On the run in the year
1987, Bumblebee the Autobot seeks refuge in a junkyard in a small California beach town. Charlie, on the brink of turning 18
years old and trying to find her place in the world, soon discovers the
battle-scarred and broken Bumblebee. When Charlie revives him, she quickly
learns that this is no ordinary yellow Volkswagen.
Director: Travis Knight
Cast: Hailee Steinfeld,
John Cena, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., John Ortiz, Jason Drucker, Pamela Adlon, Dylan O'Brien
Rated PG-13 for sequences
of sci-fi action violence
Genres: Action,
Adventure, Sci-Fi
Runtime: 1h 53min
Review:
The Transformers movie
series was in need of jump start since The Last Knight was easily the worst of
the Michael Bay’s
run. Travis Knight takes the helm for
this prequel/reboot and he does so with gusto.
Knight clearly knows the 80s cartoon and finally delivers the kind of
Transformers film that we fans have been asking for all along. Knight and his team redesign the Transformers
removing a lot of the more insect like look of the Bay era with designs that
look much closer to the original cartoon design. It’s a simple change but one that makes
longtime hearts feel all warm and fuzzy.
There is quite a bit of nostalgia mining going on but in doing so Knight
never loses focus of what really matters, the actual characters. Bumblebee is front and center with Hailee
Steinfeld making for a likable lead. At
its base it’s a simpler story, one that isn’t overly busy which is a welcome
change of pace from the hectic Bayhem we’ve come to expect from these
films. The story shares a lot with The
Iron Giant which is a good thing. The
villains of the pieces are slightly underwhelming since they’re fairly non
descript and unmemorable. It’s a shame
since they cast Angela Bassett and Justin Theroux. Still, this film is just what the franchise
needed in order to make fans happy, hopefully it’s a sign of better films to
come.
B+
