Bumblebee
I never wanted a sixth “Transformers” movie after the dregs that “Age of Extinction” and “The Last Knight” delivered, but “Bumblebee” doesn’t feel like a “Transformers” film. Set in 1987, the film acts like a prequel to the 2007 Michael Bay film, but honestly, it feels a lot like a standalone adventure film that could have easily been made in the era it was set in. That’s one of the most endearing aspects of Travis Knight’s film.
I will always defend the first Michael Bay film in this series, not because it’s a great movie, but because the way into the Autobots and Decepticon battle was something relatable- a teenager getting his first car. That car ended up being Bumblebee, the Autobot Lieutenant to Optimus Prime. The screenplay by Christina Hodson follows a similar entry point, but keeps the action more focused in relation to the life of Charlie, the teenaged girl played here by Hailee Steinfeld. This film very much follows the “E.T.” template, and it’s not a bad variation on it, and that’s because of the way Hodson and Steinfeld make the bond between Charlie and Bumblebee mean something than shallow character development, which the first Bay film did well with Sam and Bumblebee.
This type of film would only work with Bumblebee as the way into the battle for Cybertron- trying to make Optimus Prime the main character out of the gate would be difficult for the emotional element of the story to dig in. And Charlie is a character worthy of teaming up with him. She’s about to turn 18, but it’s not a very joyous moment after her father passed away, turning her emotional life upside down. She’s been trying to fix up an old sports car her father and her were working on, but it’s been a tough thing for her to do alone. Her mother and brother have moved on with a decent enough guy, but she’s still struggling. Bumblebee, in his classic VW Bug form, comes along at the right time.
If you’re expecting a slam-bang action film like the Bay “Transformers” films, you will be sorely disappointed, but that doesn’t mean fans of those films won’t enjoy it, also. Knight does a great job staging the action in a way that shows us everything in a clean, exciting manner that doesn’t bludgeon us like Bay’s films did. And he makes it feel as though we’re watching something plausible play out when it comes to using the human characters in the action sequences; yes, you can only go so far, but it’s a refreshing break from the physics-ignoring scenes in Bay’s movies. And it’s great how Knight and his artists go back to the designs of the original cartoons than just continuing with the complicated machinery we’ve seen since 2007.
I really enjoy what “Bumblebee” has going on here. I like the way it builds its “Transformers” adventure off of the “E.T.” blueprint of storytelling. I love the way it calls back to things that were part of Bumblebee’s character in the Bay films, and how it shows us how he became the character he was there. I really enjoy Steinfeld as a lead here, and how the character feels like a real one compared to the cartoon that Shia LaBeouf’s Sam turned into. And I love that it leaves me wanting more. That’s something Bay’s films left me NOT wanting by the end.
