Bumblebee (Travis Knight, 2018)

Pandemic + Netflix = catching up on recent releases.

I remember liking the first Transformers - I liked the rapport between Sam and Bumblebee, and I thought Megan Fox was sexy. 

Sure, the humour was bad and it featured all the familiar Bayisms (explosions, worship of the military, blatant objectification of every woman) but the first half of the movie, when it is just about an awkward teen finding a new super-powered friend, is kind of charming

I watched the second movie and promptly lost all interest in catching future instalments - the charm of the first movie (the first half at least) was gone. This bad experience meant I avoided Bumblebee in theatres for obvious reasons. 

Thanks to it being 2020, I finally checked it out on Netflix.

The movie is basically a reboot of the 2007 film, except the filmmakers actually commit to presenting a coming-of-age story, through the relationship between Bumblebee and an awkward teen, minus the bad jokes and the lusty camera hoovering after Megan Fox.

The movie kind of reminded me of Bad Boys 3, in that it is taking subject matter associated with Michael Bay, and presenting it with the tenets and focus of a dramatic narrative.

Said awkward teen is played by Hailee Steinfeld, who made a really strong impression in the Coen Brothers' True Grit a decade ago.

She plays Charlie, who is struggling with the death of her father. Bumblebee was injured in his arrival to earth, and cannot remember who he is. Together they form an odd couple as she seeks to help him remember who he is, and he in turn tries to help his new friend.

Steinfeld is the movie’s MVP. She is really great in this movie. It is refreshing to see a complicated female lead in this kind of movie, particularly in this franchise. It made me more interested in checking out Steinfeld’s Edge of Seventeen, which watched a few days later. 

Most of the movie is based around her interactions with Bumblee, who speaks exclusively through radio soundbites. It was a nice bit in the 2007 film, but here it used with more purpose.

While the film includes plenty of set pieces, the relationship between Charlie and Bumblebee is the real meat of the movie. This does mean that the villains feel somewhat sidelined, however Angela Bassett brings welcome note of malice to the main antagonist that elevated her far beyond past villains of the franchise.

I cannot say Bumblebee is a great movie - it feels a little too indebted to its 80s inspirations, but it is far more mature and involving than any of the Bay-helmed movies. 

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