The Transformers franchise is five movies deep and littered with stupidity. How these films still have a fanbase is actually quite bewildering. While no one actually expected anything out of the first film, it did show that it had enough behind it to tell an entertaining story (albeit a story littered with misogyny and toxic masculinity). The charm of Shia LeBouf and then newcomer Megan Fox was enough to give the fans something to cheer for. However, (I assume) self-proclaimed alpha male Michael Bay kept churning out movies that proved to be more garbage piled on more sticky, sludge-covered garbage. As the movies got worse, Bay amped up the sexism, the absurdity, the loud in-your-face CGI, and even managed to slip in some not-so-subtle racial stereotyping in the mix. Finally, after three movies, he decided to revamp - with other not-as-alpha-male-as-Michael-Bay-but-kinda-also-pretty-close-alpha-male Mark Whalberg to the mix. These movies, while not as all-phobic as the previous entries, were pretty high on the nonsense factor. Until finally, even they wore out their welcome (while still making truckloads of money). So, instead of putting the franchise to rest (which is what it should've done years ago, but Hollywood never does), they decided to go with a spinoff/prequel involving the beloved Transformer Bumblebee. However, what they DID do correctly, was take the reigns away from I-shit-in-your-pie-alpha-dawg Michael Bay, and gave the film to a skilled *cough* FEMALE *cough* writer and a *cough* COMPETENT *cough* director in order to give us something we haven't seen before - a Transformers film that's actually pretty decent.
Trust me, I had no desire to see Bumblebee when I first heard about it. Even after seeing the trailer, I still had no intention on seeing the film. But, as I've done before - when I was plumb-shocked after seeing the Rotten Tomatoes score of 93% (the same critics who've been given sub-20% ratings to the other entries), my curiosity got the better of me. Set in 1987, Bumblebee tells the tale of, well, the Transformer Bumblebee who comes to our planet after his own planet, Cybertron, has fallen to the Decepticons. He's there to scope out the planet and make sure it's safe for the rest of the Transformers to come hide out after Optimus Prime has wrangled all the survivors together. The movie begins like your typical Transformers movie, with the loud CGI-riddled fights, and it appears to be another stale entry into the franchise. But then we move over to our human character - Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld), an 18-year-old who has lost her father and is working a shitty job on the boardwalk in order to afford a car. She finds Bumblebee (disguised as an old VW bug) in her Uncle's scrap yard and he gives her the car as a birthday gift. She soon finds out her car - ain't exactly a car. The two of them form a bond - a bond she hasn't had with anyone since her dad passed, and together they must stop a couple of rogue Decepticons out to kill Bee and destroy Earth, as well as some soldiers led by John Cena out to kill Bee as well.
While it may sound like your run-of-the-mill Transformers flick, this movie actually has what the others don't - layers. Layers to the story. Layers to the characters. Things organically happen. Relationships are forged deep within the characters, other than surface-level ones that happen because the script says they should. There is deep care spent by writer Christina Hodson in her characters to make them three-dimensional and human. While the other *cough* white male *cough* writers of the series are trying to cram as many boom-boom explosions into the script as well as shots of asses in very short shorts - Hodson wants us to get to love the characters. And we do. Charlie is dealing with some very real demons. She's become hostile toward her family, closed-off in her personal life, stopped taking risks and seeking dreams because her life was shattered with her father's death and her grief hasn't subsided as quickly as the rest of her family's - especially her mother's, who has already started dating again. With Bee she starts to let down her guard and start to live again and see the excitement of life she once had. The movie plays out less like a sci-fi action film and more like The Iron Giant and E.T. There's a serious Amblin-Spielberg feel to this movie, which is a welcome return to form as many movies have lost that heart they once had.
After directing the very wonderful Kubo and the Two Strings and being an animator on The Boxtrolls, ParaNorman, and Coraline, Travis Knight's storytelling pairs well with Hodson's in knowing it's about the story and the characters that drive a good movie - not one that will make money on name and starpower alone (something all the previous Transformers never bothered to take into consideration). And while the movie does still have it's jumpy, loud, action-y scenes... they fit better into the movie because they're organic, and less frequent. The cast has a great chemistry, and even John Cena who hams it up to John Cena levels, isn't taking himself very seriously. It's more of a coming-of-age movie than it is an action movie. It has action. It has sci-fi elements. But that's not what makes the movie good. Hollywood doesn't understand that it doesn't take much to have that little extra effort put into character and story, but when it all comes together like this - you can have your big tentpole movie that people actually walk out of the theater having enjoyed. Sure, the movie has its flaws - some of the dialogue is on the hokey side and there's a few eye-rolling moments of cheese, but compared to the rest of the franchise, it's Citizen freakin' Kane.
Whether you're a Transformers fan or not (I can't imagine they were many left), there is something here. Bumblebee is actually a really good movie to bring the family to. The kids will enjoy it as much as the parents, but probably for different reasons. It's fun, it's funny, it's got heart and warmth and it's pretty much the antithesis of every Transformers movie before it. Michael Bay says he doesn't think he's actually done with the franchise, but decided to step back for this one. If the reviews for Bumblebee are any indication to the studios, they shouldn't just persuade him to back out for good, they should forcibly push him out. Because if Bumblebee is a preview of the quality of movie this franchise can achieve and go from here, then there may still be life out there for these shitty robots after all.
B-
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