Bumblebee – a review

A young girl Charley (Hailee Steinfeld) finds a yellow Volkswagen Beatle on a shipyard. Taking the car home she soon discovers that she is now part of an interstellar war between the Autobots and the Decepticons.

We all have that ‘one friend’ with a terrible taste in movies. It’s not that they have bad taste per se, but rather that they can’t recognize the stinker amongst the pearls. So, a few years back I made the mistake of letting him pick the movie; he chose Transformers: the dark side of the moon.

Thankfully that movie is utterly forgettable. And according to what I read online the down-wards spiral of quality continued into the latest outings. That is until the franchise got rebooted and Bumblebee was born.

The rise of Bumblebee

Who would’ve thought? A rather good Transformers-movie. In fact Bumblebee is actually a rather enjoyable movie in its own right.

Now there are quite a few tricks pulled that made it happen. But the bottom-line is that Bumblebee knows what it is selling and knows how to keep an audience invested.

Bumblebee Back

The main trick is the setting and the story. The western entertainment industry is currently in yet another nostalgic phase (thanks to Stranger Things amongst others). So, obviously setting Bumblebee in the 1980s allows for all kinds of retro-vibes.

And since Bumblebee speaks through music on the radio it allows the movie to use some good songs.

In that sense it is a shame that the movie uses a current song for the credits. But that’s just nitpicking.

But most of all the writer of the movie managed to include a whole array of scriptural gags that come back time and again. It’s the summer blockbuster blue-print (invented in the ’80s) that is used here to the letter.
For instance: The main protagonist excels in a certain sport, of course this will be used at some point in the movie. Bumblebee watches a certain movie. Of course he will mimic what he saw at a certain time.

It may be a safe bet but it is also something the audience enjoys. So why shouldn't I?

Bumblebee heart

But most of all the screenplay tries to give the movie a heart. It may be a plot-point that has been done to death but; if it is suitable, capably written and well acted it always works!

So where every Transformer to date has been all about smashing robots and Shia Labouf trying to get it on with the new girl on the block. Bumblebee actually delivers on a caring protagonist with a loving family and even a military man in Michael Cena who has character, humour and (oh my) intelligence.

The robot smashing, in this sense, is almost an afterthought. This movie knows that a fight sequence only works if the audience is invested. So you need a lot of story before ‘push comes to shove’.

And, then, when the fight sequence finally happens it is a well choreographed feast for the eyes. No quick annoying editing. No shaky cam. Quite well staged robot-kung fu (or karate).

A female action movie

Bumblebee was written by a woman. This isn’t particularly needful information if not for the fact that, while there are many tropes from past (safe '80s) movies being reused it are the gender (sexual) tropes that are turned upside down.

The protagonist is her own strong woman who doesn’t let others dictate her life for her. So there is no smooching between her and her (maybe) boyfriend when the moment arises.

Heck, in this movie it are the boys who keep on losing their shirts for no reason at all.

But, most of all, our heroine is human. She brushes her teeth and rinses (how often does that happen in movies), she has pimples, she doesn’t wear high-heels during a robot fight and actually knows how to work a wrench. All rather refreshing.

Cinematography

The reason why I decided to give Bumblebee a go was because of the director Travis Knight. Me, being a massive Laika-junky, and him having done Kubo and the two strings my interest was peaked.

Also the fact that Hailee Steinfeld was in it helped; because I don’t think I’ve ever seen her deliver a sub-par performance (though I’m not a fan of her music).

(I wrote this bit ages ago; looking for a moment when I could use it):

The Taken-clones like 3 days or Erased.

Basically they are European vacations for the actors.
(Especially the young actresses playing the obligatory teenaged daughter).

In short: Liana Liberato had to work a lot harder than Haylee Steinfeld did.

So Liana spent less time on the beach than Haylee did!

She’s one of the next generation actors and actresses who are quite gifted in the craft. Unfortunately some of these actors (I’m not naming names) are terrible at choosing which movie to appear in.

Travis Knight makes good usage of the notion that there is a relationship between a giant robot and a teenaged girl. Much like Del Toro’s Pacific Rim or studio Ghibli My neighbour totoro he too uses the image of juxtaposing the two characters next to each other in various stylized shots.

One shot in particular that I enjoyed is an easy one to spot in the climactic fight.

Above all, for a director, Bumblebee is an effects movie. But instead of letting most scenes roll out of the computer, Knight actually made the effort of creating a shot where the CGI would fit in without overtaking the entire frame.

Is it a reboot (I hope so)

In the end Bumblebee is a blockbuster movie to enjoy on a Friday night out. It is a bit more keyed to the younger female audience. But that should bother nobody.

And, of course, the Asian market where people love the Transformer movies.

As a movie it is well shot with a coherent plot (for once) and interesting character-development running between the robot smack downs. A swell ride of a movie that (‘here I go’) actually managed to transform the transformers franchise for the better.