Review - Bumblebee (2018)

          Hey guys, Chuck here. After five movies in the Transformers franchise that were directed by Michael Bay, Paramount and Hasbro sought ways to expand the franchise, and one that seemed to get the most traction was a prequel film centered around fan-favorite Autobot Bumblebee. However, the film we got was less of a prequel to the Bay films and seemed more like a reboot of the entire franchise. And it turns out that yes, this movie is a reboot. At least according to the higher-ups at Hasbro, it is. 

          Released in December of 2018, at the time where the world was taken in by the awesomeness of Aquaman, Bumblebee was directed by Travis Knight, and starred Hailee Steinfeld, John Cena, Jorge Lendenborg Jr, John Ortiz, Jason Drucker, and Pamela Adlon, and features the voices of Dylan O'Brien, Peter Cullen, David Sobolov, Angela Bassett, Justin Theroux, Steve Blum, Grey DeLisle, and Jon Bailey. 

           The movie opens with the last battle of the War on Cybertron, where Optimus Prime leads the Autobots in battle against the Deceptions. However, upon the arrival of Decepticon lieutenants Soundwave, Shockwave, and Starscream, Optimus orders all Autobots to retreat, and they all head to a launch pad and board several escape pods to flee Cybertron and locate other Autobots across the galaxy, with Autobot scout B-127 being sent to Earth to establish a base and protect the planet from the Decepticons. 

           B-127 arrives on Earth in the year 1987, where he unintentionally interrupts a military training exercise led by Sector 7 agent Jack Burns, who instructs his men to hunt down B-127, who takes on an alternate mode as a Willys MB Jeep. Upon cornering the Autobot, the agents see a jet flying in, only to witness a fight between B-127 and a Decepticon called Blitzwing. Blitzwing rips out B-127's vocal device, leaving him unable to speak, and suffering from severe memory core damage. B-127 luckily destroys Blitzwing, but is able to take on a new alternate mode, a Volkswagen Beetle, to hide before shutting down. 

         We then meet Charlie Watson, a girl living in the fictional town of Brighton Falls, California with her mother and younger brother, as well as her mother's fiancee Ron. Yeah, it turns out that Charlie's father passed away years before, which caused her to become somewhat distant from everyone in her life. On her eighteenth birthday, her Uncle Hank let's her have the Beetle that wound up in his junkyard, and she fixes the car back up. And yes, the Beetle is B-127, whose signal Charlie accidentally activates, and it's intercepted by Decepticons Shatter and Dropkick, who are in the middle of a brutal interrogation of the Autobot Cliffjumper, who is killed by the two Decepticons. 

         Charlie and B-127, whom she renames Bumblebee, really form a bond, with Charlie helping him learn to use the radio to speak. Meanwhile, Shatter and Dropkick team up with Burns and Sector 7 to go after Bumblebee. However, the two Decepticons are not fully honest with their plans, as they are covertly tapping into Earth's satellite system to ultimately send a deep space transmission to the ither Decepticons. Bumblebee, who is captured and tortured, but to the point of regaining his memories, is able to defeat them at a nearby dry dock, and Charlie helps to stop a comms tower from transmitting the coordinates to Earth to the Decepticons. After being let go by Burns, Charlie and Bumblebee have a brief farewell, and Bumblebee takes on a new alternate mode, a Chevy Camaro, and joins Optimus Prime on the Golden Gate Bridge. Charlie reunites with her family, and finishes fixing her father's old car, while Optimus and Bumblebee head to the woods to meet with the arriving Autobots.  

         Now, as much as I enjoyed a couple of the Michael Bay films, I absolutely loved this movie. Not only was the story a lot simpler by comparison to previous entries in the franchise, but it really felt focused and easy to follow. Not to mention the designs of the Autobots and Decepticons felt like they were pulled straight from the original G1 cartoon, with only Bumblebee retaining his Bayverse head design. 

          The acting from the human cast was really good, especially with Hailee Steinfeld as Charlie and John Cena as Burns. John Ortiz, Jason Drucker, and Pamela Adlon were also really good. But for me, the voice acting with the Transformers was really good, and honestly the best part of the movie. Dylan O'Brien did really well in the early scenes of the movie as Bumblebee, and Peter Cullen owns the role of Optimus Prime once again. Steve Blum and Grey DeLisle were really great as the voices of Wheeljack and Arcee, and I definitely enjoyed Angela Bassett and Justin Theroux as Shatter and Dropkick, as well as David Sobolov as Blitzwing. But my favorite was Jon Bailey as Soundwave and Shockwave. Not only did Jon do spot-on voice matches to the iconic voices of these two Decepticons (Frank Welker and Corey Burton, respectively), but he definitely made them feel like the characters fans know and love, with my favorite Soundwave line being "Ravage: Eject!" 

           This movie really hits home for me, because several scenes were filmed in my hometown of Vallejo, California. Specifically, the final showdown at the dry dock was actually filmed at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard dry dock in Vallejo. Also, the scenes at the Boardwalk were filmed at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, where classic '80s movie The Lost Boys was filmed, as well. The '80s aesthetic in this movie was really good, and not only did this movie feel like it was set in the '80s, but it also feels like it could have been made in the '80s. 

           I absolutely love this movie, and it's no surprise here that I'm giving Bumblebee a rating of 5/5. Well, that wraps up my reviews of the Transformers movies. Now, I would like to note that next summer, we will be seeing the follow-up to Bumblebee, which is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. I am eagerly looking forward to seeing this one, especially if it's being made more in line with Bumblebee, and less like the crap that Michael Bay was doing with the sequels to his first Transformers movie. Plus, it's been confirmed that Ron Perlman, one of my favorite actors, is providing the voice of Optimus Primal, leader of the Maximals. Plus, the movie is set in the '90s, which is awesome. So, yeah, definitely on my list of Most Anticipated Movies of 2023. 

         Well, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys next time.