Bumblebee is a spin-off/prequel film in the Transformers franchise that focuses on, well, Bumblebee. Set in 1987, the film is about Bumblebee arriving on Earth and meeting an 18 year old girl named Charlie who he forms a bond with. Meanwhile, decepticons are arriving on Earth, creating a threat that only Bumblebee can stop. You know, at this point, the Transformers franchise is as hated as it gets. The first one does get a fair share of love, but the sequels... Not so much, at say the least. As for me, my relationship with the Transformers is a bit complicated. I grew up with the first Michael Bay-directed movie, and I still love it, despite its many shortcomings because of my nostalgia for it. I also really enjoyed the original 80s cartoon. Sure, it was just a series of product placements, but I didn't care; I was a kid when I watched those. As for the sequels to the 2007 movie though, it gets rough. I haven't even seen them because the clips I've seen are horrendous. Tasteless humor, awful acting, impossible to follow action, and a misunderstanding of the characters is only a taste of the terribleness to come from what I've seen. So, when I heard they were making a Bumblebee spin-off, I thought it would suck. I even remember when it was announced and I was face palming at the idea. However, everything leading up to this film looked surprisingly promising. Michael Bay was not directing, which was a good sign. However, the trailers sold me on this movie. It looked genuinely good and heartfelt, which was a major surprise to me. The critics also seemed to really like this once it came out, which can't be said for basically any other Transformers movie. Well, did we get it? The short answer; It finally happened. We got a great Transformers movie.
What makes this film so great is how refreshing it is for this franchise. This is a very different movie than what Michael Bay has done with this franchise in basically every way. While Michael Bay's movies in this franchise are annoying, overbloated, and tasteless, this film is funny, tightly paced, and well-made and well intended. Director Travis Knight did a great job in giving the movie a strong emotional foundation, despite the fact that this easily could have been a dumb action movie with no strong core. However, he gives it likable characters to root for as well as a story that's effective, even if it's not entirely original. It reminds me a bit of his previous film, Kubo and the Two Strings, which I actually didn't care for, but this film does what Kubo failed to do for me; Give a story with a great emotional core that, while predictable, is really effective. This is easily the best directed Transformers movie to date, and credit's due where credit's due.
The strongest point of this film is the friendship between Bumblebee and Charlie. It's heavily reminiscent of ET and films similar to that. It does come off a bit derivative, but their relationship is funny, heartfelt, and a perfect emotional core for the film. I believed every second that they were on screen together that this was a genuine friendship. Hailee Steinfeld is also excellent as Charlie, and is a big reason why she is easily the best human character in the franchise. She makes a character who could come off as cliche and boring into a unique and fun presence on screen. The script also packs a solid amount of depth for this character, making her a great character on her own terms.
Bumblebee himself is also great here. This is very much an origin story for this character, and a solid one at that. It explains everything you need to know quickly, but it doesn't gloss over any details; It's merely compacted really well. It makes you feel for him even outside of the cartoon or the first movie.
Speaking of which, this film reminds me heavily of the original cartoon from the 80s. While the other films feel like their own thing (Mostly for worse), this definitely feels like an adaptation of the original series. The tone is similar, the story feels like it could have been from the show, and the character designs and models feel like modern CGI versions of the original characters. This could have been forced down the viewer's throat in order to "apologize" for the previous films, but this just feels like the film's tone, and not a way to cash in a nostalgia; Like I said, this film feels genuine.
The action and effects are also very good. This isn't a super action-packed film, but when the action comes around, it is solid, especially the final showdown, which has some truly great moments. The effects throughout the film are great and they look better than ever, despite the film having a much smaller budget, which actually does the film favors because it can focus on less. This shows that the Transformers movies should have smaller budgets and a smaller scale. If they turn out like this and remain at least somewhat consistent in quality, this franchise has potential of getting back on track.
Now, while I love this movie, it is not without its issues. First off, some of the military stuff is a bit hit or miss here. It's the same in the franchises previous films, but here, its for different reasons. While the other films show off the military as incredibly patriotic, this film shows them off as cheesy, which works sometimes because it fits with the film's tone, but it doesn't work because the writing isn't as strong in these sequences. It's hard to describe without spoiling the movie, and I won't, but it just doesn't always work.
The two decepticon villains also didn't do much for me. They were fine I guess, and that's about where it ended. I didn't expect some top-tier villain work from this film, but personally I didn't find them to be very intimidating, even if they were a good physical match for Bumblebee.
Even these issues didn't bother me that much. They're notable, sure, but they didn't take much of my enjoyment away from the film. Overall, this is exactly what I wanted. This is the most satisfied I've been with a film since Avengers: Infinity War, and that says a lot. This technically isn't the greatest film of the year, but it's a great blockbuster with genuine soul and some good action. Fans of the Transformers movies, both the newer movies and the original cartoon, will no doubt be satisfied with this. It's everything you want in these movies. Even if you're not attached to these movies in any way, this is the best in the series and since it's a prequel, you don't have to do much research into the series to "Get it". I will admit I have a bit of bias because of my Transformers nostalgia, but this is one of my favorite movies of the year for sure, and it's a good sign for this series to come.
Bumblebee himself is also great here. This is very much an origin story for this character, and a solid one at that. It explains everything you need to know quickly, but it doesn't gloss over any details; It's merely compacted really well. It makes you feel for him even outside of the cartoon or the first movie.
Speaking of which, this film reminds me heavily of the original cartoon from the 80s. While the other films feel like their own thing (Mostly for worse), this definitely feels like an adaptation of the original series. The tone is similar, the story feels like it could have been from the show, and the character designs and models feel like modern CGI versions of the original characters. This could have been forced down the viewer's throat in order to "apologize" for the previous films, but this just feels like the film's tone, and not a way to cash in a nostalgia; Like I said, this film feels genuine.
The action and effects are also very good. This isn't a super action-packed film, but when the action comes around, it is solid, especially the final showdown, which has some truly great moments. The effects throughout the film are great and they look better than ever, despite the film having a much smaller budget, which actually does the film favors because it can focus on less. This shows that the Transformers movies should have smaller budgets and a smaller scale. If they turn out like this and remain at least somewhat consistent in quality, this franchise has potential of getting back on track.
Now, while I love this movie, it is not without its issues. First off, some of the military stuff is a bit hit or miss here. It's the same in the franchises previous films, but here, its for different reasons. While the other films show off the military as incredibly patriotic, this film shows them off as cheesy, which works sometimes because it fits with the film's tone, but it doesn't work because the writing isn't as strong in these sequences. It's hard to describe without spoiling the movie, and I won't, but it just doesn't always work.
The two decepticon villains also didn't do much for me. They were fine I guess, and that's about where it ended. I didn't expect some top-tier villain work from this film, but personally I didn't find them to be very intimidating, even if they were a good physical match for Bumblebee.
Even these issues didn't bother me that much. They're notable, sure, but they didn't take much of my enjoyment away from the film. Overall, this is exactly what I wanted. This is the most satisfied I've been with a film since Avengers: Infinity War, and that says a lot. This technically isn't the greatest film of the year, but it's a great blockbuster with genuine soul and some good action. Fans of the Transformers movies, both the newer movies and the original cartoon, will no doubt be satisfied with this. It's everything you want in these movies. Even if you're not attached to these movies in any way, this is the best in the series and since it's a prequel, you don't have to do much research into the series to "Get it". I will admit I have a bit of bias because of my Transformers nostalgia, but this is one of my favorite movies of the year for sure, and it's a good sign for this series to come.
A- or A (Depends on how I'm feeling)
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