Bumblebee Review: A Hopeful Reboot Reignites A Long Lost Love

Mark this down everyone. Mark this down as something of a historical moment for me and a major win for cinema. After just seeing Bumblebee at the theaters only a few moments ago, I can officially say with a happy heart that I had an absolute blast. Now why is such a big deal? Speaking as someone who grew up as a huge fan of the Transformers license back in the 90's, I've always dreamed of a day where I'd get to see these giant robot soldiers battling each other in a live action setting. Fast forward to 2007 where Michael Bay's first attempt of an adaptation was released and you'd find me geeking out in my theater chair at all of the awe inspiring phenomenally executed CGI FX revolving around these characters being brought to life. However, on the other side of the spectrum, you'll also see me nitpicking over the character writing, humor, and storytelling resulting in me giving the movie a small pass for making a partial part of my childhood dreams come true ("real life Transformers") but with with huge expectations for the sequels.

Skip over just a couple years later to 2009 and you'll find me (and apparently tons of other fans) ranting about the tragically brainless sequel that was Revenge of the Fallen which took all of the issues of the first movie and exponentially highlighted them. This was a prime example of a studio releasing a new movie in a franchise that learned absolutely nothing from the glaring criticisms that came before. What follows not too long after is what I can only describe as being a series of questionable creative choices, surprisingly less impressive visual FX at times, and an overall downward trajectory of quality surrounding the storytelling altogether. Suffice it to say, the Michael Bay Transformers franchise became one big shiny explosive disappointment and the childhood excitement of experiencing the live action spectacle elements gradually faded away with each sequel released.

But just when things seemed utterly hopeless and exhausted to death for Transformers fans like myself, a new face showed up in town. A new name behind the brand to reignite us with optimism and launch us into a place of excitement and potential (where we should've been from the very beginning). That name...is Travis Knight. Cut to 2018 now with the release of Bumblebee resulting in me doing what I genuinely thought at this point was the impossible. I get to actually praise a live action Transformers movie for being more than just flashy CGI. Over the years, I've plastered a mental label on the Bay directed movies as being giant expensive firework shows with nothing worth celebrating underneath them all. What is a firework show without an actual celebratory context? It's a fun light show on the surface that will eventually get exhausting to look at once you realize that your eyes need a break and that there's nothing of substance worth attaching oneself to beneath the imagery.

This is where Bumblebee steps in and immediately gets a crucial component right where its predecessor completely missed which is putting the celebration (an emotionally engaging story with fun and interesting characters) first, then having your amazing fireworks (the action scenes) as a rewarding icing on the cake. From beginning to end, I found myself being legitimately invested in Bumblebee's character journey while also simultaneously having fun with the phenomenal visual spectacle displayed during the more action packed moments. The battle sequences never felt like cobbled together eye candy being thrown at the the audience to distract them from an obviously hollow narrative, but instead came across as genuinely high stakes situations being thrown at our protagonists.

I say this to bring up the fact that, out of all of the live action Transformers movies, this is the only one that truly made me [fully] feel like a kid again geeking out while watching the animated series on the weekends. I can only imagine the amount of schoolwork that got tossed to the side just so I could eagerly watch Optimus Prime fight Megatron for the millionth time. I remember those special moments from the animated series where I'd actually feel scared for one of my favorite Autobots possibly not making it out of a battle or jumping up with joy whenever they'd barely make it out of a fight through some crazy strategic maneuver. It's all here folks. They finally got it right. The reason why I collected these toys as a kid wasn't just the fact that I loved the designs and concepts, but also my love for the expanding mythology and scope of this universe. Whether it's catching the reruns of the original 80's series, enjoying Beast Wars despite the terrible graphics, or loving the early 2000's Armada series, there was also something to keep me coming back.

Speaking of comparisons to the cartoons, and getting back to the movie itself, the designs of both the Autobots and Decepticons shown immediately took me to a place that I'll appropriately name "Nostalgia Heaven". All of the scenes taking place on Cybertron had me literally holding back myself from excitingly yelling out in the theaters from what I was witnessing. Everything from the different transformation sequences, to that classic blocky physiques of some of the characters, to even the voices of the Decepticons like Soundwave calling out orders made me transform myself into a puddle of nostalgic glee. If the movie spent about 5 more minutes on Cybertron showing off these G1 inspired designs confronting each other with the solid visual FX that was on display, I would've absolutely lost it. Guys, words cannot describe the chills that took over me during this entire segment. I felt like I was watching a Transformers movie that was in the hands of someone who actually knew what they were doing with the license and boy did it feel good. 

Also, and this is one of the most crucial points of praise here, the human characters never completely came across as annoying or invasive to the Transformers story as they did with the previous titles. With Bumblebee, it would appear to some extent that they finally understood that Transformers should be solely focused on the actual Transformers story. "Geeh, who would've thought right?" Alright, now before we get too ahead of ourselves here, there is a central human story here, but it's one that actually fits in with the themes of Bumblebee's journey. The character of Charlie (played by Hailee Steinfeld who delivers a phenomenal performance) actually feels perfectly positioned as an essential piece to Bee's story. One of the big highlights of the movie surprisingly was seeing these two gradually grow this genuinely fun, charming, and sometimes emotionally moving bond throughout the course of the story. You have a teenager growing up into a world where she has to move pass certain things in her life alongside a young alien soldier who just left his comrades and home to adapt to a new one. Both characters perfectly play off each other's story arc which was refreshing and enjoyable to watch.

Random Side note:
Imagine John Cena as Duke in a G.I. Joe-Transformers crossover? Yes? No?

Also, in the previous movies, the human military component took up a frustrating amount of screen time that should've been given to the Transformers' strategizing and character development. Thankfully with Bumblebee, the military is perfectly positioned in the story as side obstacles and a means to an end for different characters. That's right. They're background pieces to help progress the central Transformers story as opposed to feeling like highly budgeted recruitment videos for the U.S. Armed Forces. Now, before this review ends up sounding like one giant rant towards the Michael Bay directed entries as a way to build up this movie (which he did produce ironically), I did have a couple of slight hi-cups with Bumblebee. Aside from the slightly heavy handed 80s soundtrack shuffling, there's also at least 5 or so minutes spent on certain character moments that felt a little unnecessary. Thankfully they're very few, and strangely enough, it's almost as if the movie catches itself and immediately course corrects back to the core story.

Overall, if you’re a fan of the Transformers property in general or if you simply enjoy fun character centric science fiction stories, I highly recommend checking Bumblebee out on the big screen. The character story of Bee is both emotionally engaging and fun to watch with a delightful sense of charm. The action sequences are visually amazing and beautifully scaled down to present more intimate and focused confrontations. The human story component is a major improvement here minus a couple of scenes that are fortunately pretty easy to look pass. Guys, at the end of the day, Bumblebee is a major success on several levels showing that, although it's taken them a decade to get it right, a Transformers movie can venture beyond an exhausting visual FX gallery show and actually tell a great story. Let's just hope that both the current critical and financial success of this movie nudges the studio into the right direction moving forward.

Also, please...please...do not link this to the previous movies' continuity. PLEASE!!!

Rating: 8/10