Directed by:
Travis KnightScreenplay:
Christina HodsonCinematography:
Enrique ChediakComposer:
Dario MarianelliCast:
Hailee Steinfeld, John Cena, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., John Ortiz, Pamela Adlon, Jason Drucker, Dylan O'Brien, Justin Theroux, Angela Bassett, Stephen Schneider (more)VOD (4)
Plots(1)
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. (Paramount Pictures UK)
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Reviews (10)
I had only seen the first film of the Transformers saga in 2007 at the time of its release, so Bumblebee was a return to the franchise for me after more than a decade. Thankfully, Bumblebee isn't cluttered with visual effects and explosions compared to Michael Bay's films, so it all feels more uncluttered and doesn't make your eyes hurt. Basically, it's a fairly straightforward film with a straightforward plot and a clear ending that is blatantly reminiscent of E.T. through the main characters and the 80s look, but it was still nice to watch, the plot flowed, the action scenes worked, there was the occasional laugh out loud scene and there was a modest amount of relationship and family themes. An unpretentious diversion for the whole family that surprises mainly because of how nicely and pleasantly it is filmed.
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“Don't you forget about me.” “U WISH” or it is paradoxical that, similarly as Bumblebee himself mixes his comments from radio broadcasts, the film makes it possible to string together quotes to form a review, which unfortunately is not in any way ecstatic. That, however, is a pity and a shame, as the director’s name, or rather his preceding filmography, offered high hopes, and that’s not even to mention the brilliant first trailer, which, as it turns out, offers a more intense spectacle and thus greater promise than the film itself. Whether Travis Knight gave in to pressure from the producers, who wanted a polished product, or is simply a solid director in the sense of an organiser who is only as good as the sum of his collaborators, the sad truth remains that he did not live up to the expectation that he would pull the transformers out of the gluttonous irrationality of Bayhem – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2THVvshvq0Q – and give them heart and emotion. On the contrary, in light of the insipid and mediocre result that merely checks off all of the safe and necessary attributes of a family blockbuster, it shows that, whether you like it or not, Michael Bay is simply unique in his style of spectacular excess and bloated consumerism and, thanks to his overblown ego, he remains such a strong personality that he is able to add a certain distinctiveness to cock-and-bull stories about cars concealing their faces. Though his films are overwhelming for viewers, they remain unforgettable in their own way, which unfortunately is not true of Bumblebee’s solo outing. While we’re on the topic of memory and forgetting, those comprise the central motif of the film. It is essential that this plot diversion is framed by the autobot’s loss of memory, thanks to which it can, well, transform from a cool fighting machine into a cute and cuddly pet for a while, which, incidentally, contributes to one of the really outstanding elements of the film, which is the flawless animation of the titular protagonist. Even though this standard series script element did not give rise to any sort of exceptional contribution in the context of the franchise’s transformers, it still would have been nice if the creators of other franchises adopted it, because it could, for example, bring a breath of refreshing exaggeration to excessively serious comic-book films. In fact, this may also comprise one of the reasons that Bumblebee does not bring forth the longed-for refresh, because the franchise itself or, better said, its dominant form established by Bay cannot be taken seriously. ___ PS: If only the producers and distributors would finally dump the nonsensical 3D in films that are not designed to be 3D movies. With its few characters, Bumblebee is just such a small film that prefers half-details over grand scenes (and grand scenes come across as hopelessly empty in it), so it doesn’t have anything to show in 3D. With a few distinct exceptions, the attraction of 3D has always been merely as a way to justify higher ticket prices and artificially inflate a film’s box-office revenues, but the producer of Bumblebee didn’t even try to justify it with at least one scene or shot where there would be some sort of rationale for the 3D effect.
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I didn't expect to be able to sell Trasformers as a fairy tale to my daughter, but I did! Dumb Bumblebee with no memory won her over by being scared, dancing and spitting tapes of crappy music. Travis Knight returned the brand to its roots and instead of Bayhem, he offers a nice story about a young girl's relationship with her VW Beetle. Hailee Steinfeld is very good, so is John Cena, and the others don't really need to be mentioned, except for my friend Paul, who almost destroyed the planet with his trust in bad aliens. Great action, nice music, bring in the sequel.
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It really tries to go back to a series of emotions and at the same time follow the current trend of back to 80s. It really wants to be "cute" and have soul, so much so that it falls into a mindless schematic. All of the things are so ostentatiously assembled according to a manual that they have trouble communicating with each other. Moreover, if someone laughed at Bay that his female heroines seem artificial, this is a different type of art - Charlie is constructed as an essential outsider with emotions so consistently that her alternation of teenage angst and sadness seems purely robotic. As well as the constant incorporation of 80s realities and references into the story. I get that naivety is a trademark of films for teens, but even these can be done so that they do not act like the result of a focus group session. Unfortunately, that's exactly what Bumblebee comes off as. Props for the cameo Optimus and the unintentionally funny John Cena. I hereby disconnect from the series and I will be happy to remember Bay's total sociopathy of the last episodes. In some ways, it was more stimulating than this colorful nostalgic junkyard.
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The Transformers under Michael Bay's control seemed to have grown stale and overwrought, no one really cared about them anymore, but newcomer Travis Knight made Bumblebee a very enjoyable film. Bumblebee is 80's retro as fuck, with an excellent 80's soundtrack, the amazing Hailee Steinfeld, who is turning out to be a great actress and singer, and it was a delight to see John Cena as a soldier. Bumblebee himself is as cute as ever. There's not so much action though, the film is more intimate, fateful, emotional and atmospheric, yet when it comes to the action it's filmed clearly, briskly and confidently. The scene where Bee escapes from the garage to her apartment is one of the film's funniest. Not a huge hit, but the Transformers franchise is going in the right direction and it definitely works much better that way. 75%
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Gallery (67)
Photo © Paramount Pictures
![Bumblebee - Photos](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/163/143/163143143_c6f2c7.jpg)