rHodas: 'Transformers: Dark Of The Moon' Is 'Epic,' Michael Bay Says

Sunday, February 13, 2011

'Transformers: Dark Of The Moon' Is 'Epic,' Michael Bay Says

'It takes awhile to get it right,' director tells MTV News of 'Dark of the Moon.'
By Eric Ditzian, with reporting by Kara Warner

Optimus Prime in "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"
Photo: DreamWorks

Michael Bay has been admirably open about what he — and many fans of his "Transformers" franchise — view as the second film's failings resulting from a rushed, post-writers'-strike production schedule. And he's promised to right those cinematic wrongs with the third installment in the series, "Transformers: Dark of the Moon."

Early looks at footage from the upcoming action flick — a tantalizing teaser trailer and a balletic Super Bowl spot — seem to indicate he's accomplished that goal.

"I think it takes awhile to get it right," he explained to MTV News on Wednesday night at the red-carpet premiere of "I Am Number Four," which he produced. "I think we did not want the third one to suck."

The problem with 2009's "Revenge of the Fallen," Bay once again pointed out, is that the writers' strike left the production hardly any time to nail down a script. The filmmakers found themselves essentially trying to create a story line in the edit room, rather than on the page before shooting began.

"The second one, we had a tough go," Bay told us. "It was a very, very tough thing to make a movie under those circumstances. It affected a lot of Hollywood at that time."

This time around, Bay said, "We worked extra hard" and struck upon "a better story." "It's epic and it happens in a city," he added. "It's more accessible because you recognize stuff — it's not in a desert. It's kind of like 'Black Hawk Down' with our small group of heroes in a city."

On the carpet, Bay also briefly touched on two new alien bots set to debut in "Dark of the Moon." "Sentinel Prime is great. He's great," he said. "I can't tell you anything else, other than he's great."

And about the villain Shockwave, Bay say, "He's bad," adding that compared to Megatron, "He's got a much bigger gun [and is] a little bit more vicious."

Though Bay is certain he's got a winner on his hands, the director maintained that "Dark of the Moon" will be his final "Transformers" film. "It does have an end, yes," he said. "Because I am finished doing this."

Check out everything we've got on "Transformers: Dark of the Moon."

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