Bumblebee (2018)

 

Right off the bat: this is the best live action Transformers so far. By far. By like, astronomically far. For nostalgia's sake, it doesn't yet top the animated feature, but it is pretty darn close. 

Why?

Because this one was clearly made by people who know and love the lore and who have this thing about having characters do more than just be pretty, scream or make stupid jokes. 

A dig at Michael Bay? Wherever did you get that idea? I have nothing against Michael Bay as director, but he was never the best choice for the franchise. But then again, even under his wing it brought in billions, so what the f do I know, right?

'Bumblebee' is sort of a reboot/prequel, where it all starts during the war on Cybertron. Bumblee, together with other Autobots, is sent into space in order to find a safe haven so they can regroup. He is sent to Earth, because of course. There, he first comes into contact with agent Burns (John Cena), whose platoon gets annihilated when Blitzwing, a Decepticon seeker, finds Bumblebee and wants to take him out and rips out Bee's voicebox in the process. But this makes Burns hate these cybernetic beings with a vengeance. 

Several years later, we meet up with Charlie, a girl about to turn 18 and who is still not comfortable with losing her father. She vigorously works on the car she and her dad were trying to fix and is a little detached from the rest of her family who have moved on. When she discovers a dilapidated VW Beetle, she gets it for her birthday, but while working on it, it turns out to be this big alien robot.

Who knew?

Bee has problems with his memory and he is more like an inquisitive child at this point. But in a parallel to 'ET', he and Charlie bond and they become good friends.

But of course, all is not well when two Decepticons (they are never named in the film, but they are Dropkick and Shatter) come to Earth to find and kill Bumblebee. They pretend to be Peacekeepers and fool some of the military into helping them. 

But not Burns, who is now head of a department. He even says the line: "How can you trust them? They're even called 'Decepticons'!"

He's not wrong.

Soon they find Bee and discover that Optimus Prime, the Autobot leader, has chosen Earth as the new base of operations for the Autobots and so Dropkick and Shatter want to send a message to the Decepticon army to lay waste to this planet. Can Bumblebee stop them? 

So sure, the story has very familiar beats, that is very true. Not all of the characters are well defined and sometimes a little too simplistic. Even though he does a good job with what he's given, John Cena has a predictable arc that feels a bit too forced. He goes from being a hater to a lover at the drop of a hat and it's a little too on the nose for a switch. Next to Charlie and her friend Memo, most other people don't get that much to do and the school bullies are extremely stock. 

What also really feels forced (and you know the studio made them do it), are the nods to the Bayverse. Sure, you can get the voice box thing, which is apparently now canon, but why does Bee need to change into a Camaro at the end? And why do you need that throwaway line to an agent Simmons in Sector 7 headquarters? Or Sector 7 for that matter? 

Exactly.

But most of the stuff here is really, really good. The scenes on Cybertron not only look great, they use the legit G1-shapes and colours for all the Transformers. You can instantly recognise them and even the voices match. Do you have any idea how refreshing it is for a fan of the toys and cartoon to see this? No? Well, it's effin' brilliant, so there. 

Not only that, but the story works on all levels. Sure, it's a little reminiscent of 'ET' and derivatives, but it is still done well. The film is shot in a comprehensible way, down to the action scenes. No extreme shaky cam or seizure inducing editing this time. And just, well, they get the little details right, the sounds, the look, the feel of it all... This is just an extremely enjoyable film and doubly so if you have affection for the original toys and cartoon. But younger viewers will also like this for the heartwarming story and the humour that is present. It is never too juvenile, and even the one puke joke is funny. 

Honestly, I can't praise this film enough, as it is a breath of fresh air and the realisation that this franchise, when given to competent directors and writers, can just deliver enjoyable and good films. Let's just hope they can do more in this vein, because it would be very well worth it. 

Oh and by the way? Near the end when you see Optimus driving across the Golden Gate Bridge in his G1-guise (a flat-nose truck with the OG trailer attached)? That's the stuff right there. Right in the feels.