As a child, I grew up in a family very invested in toy culture. My dad was a big toy collector and I spent a lot of my childhood in toy stores and going to various toy shows. Now, keep in mind, at the age of 33, I grew up in an era before the internet and the birth of E-Bay. Needless to say, I was very aware of Transformers toys as a kid. Ironically, I actually had less Transformers toys than your average kid. I remember I had a Beast Wars Transformers but I believe that might have been my only Transformer toy despite liking them. I think they might have been a little too expensive for my parents though and I had plenty of other toys interests including Power Rangers.
When Michael Bay made a big screen version of Transformers, I was keen to see what the movie would be like. Despite being divisive, I remember enjoying the first “Transformers” quite a bit. At the time, I also watched the original cartoon “Transformers: The Movie” but I had a harder time getting into it probably because I never watched the cartoon as a kid. For better or worse, I found the Bay version more accessible.
As much as I liked the first “Transformers” movie, I didn’t enjoy the sequels quiet as much. The first two sequels had some fun moments and I didn’t hate them, but they weren’t as good as the first movie. Then by the time Mark Wahlberg took over the lead in the fourth and fifth film, it just felt like three hours of explosions and cgi garbage thrown of screen. The Transformers movie became less enjoyable to watch and more of a chore.
Now, all that being said, I wasn’t super eager to see “Bumblebee”. I was pretty much done seeing Transformers movies in the theaters. I skipped The Last Knight in theaters and still have not watched all of it yet. That being said, I kept reading good reviews and more importantly for me, good word of mouth so I managed to drag my poor girlfriend to go see it with me. (I swear she is an angel for letting me indulge in all my nerdy movies and going to see them with me). We left the movie both really enjoying the movie more than we expected we would!
“Bumblebee” is a prequel to the Michael Bay “Transformers” movies. It tells the story of how Bumblebee arrived on Earth and his mission to protect Earth in order to set up a new base for the Autobots. Upon arriving on Earth, he accidentally crosses paths and makes an enemy in the form of Agent Burns. After escaping the clutches of Agent Burns and the Decepticons, he is picked up by a young girl named Charlie. The two bond and continue to evade the pursuits of Agent Burns, the military and the Decepticons while Bumblebee continues his mission to keep the Earth secure.
The movie itself is very sweet. The movie showcases the relationship between Charlie and Bumblebee much like the relationship a person has with their pet so it’s easy to connect and relate to. It also helps that they made Bumblebee extremely lovable in this film. The movie is also very funny at times. I found myself laughing out loud quite a few times.
The movie stars Hailee Steinfeld as Charlie and she really carries the movie. It isn’t easy alongside a non existent co-star but she manages to make you feel like Bumblebee is always there and interacting with her on set. John Cena plays Agent Burns and does a good job in the film. Cena continues to be interesting to see on film and I am still curious to see if he can break out in the same way Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson did. Cena essentially plays a version of himself in this movie so you can tell he was comfortable with the role. Dwayne Johnson usually picks roles suited to his personality as well so it’s clear he is taking a cue from his playbook.
This is the first live action Transformers movie not directed by Michael Bay and it shows. Travis Knight took over the directing duties and he focuses the script more of the characters over the action set pieces. This was also one of the first Transformers movies in which I could tell what was going on during the action sequences. It didn’t look like cgi diarrhea. Transformers fans will also appreciate the Generation One toy line influence including Bumblebee being a Volkswagen Beetle over a Chevy Camaro as depicted in the Michael Bay films.
“Bumblebee” is ultimately a film that turned out better than I expected (and ultimately better than it had a right to be). It resparked my interest in the Transformers films and I would gladly go see another adventure if it was made with this tone. “Bumblebee” is the rare sequel/prequel that exceeds it’s predecessors and delivers a fun movie going experience. It isn’t a deep film, but it will have you leaving the theater happy.
Grade: B+
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