Bumblebee Is The Transformers Movie That Fans And Audiences Have Been Waiting For. It's Full Of Heart

      It seems that when audiences discuss movies with their family and friends and when great film franchises are brought up, the Transformers franchise is either snubbed or looked upon with much distaste from the majority of filmgoers and for good reason, just about every single one with the exception of the first movie are terrible. While the first Transformers film wasn't perfect by any means, it managed to have a sizable dose of heart to go with Michael Bay's constant explosive action mayhem. Not to mention the first Transformers movie was the first time audiences saw the robots on the big screen in live-action form so everything was fresh and brand new (Not to mention the robots looked simply incredible). The film also benefitted from having up and coming stars Shia Labe, who later went onto appearing in Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull and Megan Fox who later went to star in Jonah Hex, Jennifer's Body, and Bay's produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films. With Steven Spielberg as producer and Michael Bay as director, the two seemed like they would be the perfect filmmaking duo to bring Transformers to the big screen finally. Not only was the first Transformers a major hit with audiences and got reasonably solid reviews from critics, it left audiences with the feeling that the sequel would only continue the level of awesomeness the first movie had. They were wrong, not only was the second movie a massive disappointment, each sequel that preceded it got progressively worse than the other with the films lacking a heart and soul along with good filmmaking outside of the impressive visual effects. With the announcement of Bumblebee, audiences weren't expecting much from the prequel given the poor quality of the previous films. Suddenly there was a moment of hope when it was announced Bay would step away from the directors chair and settle for producer. For fans of the series, the news of Bays departure from the directing chair brought a breath of fresh air as well as relief as the movie now had a chance to be a substantial improvement over the others. Enter Travis Knight as Bays replacement with two Oscar nominations under his belt and a producing history that consisted of well-received animated films such as ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, and Kubo and the Two Strings. With this critical replacement in the directors chair, it felt as if the Transformers franchise could finally begin to clean up the long trail of mess left behind by four awful sequels. Much to the surprise of many fans, Bumblebee provides the breath of fresh air that the Transformers series desperately needed. Not only is it the best Transformers movie thus far in terms of storytelling, its full of heart and charm that's been missing from the series since the first film. Bumblebee to put it blatantly is the Transformers movie that both fans and audiences have been waiting for and wanted.

      The plot for Bumblebee takes place in the 1980's era prior to the events of the first film with the story taking place in 1987 and centers around the origins of Bumblebee, the yellow Volkswagen Beetle, who shares an affectionate relationship with an 18-year old teenage girl Charlie, who saved him from a junkyard in a small California beach town. Going back into the past with the films story is a brilliant move as it mirrors that of ET: The Extra Terrestrial sharing numerous similarities while providing nostalgia for audiences with its 1980's setting. Everything about Bumblebee feels like the film was handled with genuine care and passion for bringing this story to the big screen and getting it right. The heart of the film lies not within its action sequences, but with its character development and moments between the young girl Charlie Watson played by Hailee Steinfield and Bumblebee. Their relationship is masterfully crafted by the writers and director making it feel both natural and heartfelt. Seeing them together and Charlie sharing emotional moments with Bee is where the movie demonstrates its power over the audience. The film shows that its possible to return fun, thrills, and emotion back to a franchise that's become extremely bloated and reliant on special effects. Whereas the action overpowered the story and characters in the sequels, Bumblebee does an absolute noteworthy switch and places the characters and story front and center with the action taking a backseat though still thrilling to watch. Bumblebee shows fans how its done and also what the series can be if they have the right directors and writers behind it.

      If Steven Spielberg made a Transformers movies in the 1980's, chances are it would look something like this as the film pays endless homage to his masterpiece from that era with E.T. With the character of Charlie, the writers as well as Travis Knight establish a strong female character whose struggling to find her place in the world and trying to overcome the loss of her father with the process of grieving. The audience feels this level of grief and empathize with her, it also makes her friendship with Bumblebee more believable as he essentially fills the void with her loneliness giving her a cushion to lean on. Despite Shia Labeouf's character Sam Witwicky being an appealing male star in the first Transformers movie, Charlie's character is more fleshed out, more complexed, and more believable with her character being socially withdrawn due to coping with her fathers absence and feeling lonely as her mother is too focused on her new relationship to recognize her grieving. Whereas Witwicky was a dorky kid essentially who tried to impress a girl that appeared to be out of his league at first, Charlie much like Elliot from E.T is looking for that special friend who will fill the void for the absence of the father in both storylines. On a storytelling level, this is by far the most thought out fleshed out Transformers movie in terms of plot and characters. The opening battle sequence in the future with Bumblebee fighting the Decepticons before heading to Earth in an earlier time frame feels almost like the opening scene of T2: Judgment Day with both stories mirroring each other regarding the machine and human forming a bond much like what happens here.

