Bumblebee (2018) - Review
The story opens with a prologue on Cybertron, introducing us to the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons. With flowing camerawork, slightly clunky 80's-style designs and bright, vivid colours, this sequence alone stands out from Michael Bay's five (how on earth are there five?) films. Bumblebee is sent by Optimus Prime (who gets a pretty awesome cameo, despite my initial reservations) to Earth to find a new home for the dwindling numbers of the Autobots. Arriving on Earth in 1987, Bumblebee disguises himself and tries to conserve his power, but is discovered by 18-year-old Charlie Watson. As the two develop an E.T.-style friendship, the Decepticons locate Bumblebee and try to hunt him down with the help of Government Agency Sector 7.
If this plot sounds familiar, that's ultimately because it is. 'Bumblebee' is essentially the Transformers version of 'E.T. - The Extra Terrestrial', and that's part of the appeal here. It's a softer, more kid-friendly entry into the series which emphasises the dynamic between Charlie and Bee, giving us a mix of humour, drama and action. Whilst this is the cheapest Transformers film with a $135 million budget (as opposed to $217 million), it feels richer with its story and characters. The production values haven't been sacrificed here, and if anything, this film looks much better thanks to some slightly more polished (and less complicated) visual effects work and a much more appeasing colour palette. Each Transformer has been designed with a distinct colour, which makes the action sequences much clear to watch. I think shooting in 1.85:1 has also helped to make the action clearer as well, allowing the full height of the Transformers to fill the frame.
'Bumblebee' is the first of these Transformers films to be a PG, and it definitely feels more child-friendly without censoring itself. There are some surprisingly violent moments in the film, not to mention a harsh revelation about Charlie part-way through the film, that almost make the warm Bumblebee hug that the rest of the film is that much warmer. It's a really fun adventure film that yes, is a prequel to the Michael Bay series but is soooooo much better on every level. If anything I was quite disappointed that the ending sets up the five Transformers films - I'd much rather see more adventures with Bee and Charlie. It should be interesting to see if Paramount Pictures try to launch a reboot from this film though - I think there's room to argue it as an 'X-Men: First Class' kind of reboot as much as it could be a direct prequel.
Also, I think it's worth acknowledging how talented Hailee Steinfeld is. Not just being a very good actress, but also being able to make both her character Charlie and the CGI creation of Bumblebee feel real to the audience, and especially the kids watching. Oh yeah, and she's a singer, so performs the film's end credits song. Yeah. Wow. But we should probably give a lot of credit to screenwriter Christina Hodson and director Travis Knight for making a genuinely great film while we're here. They turned a franchise spin-off cash-in into a genuinely lovely and heartfelt film. 8/10
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