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The director of Pearl Harbor, Bad Boys II and now Transformers defends his art, writes Jim Schembri.

THE easiest way to start an argument among cinema lovers is to state categorically that Michael Bay is an artist.

...Maybe it helps to think about it this way: the hallmark of any artist is to author a signature style. In this sense, love them or hate them, everybody knows a Michael Bay film when they see one.

...Of course, run the idea of cinematic artistry past Michael Bay and you'll get no argument. As the lithe 42-year-old settles into the couch opposite for our interview, he may - with $3 billion in box office earnings under his belt - qualify as a Hollywood heavy hitter, but he doesn't speak like one.

...I use a lot of very talented people, but it is art if you can get people to applaud or laugh in that theatre, so you're creating some sort of emotional response.

...Bay is referring to his new art film, Transformers, a live-action film based on the popular series of toys from the 1980s where various ordinary-looking vehicles turn - or "transform" - into giant warring robots.

...Ever since re-creating the attack on Pearl Harbour with the aid of CGI, Bay has become a wizard at harnessing digital technology for action. ... Curiously, however, one of his favourite moments in the film involves the staging of a 1970s-style car stunt where a Camaro balances on two wheels.

...That was the most patient I've ever been in my entire film career. It took three hours for that guy to get up, and it was all real. ... I broke a record for being the most patient I have ever been because I like real.

...Despite his box-office success - or, he suspects, because of it - Bay has become the punching bag of choice for critics the world over. ... Bay suspects it has something to do with "fear of the new". ... "If you look at action nowadays, it's changed more to my style," he says.

..."First of all, there are too many critics and it all just turns into white noise. ... Roger Ebert (of the Chicago Sun-Times) once commented (negatively) on one scene in Bad Boys II and I'm like, 'Wait a minute. I've seen this movie with 10 paying audiences and they were laughing so loud they couldn't hear the dialogue. Didn't he see what was going on in the theatre?'

...The "star" car is courtesy of General Motors, and toy giant Hasbro is expecting the film to act as a global promotional showreel for its new line of Transformer toys.

...That's not a lot for this type of movie, and when I (was looking for) that car, I went to GM and they took me through their concept cars and I went, 'That's it!'

...They gave me $3 million worth of cars, which cuts $3 million out of my budget, which means I can put more up on the screen. So I don't think it's whoring out the movie.

..."Listen, I didn't care that this is associated with a toy," he insists.

..."Listen, I didn't grow up with the toy, I didn't grow up with the cartoon, so I'm trying to do my own thing with it."

Bay has made most of his films for uber-producer Jerry Bruckheimer, with whom he is planning his next epic. For Transformers, however, Bay's new patron is the one producer considered more "uber" than Bruckheimer - Steven Spielberg. Indeed, it was Spielberg's idea to have Bay direct the film. "You know," says Bay, "he always says 'I wanna be your new Jerry Bruckheimer'.

...He said to me, 'Michael, I think you've got one of the finest eyes in Hollywood.'

...It takes a few solid minutes of prodding, but Bay eventually concedes that Transformers is a return to safer cinematic territory after the box-office flop of his previous film, The Island.

...This film is still a big risk, but I'm more comfortable in this realm."

...The Island was not only plagued with production problems, but with an ill-conceived marketing strategy that Bay hated.

...Like, they can't do a f---ing thing without me looking at every detail!"

One cannot interview Michael Bay and not seize the opportunity to raise a central criticism of his kinetic style. As fun and enthralling as Transformers is, its massive action sequences share the same irritating qualities as those in his other films. ... It's as though Bay is trying to cram too much into the frame.

...You know, as I go on with movies, I think I do slow down a little bit."

The time has come in Michael Bay's career to fulfil everyone's fantasy by making a small-scale film with no explosions or giant killer robots or machine-guns, where it's just people relating.

...This is good because Bay has an underappreciated gift for comedy, which he has sprinkled generously throughout his films. He considers Armageddon a comedy about the world being saved by a bunch of average Joes, and the hilarious opening reel of Transformers plays like an unofficial remake of Herbie, the Love Bug.

..."I've got this great pulp fictiony true story called Pain and Gain that I've been working on. It's fun dialogue and it's true and it's these people looking for the American dream in the wrong way.

...The chancy masturbation joke in Transformers, he says, was done on the spot, and he loved it. "We made this funny scene because I had these great actors to work with, but the studio kept saying, 'What are you doing? ... I shoot a lot of jokes, and some of them will live and some of them are going to die, but these are the things that will bring the house down.

...Bay's next film will be another Bruckheimer biggie, but he is hungry for change.

...Bad Boys II was fun, and it's funny, but it's no great shakes . . . I'm worried that big movies are going to go away, so I figure I'd better direct (some) while they're still here."

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