Michael Bay's Transformers 3 Golf Cart Falls Short of Nolanesque Standards

Michael Bay appears to be winding down his Transformers 3 reign of destruction in Chicago, and just when everybody appeared to be getting used to the explode-y, rubble-strewn chaos, too. A new, authorized behind-the-scenes video on the filmmaker's Web site offers a glimpse at the warm give-and-take between Bay, his stars and the city itself -- this despite his downmarket golf cart. Christopher Nolan would never be seen in one of those.

Seriously. On a set surrounded by souped-up vehicles, muscle cars, and various gleaming doodads and whatnots, here is Bay delivering himself and Josh Duhamel to their adoring public on a backlot-standard cart. It's a glaring lack of imagination and/or budget in the era of Nolan's infamous Batcart; this thing should be retrofitted with at least two lingerie models and a jive-talking GPS or something. Heartbreaking.

That said, I sincerely love any director who can focus this intently on a cluster of actors ("Keep the energy up! Keep the energy up!") while the entirety of downtown Chicago smolders around him -- and who doesn't need to rely on Comic-Con for his hype. Let's give the man some credit.

· On the Transformers 3 Set with Michael Bay [MichaelBay.com]