Bumblebee is the sixth installment in the Transformers saga, the first prequel and the first live-action film in the series not to be directed by Michael Bay, who serves as producer instead. This time around, Kubo and the Two Strings director Travis Knight makes his live-action debut. The film stars Hailee Steinfeld (The Edge of Seventeen) as Charlie Watson, a Californian teenager in 1987 saving up to buy enough parts to finish restoring a car. As fate would have it, she stumbles across a classic Volkswagen Beetle that turns out to be the titular alien robot. Agent Jack Burns, portrayed by John Cena (Ferdinand), is in hot pursuit as are the Decepticons Shatter and Dropkick voiced respectively by Angela Bassett and Justin Theroux. The film also stars Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Pamela Adlon, John Ortiz and returning as the voice of Optimus Prime, Peter Cullen.
What’s notable about Bumblebee versus the other Transformers films is the tight focus on character and emotion. Starting from 2007’s first entry, the series has become known for its sprawling plots, expansive ensembles both human and digital, and its cacophonous approach towards action labeled ‘Bayhem’ after its namesake Michael Bay. Bumblebee manages to become a re-statement for the saga as a whole from its first frames and onward, spotlighting the lone Autobot’s journey to Earth and paying homage to the classic cartoon, the action figures and the popular Amblin films of Steven Spielberg (once again serving as executive producer) in equal parts.
Indeed, the best part of the series so far has been the first half of the first film: a tale essentially about a boy and his car. There, the films established the core heart between Shia LaBeouf’s Sam Witwicky and Bumblebee, enough to carry it for a trilogy until handing the reins (inexplicably) to Mark Wahlberg. And now in this “prebootquel,” Travis Knight and writer Christina Hodson take it back to basics, keeping the story centered on a girl and her car. Fortunately, Steinfeld is up to the task, infusing Charlie with a punk vibe and a heart of gold. Films like these need actors to sell the connection with these CGI avatars, and here it’s never been better. The relationship between Charlie and Bumblebee is downright touching, enough to make you question what Bumblebee (or audiences for that matter) ever saw in Witwicky.
Though the trope of child-befriends-otherworldly-being has been done over and over again for decades (thanks to Mr. Spielberg), when it works, it works. Through the contributions of Mr. Knight and Ms. Hodson, Steinfeld transcends the one-note cardboard protagonists of the most recent entries, never once ogled as eye candy like previous female leads were under Mr. Bay’s camera lens. Charlie treats the situation realistically (as possible) without devolving into spastic histrionics for comedic effect, and ditto for Lendeborg who plays Memo, Charlie’s nerdy friend and neighbor. Their interplay is cute and carries more nuance than one would expect.
As for the Transformers themselves, they have never been in finer form. The classic Generation 1 designs are back, doing away with the metallic tornadoes passing as characterization. Here, the Autobots and Decepticons are actually characters, soldiers in a bitter war with stakes and lasting, scarring consequences. When they transform, you can see them transform. The first Transformers film was the first time where I as an audience member had no visual idea what I was looking at. When Optimus Prime and Megatron clashed with debris falling around them, I couldn’t tell one from the other, let alone the surrounding rubble. It was extremely disconcerting, as if I had suffered a momentary mental breakdown.
Whether thanks to Travis Knight’s extensive experience as a stop-motion animator, his street cred as president and CEO of Laika Entertainment, or his lifelong fandom of the Transformers action figures, he nails everything. Gone is the naked disdain of Bay’s overcompensating re-designs, replaced with crystal-clear fidelity to the mythos. If it took six tries to finally get the visual look of the Transformers right, it was worth it. A special mention should go to editor Paul Rubell, a Transformers veteran who served on the editing teams for the first, second and fourth films. It should also be noted he is the sole editor on this entry.
Fans, especially old-school fans, are going to love Bumblebee. The first five minutes are better than the last five Transformers movies combined. Even for fans of the Bay films, there are fun shoutouts and callbacks (call-forwards?) to the series. But it’s refreshing to have a Transformers film with actual characters that have actual emotions and actual motivations. Bumblebee benefits from a smaller scale and the tighter narrative, unconcerned with world-ending cataclysms. Sure, it knowingly borrows from the Amblin oeuvre with a generous dose of The Iron Giant thrown in for good measure. It gets by on pure nostalgia, with a soundtrack packed with as much 80s music as a season of Stranger Things (and comes very close to over-relying on it). But even that is fitting as Bumblebee is a character that has communicated through music and soundbites for the last 11 years.
Bumblebee expands on the best parts of the first film and then some, with a dedication to wonder, spatial logic and, funnily enough, humanity. I had given up on a Transformers movie being any good, let alone this good. At last, audiences can enjoy one of these without any guilt in the pleasure.
Rating: 4/5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
ABOUT PARAMOUNT PICTURES’ BUMBLEBEE
On the run in the year 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld), on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken. When Charlie revives him, she quickly learns this is no ordinary, yellow VW bug.
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