Few administrators are as devoid of subtlety as Michael Bay. He is a filmmaker who can flip any sort of scene into an motion scene and infrequently movies quieter moments like he is capturing a film’s climax. However whereas Bay has crafted loads of spectacular motion scenes up to now, his newest movie could be his most audacious and spectacular work up to now. It was additionally extraordinarily harmful to shoot, a lot in order that Bay was legally unable to be wherever close to the set whereas the cameras have been rolling.
Once you hear the phrases “A documentary by Michael Bay,” many ideas come to thoughts. Nevertheless, upon watching “We Are Storror,” you come to understand that, after all, death-defying parkour daredevils who carry out outlandish stunts on the common could be the topic that captured Bay’s consideration.
There was only one tiny downside. As a member of the Administrators Guild of America, Bay was legally sure to make sure any set he works on is risk-free, and as secure as humanly attainable. After all, a film about individuals who leap throughout rooftops lots of of toes above floor is something however risk-free.
“I mentioned, ‘I do not care to know something you are doing. I don’t approve of it. What you are doing is prohibited. That is utterly improper,'” Bay defined throughout a Q&A after the premiere of “We Are Storror” at SXSW. “I am not doing something on this. I am not a producer. I am not a director, so neglect my identify, name me later, and I am going to have a look at the footage and see if I license it.”
Bay and his authorized staff spent precise years determining the best way to make “We Are Storror” in a method that would not place the director in authorized hazard ought to something go improper (and many did). The important thing was that he wouldn’t be allowed on set or be concerned with filming in any respect. “I couldn’t be concerned in any method, form or kind,” Bay famous on the Q&A. He could not even have information of the footage till it was all shot and everybody was alive and effectively — to the purpose the place a giant accident that occurred early on throughout filming was full information to Bay when he came upon about it a lot, a lot later.
We Are Storror is an intense motion documentary
“We Are Storror” tells the story of Storror, a YouTube parkour staff comprised of a gaggle of parkour artists from London (two units of brothers and three mates). The staff had beforehand labored with Bay on the parkour scenes in “6 Underground,” a film that has one of many worst posters of all time.
As you’d count on primarily based on the idea, Bay’s involvement, and Storror’s historical past of unbelievable and wild stunts, “We Are Storror” has a few of the most intense and gorgeous motion stunts put to display screen in 2025. The numerous drone pictures that observe Storror’s extremely choreographed stunts are simply as breathtakingly shot and edited as these in Bay’s thriller “Ambulance.” In the meantime, the acrobatics themselves are as visceral because the climactic climb from “Free Solo,” solely they happen each 10 minutes as a substitute of merely on the finish. Should you undergo from vertigo, you should have a foul time with this film … and even in the event you do not, you would possibly nonetheless depart the theater with sweaty palms and a brand new appreciation for by no means having to carry out any of those harmful stunts in your individual life.
Certainly, even with out explosions or shootouts, “We Are Storror” looks like a Michael Bay venture because of the sheer spectacle of watching these British people defy gravity on rooftops in Malta or run with monkeys on Indian rooftops. Whether or not you are already a fan of the group or that is the primary time you are listening to about them, their globe-throttling journey is inspiring.
In We Are Storror, parkour is the chums we made alongside the best way
Along with the extreme parkour scenes, the factor that makes “We Are Storror” a great documentary is its poignant exploration of male bonding. Although Bay was not concerned within the precise capturing, he did have one huge observe for the members of Storror: “Shoot every thing.” That included the preparation course of for every stunt, the meticulous planning for the choreography, the dusting of the positioning so they do not encounter any surprises, the mess-ups, and their doubts. These are issues the group at all times leaves out of their YouTube movies, so to incorporate them right here made all of the distinction.
You see, the movie begins with the eponymous group training their newest stunt at a Portuguese dam earlier than a pal of theirs suffers a horrifying accident. This occasion casts a shadow on the remainder of the film, as the assorted members of Storror react otherwise to this near-death expertise. In any case, they’re now not youngsters, however males of their 30s whose our bodies do not reply the identical option to all the wear and tear and tear. We be taught the sacrifices they’ve made for the group, abandoning research and different profession paths, and see the beginnings of their doubts and regrets as they notice that possibly they needn’t nonetheless be risking their lives for a YouTube video.
Very similar to “Jackass Perpetually,” there is a melancholic vibe to “We Are Storror.” The movie could be a celebration of their journey to this point, but it surely’s additionally a little bit of a coda to no less than one period of their profession. There is a little bit of a Peter Pan Syndrome facet to the documentary and the way these guys principally achieved their dream method too early. Now, they need to reckon with the vulnerability of maturity, the naïveté of youth, the value of turning your pastime right into a job, and in addition the foolhardiness of harmful stunts, all of which make for poignant themes that the documentary explores with care and empathy.
Storror will proceed making movies (they’ve shot a number of within the time since this film was being edited) and Michael Bay will proceed making huge, ridiculous movies. Nonetheless, “We Are Storror” reveals a special facet of each creatives that I want we might see extra of sooner or later.