Michael Bay is a director of controversy. He is often critiqued for the movies he films and it becomes too difficult to find an unbiased source referring to Bay. Many attack him for his sense of “excess” that he offers Hollywood.
Bay’s most famous films are Bad Boys (1995), The Island (2005), Pain and Gain (2013), and most famously, the Transformers series starting in 2007.
The style of film Bay has acquired is quite polarizing. They are movies with little to no plot. The stories themselves are often child-like in reality, these are plots that cater towards a certain audience, arguably men. The direct storyline of the films is set so that the actions on screen become the main focus. This is what a Michael Bay movie is about, the adrenaline.
This is infamously called “Bayham”, the use of movement, composition, and quick editing to create epic scale. He captures this essence in every film because of the style of “mise-en-scène” which is a focus on the visuals of the filme, everything in front of the camera is essentially the story. From the set design, lighting, and the actors, every action on screen is what becomes most important instead of the plot.
Bay uses shots that make the screen feel huge. It forces the audience to feel the movement in the scenes, the audience cannot fully grasp actions in the moment. The techniques he uses are nothing of significance at face value. However, Bay has become a master of his work and has perfected the famous techniques. He uses a circular motion camera that pans around the character that is looking straight ahead. He is one of the few directors who have successfully produced the shot. The way Bay films the shot is by creating a chaotic background that makes the audience feel as if the character itself is taking a shift in scene.
The use of quick camera work is almost always seen. Bay will pan out and in of shots that allow for the eyes to follow, but for the brain to lag. When this is accompanied with the mandatory explosive scenes, it becomes a spectacle to the eye. 
Another technique would be his “hero” shot, a staple in any Bay movie. This shot often portrays a sense of chaotic superiority in the male character. It has its benefits of expressing to the audience who the main attraction is, the leading male or males.
This is one of his main critiques he faces, the focus on having the male character always be the hero or main character. Many categorize Michael Bay as the director who is the epitome of selling the fantasy of a “male’s savior complex”. He focuses heavily sometimes on the heroism of the male gender. This is mirrored with the characterization of women in his films. Bay has been known to overly sexualize his female characters and has received a substantial amount of criticism.
Further, many people believe his films are excessive. This view is that Bay’s films are far too chaotic. That the films have scenes that are only adrenaline inducing scenes with little to no time for the audience to notice the details of the scenes. For some viewers this is enough to be enraptured by the film, for others, they view it as childish and an awful style of directing.
No matter how controversial Michael Bay may be, his craftsmanship in his technology and expertise is admirable. He has a talent in exploiting the desire his audience has to be engulfed in a fantasy. His films have grossed billions of dollars and he has gained a title as the most successful director in his genre.
Michael Bay seems to be a sort of enigma in the filmmaking world. His name is one that is infamous. You either love him, criticize him, or, like me, respect his success even through being controversial. Whether people would like to admit it or not, Michael Bay is a director that knows how to create an amazing fantasy world for those who he targets.