Bumblebee (2018)

★★★½
After five mind-numbing Transformers movies by Michael Bay, we finally get the movie we should have gotten right from the get-go. Bay, a good director when he isn’t trying to create large-scale spectacles, thankfully steps aside and allows someone else to take the reins, which is the best thing he could have done for this franchise. Now, under the patient and sure-handed supervision of Travis Knight, the Transformers find themselves in a movie worthy of their passionate fanbase. Bumblebee, from a script by Christina Hodson, reboots the series, erasing the Bay universe from existence and gives us a fresh take on the longtime war on Cybertron. I can’t emphasize enough how much this movie needed to happen. I don’t dislike Michael Bay. Pain & Gain and especially 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi represent Bay at his best, and the upcoming Ambulance looks promising, but he was all wrong for the Transformers. He didn’t respect the material. Knight and Hodson, on the other hand, totally get it. Their movie is hopefully a positive sign of things to come.

The movie opens with an awesome battle scene on Cybertron. This scene alone makes up for a decade of bloated action with zero excitement. The Decepticons are winning the war and have the Autobots on the run. The Autobots, led by Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen), flee to establish a new base and regroup. Prime sends B-127 (Dylan O'Brien) to Earth to scout it as a possible base and protect it from Decepticon invasion. After his arrival, he’s attacked by a lone Decepticon and gets the upper hand, though not before his voice box is ripped out. Mute and low on energy, B-127 collapses near a lake and eventually winds up in scrap yard in the form of a Volkswagen Beetle. The year is 1987, a perfect setting for the movie for the nostalgia factor and for removing distractions like smart phones and the Internet. Teen Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld) finds the Bug and falls in love with it. It’s the perfect vehicle to give her the space she needs from her unsatisfactory home life. Her father died and her mother married another man, who means well but will never measure up in her mind. We get the feeling that her father was a great guy. Her neighbor is Guillermo (Jorge Lendeborg, Jr.), who wants to ask her out but she’s too into her automobile projects to notice. She’s an amateur mechanic, not only working on a car her father once owned but now working on Bumblebee.

B-127 reveals himself to Charlie, who names him Bumblebee. Unable to talk, Bumblebee turns to using his radio to communicate. The are amusing scenes of Charlie treating Bumblebee like a new pet, or toy, but most importantly he is the friend she needs. Unpopular and the object of ridicule from bullies, Charlie finds in Bumblebee a companion who excites her imagination. Their friendship is similar to that of Hogarth and the Iron Giant, or even John Connor and the Terminator. A young adult thrust into the role of mentor and hero can make for a great story, because it taps into the desire of children to seek out thrilling adventure, and there will be plenty of adventure for Charlie soon enough. Two Decepticons successfully track Bumblebee to Earth and deceive the U.S. Government into thinking they’re friendly. Colonel Jack Burns (John Cena) is suspicious of these two, having encountered Bumblebee earlier and barely escaping, but his commander sees the possibility for acquiring technology. The Decepticons use Earth’s satellites to track Bumblebee to the San Francisco Bay Area, ushering in the final confrontation between the outmanned and outgunned Bumblebee and the heavily armed Decepticons.

This movie checks all the boxes. The special effects are amazing. The Transformers are seamlessly incorporated into the live action, and they look incredibly realistic. The robots looked good in the Bay movies, but here they’re at the service of a superior script, so their presence resonates much more strongly. It’s easy to dump robots in the middle of shootouts, chases and explosions, but surrounding the action with a coherent story and tossing out excessive cutting is more impactful. Hailee Steinfeld is wonderful as Charlie. She hits all the right notes as the young teen, being both resourceful and vulnerable, key aspects to her personality. When she prepares for a dive into the waters below to save Bumblebee, we understand her trepidation and what it means for her to overcome it. Jorge Lendeborg, Jr. brings comic relief to the story, but he isn’t a sidekick and the butt of all jokes. He’s awkward, like a lot of teens, especially around girls, but rises to the occasion when he realizes what’s at stake. The action is stellar. In Bay’s movies the screen was filled to the brim with confusion. Here, Knight stages the action so that they are chaotic without losing our focus. We always have a good idea of what’s going on at any particular moment.

Bumblebee is quite an achievement. It’s a smashing coming-of-age story steeped in nostalgia and wrapped in the guise of a popcorn movie. Knight inserts ‘80s references without overdoing it, and Hodson’s script keeps the danger thrown at the humans to a minimum. Shia LaBeouf’s Sam Witwicky escaped so many death-defying situations that it’s a wonder he never came down with P.T.S.D. Charlie and Guillermo never endure anything so severe. Bumblebee cares about its characters and the audience. For that, it earns our admiration.

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