Award Snub: Six of his nine movies have been nominated for a combination of 16 Oscars, yet they have won only one award. Several critics have admitted this was on purpose and that his films had the best visuals and sound of the year; however they could not bring themselves to the vote for them because they were movies about things like giant robots from outer space which were based on a toy line. The one exception was for Pearl Harbor in the Sound Editing category and Monsters, Inc. was the only other movie nominated for the award that year.
Critical Dissonance: The second Transformers movie illustrates this best: made about one billion dollars in theaters, critics raged about how atrocious it was, resulting in razzies for worst movie, screenplay and director.
The third possibly more so, since its also recieved a considerable amount of hate, and is now the fourth most highest grossing film of all time.
Michael Bay is the poster boy of this trope, with all his films being critically panned, but still smash hits at the box office. The only real exception, being financially and critically successful, has been The Rock, and that's likely due to Rule of Sean Connery.
Ethnic Scrappy: Has been accused of using at least one per movie.
Critics have openly attacked the intelligence of fans for making Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen a success despite their reviews. Moviebob's review for Inception was particularly scathing, comparing fans of the series to Carl from Aqua-Teen Hunger Force in terms of intellect and taste, saying said film was "...too cerebral for fans of Transformers."
Which is incredibly unfair, as there are plenty of moviegoers who like both.
He's also said that he doesn't make movies the critics want to see. He openly admits that his movies are meant to be popcorn fun. This, of course, is a Berserk Button for three groups of people: professional critics, amateur critics, and people who extremely value the views of critics. The very idea that a director would intentionally make a movie solely for "entertainment" instead of "art" is seen as pissing right in their Wheaties.
Though the fact his films are perennial Oscar contenders’ means his pears actually recognize to some degree what he has done.
Growing the Beard: While The Island wasn't the hit people expected, it was praised for having a much more involving storyline than what usually appears in his films. And yet the film failed to make money.
One review of Alone in The Dark described a confusing shot, and the reviewer actually wrote, "Michael Bay has a lot to answer for." Blaming Bay for a Uwe Boll movie's problems.
The Hatedom is so strong for some people that they're willing to write off any movie that Bay is involved in producing as being horrible before it even comes out. Never mind that it's his production company that's been producing the recent horror movie reboots (Chainsaw, Elm Street, Friday the 13 th), but he's not the sole producer.
This goes to such ridiculous extents that people will pin any summer action movie or toyline-adaptation property on him. Examples include GI Joe, Battleship, and if someone's feeling down on it, Independence Day.
No Such Thing as Bad Publicity: The way people describe his movies, you'd think they were the worst things ever made. You wouldn't know this by looking at the sales figures for Transformers.
Visual Effects of Awesome: Every film he has made with extensive visual effects has been praised for the level of detail and pushing the prior boundaries, even if the film as a whole may have been flawed. Even George Lucas admitted to looking to Pearl Harbor for inspiration on the opening sequence of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.
↑But see the look on some people's faces if they realize they are saying it to people who really do have ADHD.