Bumblebee (2018)

There's more here than meets the eye. That's one of the taglines for the popular toy line known as 'Transformers', a series of robots that can literally transform into various machines. Since making their debut in the 1980s, the Transformers have made a cultural impact. However, most of their filmed adventures have not been received very well, no thanks to director Michael Bay. With the latest filmed installment, “Bumblebee”- based off one of the main characters in the franchise, Bay takes a backseat to be in the producers chair, and let someone else do the directing. The result? It is a good film. Not great, but very entertaining, nonetheless. “Bumblebee” put forth effort into one very specific category that all other previous Transformers films have not achieved, and makes it stand out in a rather unique way.

The story is set in the year 1987, and young Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld) is looking to try and move on with her life after her father died. She eventually finds a bright yellow VW Beetle, and takes it home; surprising her in the process, it transforms into the familiar Autobot. Now, fearing that a highly strict military agent (John Cena) might hunt and destroy Bumblebee, Charlie must do her best to protect her newfound friend.

What makes “Bumblebee” really stand out, is the fact that the movie doesn't rely on a meaningless plot, or stupid jokes to tell its story. Instead, the movie delivers on emotion rather than senseless violence to tell its story. In fact, most of the big action doesn't fully occur until the third act, which is a plus for the franchise.

On top of all of this, the movie has two key factors going for its production: the acting and the direction.

First up: the acting. Steinfeld delivers a really great performance, and manages to be rather convincing as well. John Cena is also a lot of fun, and creates this sort of bad guy vibe that could only be found in a cartoon. In fact, if one looks at this film, they can make the connection between this and the original 1980s cartoon, and realize that this film is basically one giant extended episode of the TV show.

Next up, the direction from Travis Knight is pretty good. The actors are giving an over the top performance, nor are they acting like they don't care as too what is happening. Knight makes the performances believable enough that its actually worth watching. Plus, the action scenes, when they come up, are well choreographed, and almost feel like watching a wrestling match.

As for the rest of the production, the visual effects look and sound as if they were taken from the original cartoon series, and given a new face lift. The editing makes the movie run at approximately under two hours, which satisfies the viewer long enough to be entertained. Plus, the soundtrack is full of great 80s tunes, and even nice nod to the very first Transformers movie.

If there is any nitpicks, it would be that the story does contain that fish out of water story element that it's starting to become a cliché. But other than that, the film is near perfect.

In conclusion, “Bumblebee” is a pretty good and emotional attempt at turning something from nothing. Mr. Bay, please stick to producing these films from now on.