      As far as acting performances go, Hailee Steinfeld is terrific here and plays a large role in making the movie what it is. Her performance is charming, heartfelt, believable, and absolutely fun to watch. Watching the film, the audience never doubts the relationship between her and Bumblebee and actually cares a great deal about them, especially in their final scenes together. Her moments with Bumblebee showing them having an exciting adventure together are the key to the films impact with the audience. Jorge Lendeborg Jr. shines as Charlie's friend and love interest Memo, who gets drawn into the secret regarding Bumblebee. John Cena does a solid job playing Agent Burns, an agent colonel pursuing Bumblebee believing him at first to be a threat to humanity before reversing his opinion later in the story. Jason Drucker delivers a noteworthy performance playing Charlie's annoying brother Otis with Pamela Adlon and Stephen Schneider being likable as Charlie's fun yet clueless parents/step-parents. Easily the best acted Transformers movie of them all as the actors have characters that for the most part aren't one-dimensional and they can actually breathe life into. The actors all deliver performances, that help draw the audience into this different yet brilliant time period for the story. The vocal performances are terrific as well with Dylan O' Brien shining as B-127/Bumblebee, Peter Cullen reprising his role as Optimus Prime and being just as effective and awesome as ever, Angela Basset impressing as the voice of Shatter and Justin Theroux as the voice of Dropkick. Combined, all the actors whether human or non-human work together to help put this franchise back in the game.

      In terms of directing and writing, Travis Knight proves to be a great choice for handling this film and brings his A Game to it in a way which was largely absent from the previous Transformers movies after the first one. Knight clearly has a passion for telling this story and directs it in a way he imagine it as a kid watching the film during the 80's period. He trades Bay's style of action and constant mayhem in exchange for a quieter and more emotional story, that actually works not just as its own movie but as a redeemer for the entire series as a whole. Knight also incorporates humor into the film which doesn't feel awkwardly forced nor shoved down the audiences throat like the way Bay presented it with his films. Here the humor is more thought-out and cleverly inserted making the main characters appeal to the audience. Knight just doesn't give the film a heart, he literally gives it a soul. The screenplay by Christina Hodson is a strong one and well-written even if some of the beats have a been there and done that feel to them, such as the whole kid finds the robot scenario and the military capturing Bumblebee then realizing they were wrong about him once the Decepticons show their true colors. Its been done before but still has a feeling of freshness to it because of the new twists added to the story with the character of Charlie and the decade the era the film takes place in. Hodson's best strengths as a writer are the fleshing out of Charlies character as well as her relationship with both Memo and Bumblebee. The romance in this film between Charlie and Memo feels more natural than the relationship between Sam Witwicky and Mikaela Banes in the first film. While that romance wasn't bad, it had moments where it was forced and felt unnatural at times. Another weakness with the films writing is the generic cardboard characters written as the military personnel. While John Cena's character works within the context of the story, he's not as well developed as the main characters. Despite the writings minimal flaws, the film works because it surrounds the action with large doses of emotion particularly with the relationship between Charlie and Bumblebee. It feels as if Knight and Hodson sat down together and studied E.T as well as some of John Hughes classic films as the film mirrors both closely while creating its own story centered around themes such as love, bond, and overcoming grief.

      On a technical level, Travis Knight was the perfect person to direct this film. The films cinematography was great giving the film a legit 1980's feel with the art-set design being right on the money. The films music was suttle and used effectively particularly during the quiet moments between Bumblebee and Charlie. The films editing made the story fly by without ever feeling too long or slow. In the case of the film being so well done though, one wishes it was a little longer to dwell in the films awesomeness but it also would've felt like it was being dragged out as everything that needed to be shown on the screen was put there. The films visual and sound effects are top notch as usual with the action sequences that do appear in the story being ones that leave an impact with the audience and not feeling like overkill. The film has a perfect balance of story and emotion that's equally complimented by the films strong technical aspects. For the first time since 2007, audiences legitimately feel like they are seeing a Transformer for the first time with an even greater dose of movie magic and heart behind it.

      Its quite a shame that this wasn't the Transformers movie that came after Michael Bay's first film because had it rode off the success of that one, this could've ended up being a pretty cool franchise in comparison to what it ended up being prior to this film. Bumblebee uses all its magic and heart to redeem the series while making the case to audiences that the franchise isn't dead and has a new light. Whereas the previous Transformers movies offered little to no soul outside of the first film, Bumblebee gives endless amounts to its audience as well as a character bond that makes the film feel genuine. Bumblebee is a Transformers movie that largely goes against audiences expectations and proves to be pleasant surprise as well as the redirection the franchise needed in terms of setting the course right. Its not a perfect film as it has elements such as some parts of the writing that make it feel like familiar territory as well as how much it leans on Spielberg's movie for comfort but the films flaws are manageable with the end result still being one that packs an emotional punch while putting a smile on fans faces that a Transformers movie for once is handled with care and passion behind telling its story. Easily one of the best movies to come out in 2018 and much deserving of the praise it got, its just a shame that Michael Bay didn't step down as director sooner as the audience now see's the potential this series has when they allow more capable storytellers to handle the material. If you haven't seen Bumblebee yet or are afraid to because of how bad the previous four movies were (Transformers 2007 doesn't apply in that statement), then you should absolutely give this film a chance, it will shock, surprise, and ultimately leave a smile on your face after its over that a Transformers movie has arrived and is finally done right, done absolutely right. Bravo to Travis Knight and the team behind Bumblebee for showing fans there's hope for this franchise still.

Final Verdict: SEE IT