Bumblebee, the 6th film in the Transformers franchise, is an “almost reboot” but not quite, it’s very hard to tell. One thing that is for sure, Director Travis Knight has accomplished what many thought to be impossible, to make a great movie that is also a Transformers movie.

 

Finally, Transformers is in the hands of someone other than Michael Bay, not only that, but someone who actually knows the Transformers characters and lore, and delivers a film that will have the diehard fans cheering. In the first 60 seconds, Knight gives the fans the scene they have been begging for since a live-action film was first announced, and it just gets better and better as the movie progresses.

 

While you have to give it up to Knight for making your childhood dreams come true, you also have to give special attention to writer Christina Hodson. She turned a script about alien robots that turn into cars into a surprisingly heartfelt story that is full of emotional character moments, basically it’s ET meets Short Circuit. What’s even more impressive is that even the robots have characters now, the Decepticons are actually deceptive, they speak, and there are no pointless explosions.

 

As with many films and tv series now, Bumblebee is set in the ‘80s, but at no point does it feel like forced nostalgia porn that most retro throwback attempts seem to fart out. Sure, there’s 80s music, posters and all that jazz, but the music choices are left field, the 80s references are sparse and serve a purpose, even the cars you see in the background just look like crappy old cars, no shiny Trans Am's here.

 

The lead character is played by singer Hailey Steinfeld, and she plays the role wonderfully. Her character is dealing with real emotional struggles, her mechanical skills are well established early on, and her relationship with Bumblebee is absolutely adorable to watch blossom on screen. She is not some model with a band t-shirt slapped on her that doesn’t look like she knows what movie she’s in.

Travis Knight uses action sparingly, and it makes it that much more effective when it happens.

 

You don’t even expect or miss the destruction and slow-motion action sequences that audiences have come to expect from a Transformers film because you’re too busy enjoying this simple story between a girl and her robot friend. This is a film that knows what it needs to be, has multiple setups & payoffs and action scenes that pertains from the story.

 

The only problem with this film is that it isn’t able to commit to being a full reboot of the franchise, which is frustrating because it’s such a refreshing step in the right direction. It’s a shame that Transformers has become associated with being poorly written misogynistic popcorn movies. Even though this franchise was built on the premise of selling action figures there is so many great characters and storylines to explore.

 

Lifelong fans of this franchise are going to absolutely love this movie; it scraps the re-designs of the previous films and goes back to the classic G-1 roots, it includes characters people know and love and feels exactly like the film you’ve always wanted and more. Even if you are someone who is just vaguely familiar with the franchise or even no idea what it is at all, this film is an absolute crowd pleaser.

 

Written by Nicolas Champeaux