The expendables vs Transformers

Well, it has finally come to this.
I am back to school, and I have been busy. I now have to write a thesis on something to do with English Lit and I have just been reading a lot.
But, that hasn't stopped me from watching awesome films and thinking about the bad ones.
I recently finished rewatching the Expendables 2 (I missed the third one and I am very sad at that). But as the credits were rolling, I was with a smile on my face. I liked this movie... alot!

Let me give you a bit of backstory of why I was surprised that I liked this movie.

The year was 2010. I was just starting to like movies in a different way. It was no longer about the cool explosions and the way a certain man killed another dude. It was about the quality of the film. It was a year of discovery for me. And with great help from the theatrical releases of that year. I mean, the film standard was raised. We had How to Train your Dragon, Inception, Toy Story 3, The first part of the Seventh HP movie. All of these and more were coming out and were making a big impact on me.
Then I watched the Expendables.
I hated the film. It was cheap, cheesy and was filled with cliches to the brim. I came out of the film, feeling rather disgusted at the fact that Silverster Stallone was Rocky at some point, and now he is this botox filled man.
I was turned off by the film.
Cut to 2 years later, where the Expendables 2 came out. I saw the trailer for it, and I said "Nope". I shut down the TV that was playing the trailer, and I left wherever I was. I ignored it. Until Christmas of that year, when my mom bought it on DVD.
We put it in the Blu Ray player and let the movie begin. It was the same. Cliches, cheesy dialogue and big explosions. But I liked it! Why?! It was a cliche after cliche. Cheesy line after cheesy line. The action was amazing, but it was the only thing. The actors were famous old superstars that did things where I was confused. But I still liked it!
This is where I came to a discovery.  Sometimes, movies need to be for the sake of turning off your brain and watching a bunch of explosions.
There are movies out there, that are meant to create zero impact on you. They are just there to entertain. There is no message to them, no rhyme, no reason. Just pure testosterone filled entertainment. This allowed me to forgive many movies that were coming out. I started to see films differently. Which ones have a message? Which ones are meant to just watch and not think for 2 hours as things are happening around you?
It was an awesome discovery.
But then, I saw this

O this. This movie is plain old despicable. I saw this with my older brother and our reactions were practically the same.

I had wasted three hours of  my life watching this piece of crap. I was very disappointed at the fact that this

Did not entertain me. Why? Why is this movie so terrible? How come it can be filled with the same things that The expendables had, but leave me hollow and empty.  I mean, THAT IS FREAKING OPTIMUS PRIME, RIDING A METAL DINOSAUR (wh I know has a name...but the movie didn't say it, so I won't)
What is the difference between these two films?

Both of them are senseless, both of them are filled with cliches, both of them have big names, and both of them have a sense of action that no other films can create.
Yet, what is the difference?

Well, I think that it is the fact that the Expendables movies, know that they are not serious movies. The entire film has an aim towards goofiness and a sillyness. Not having to deal with heavy material and knowing that the characters are already set in their places. They are not going anywhere, so you don't feel the responsibility of watching them grow. You feel connected with them, yes, but you know that the characters will not really change. Hence, you shouldn't change with them. This is not always a good thing. There a characters that need change, but they don't. You feel them getting stuck on the same trait that aids to their fall, but in this movie, the case is special.
Throughout the first scene, the first thing you see is just action. Explosions and gunfire. No explanation. Usually, people would would be reacting like

But not in this movie. The action is enough to draw us in and get us invested in characters we don't even know. The movie knows that there doesn't have to be a reason. It is not a movie that needs to be taken seriously. And does it work? YES!
The movie is not meant to be analyzed and be taken seriously. People will not be coming out of the movie saying "I really think that Stallone was making me doubt whether or not the ethical choices of our society". They will be saying "Holy Crap, do you remember that part where Chuck Norris appeared!!!"

On the other hand, you have Michael Bay.
A movie that takes itself too seriously, but fails to be serious. They try to put in comedy, but the ambiance doesn't allow it. They try to set in a sombre tone, but the failed comedy and jokes keep it grounded on goofyness. So it cannot be seen as more than just plain silly.

I love the part in the beginning of the film where the daughter of Mark Whalberg says to her girlfriends "We are going to get WASTED!!!" but then a few minutes later, she is telling Mark "I sometimes wonder who the real adult is in this house".
It is just contradictory, and it doesn't make sense.
Michael Bay was trying to convey a plot that would create a franchise, but it failed. It cannot be taken seriously because the characters are not real. They try to be, but they fail, that is why you end with characters so annoying, that one ends up applauding when they die (it actually happened in my case).
It is like being at a family reunion, and one kid comes up and starts playing the recorder bad... like this

And everyone laughs, because it is not meant to be taken seriously. But then another kid comes up and starts playing the recorder with it's pants down, but playing perfectly the tune of The Lord of the Rings.
You end up by being confused. You don't laugh, and you don't recognize his talent. He is trying to be funny, on purpose, but trying to be serious at the same time. And fails!

My brother says this about the Transformers franchise
Whereas transformers wishes to be taken seriously. ..they want to make a franchise based on a plot that nobody understands

Well put.
It's too complicated that it falls flat.

In my opinion, Michael Bay should stay away from movies for a while and not try to bring anything that is nostalgic back.
Or else we end up with things like this!