Bumblebee review

Let me start with my history with the Transformers movies that were directed by Michael Bay. I really liked the first one, it was a very fun blockbuster. The second one was entertaining when it was released, though it is not a good movie at all. The third one made an attempt to improve, it felt like there was effort to be decent. The fourth and fifth one were just forgettable, the fourth I was just sitting there just hoping the movie would end. I was basically done with the Transformers movies after the fifth one (well, actually the fourth one, but I was kind enough to give the fifth one a shot). I didn’t think much about the Bumblebee prequel when I first heard about it, but my interest peaked when I heard that Travis Knight was directing it, the one who directed Kubo and the Two Strings a couple of years ago, then I saw the first trailer and it just seemed like a more simple movie that looked to actually be good and nothing overdone. So, when the most recent trailer came out in September, I started to become excited.

I got to see the movie during their early screenings to the public on Saturday. This movie was actually a breathe of fresh air for so many reasons. First off, this movie actually had heart, there were characters that you actually cared about, and there were moments in the movie that I just sat there and was taken back by the fact that there was good character development in a Transformers movie. Another aspect that was refreshing was that the crude humor that somehow makes it’s way into the previous installments were no where to be found, and I was so happy to find that this movie was not plagued in it.

One thing that this movie did was to dial back in the amount of characters in the story. If you remember all the other Transformers movies, there were so many characters that it became hard to follow who was who and in fact when it came time for the action sequences, it was really hard to follow a lot of the time. This one, there was action that was great but it wasn’t overwhelming and the designs of the characters felt so much nicer and it felt so much easier to follow who was fighting who. When the movie opens up on Cybertron at the beginning of the movie, it felt like it took us back to the 80s cartoon series, and it was great. This movie felt more simple, and by making it more simple, it felt like it took time to develop the characters, to help us understand them and feel for them, especially Bumblebee, who was more likeable than in the last couple of installments.

Travis Knight really seemed to care about the source material and really took the time to give us something that truly mattered. You will hear that this movie felt like an 80s movie, and not just in the setting but also in the feel of the movie, and they are right, it actually felt like a movie that could have been made in the 80s. With this Holiday season, I could see this movie being overlooked, but if you can find the time, I do recommend it, whether you are a Transformers fan, or whether you just want a good movie to take your family to, I think this movie is worth seeing.

As I continue to see the movies coming out this Holiday season, I will post my reviews on this blog. Stay tuned.