciaqidjFaerlaeaffjgjlje XGRSXSsfdsmfjjj so much random stuff so much egjwogpjwd bldklhj its like you thought the earlier movies were e confusing hahahah mfjff7ga98fhfhfplwxczchow are kids supposed to understand any of this VSSH gmnskgl actually how are adults supposed to understand any of this jskjjlvr lmnkrjsljrj say what you will but once upona time jsogrjdvpvarivpaeimp grfggjsfsfpoe Michael bay could bring beauty to an action scene eeevgrhcgg oiwxg a manic poetry filled with kinetic grace and herois mgjvbbp mnfwdwdwkpad3dkka like whatever happened to THAT guy dzxwqs szm the guy who made the rock and bad boys 2 and even the first transformers wzns hmnffrqerqrq pain and gain too that was pretty good hah qqxjpq3Oirgaraaem hjsxsmvermavr but now hes become a self parody kljekwjkjjjejhar grmfagafafmmfhkjasxxand the crazy thing is he knows it jcejjdagmfflrlrl 3jq3aefra but doesn’t seem to know how to escape it zklWSCMC

And here's the clear translation, without the erroneous text:
So much random stuff; so much. It’s like you thought the earlier movies were confusing. Hahahah! Are kids supposed to understand any of this? Actually how are adults supposed to understand any of this? Say what you will but once upon a time Michael Bay could bring beauty to an action scene. A manic poetry filled with kinetic grace and heros. Like whatever happened to that guy. The guy who made The Rock and Bad Boys 2 and even the first Transformers. Pain and Gain, too; that was pretty good. Hah! But now, he’s become a self-parody. And the crazy thing is, he knows it. But doesn’t seem to know how to escape it.

@Floke
@Josh Wilding

@17daysleft - Translated above.

@PirateCipher - China and... uh, China.

Seriously, these movies are written for non-American audiences to follow (i.e. no nuanced emotions, plot complexities, or clever dialogue that could be hard to translate), and they look so good because many of those non-English speaking audiences just want to see the visual spectacle.

Oh... and uh, also China. Because at least one of the big VFX companies is Chinese.

There's a really interesting conversation that people should have about American cultural-privilege since (mostly by happenstance) we've inherited an entertainment architecture where the only major big-budget spectacle-driven media is Hollywood, and that global appetite for that spectacle (without the trappings of American cultural expectations) is actually a totally reasonable thing.

But, it's unfortunately true that the result is often a lowest common denominator like Michael Bay. That sucks.

@Spock0Clock - Be careful what you wish for though, because when you go on the opposite side of the spectum, you fall into european independant films, which are for most either boring as all hell movies about social workers and whatnot, or just regular comedies, no better no worse than US ones... It's a caricature of course, but trust me, I work in the european industry, and most of what comes out can't even make its meager 1.5mil to 5-6Mil tops budget back, because nobody wants to watch it.

@PirateCipher - Yeah, don't get me wrong, there are some great Chinese stories and films, with all kinds of emotional nuance and strong characterization. And even their bigger broader stuff can be quite good, deep, and entertaining (I love me a good Stephen Chow film, personally).

But the problem with movies like Transformers and Independence Day Resurgence and so many blockbusters isn't that they're merely targeted to foreign markets. The problem is that they're made for what dumb Western movie executives' envision those markets wanting. And it's this weird "Google Translated" version of international blockbuster culture that really sucks.

@teragon - What I'm really getting at is that Hollywood is trying (and generally fails, I think) to cater to the cultures of the entire globe. And they're the only ones who can do these super big-budget spectaculars because they're the only place with that kind of investment and infrastructure.

It would be interesting to see what the European movie industry could do with a 200 million dollar budget and aiming it at a global audience. Or Bollywood. We're rapidly seeing what the Chinese film industry would do with stuff like the Wall. And at the very least it would be a more democratized system that doesn't depend on a very narrow selection of studio heads in California making these decisions.