"Bumblebee" is a John Hughes-Mixed-With-Transformers Film

By: Keaton Marcus

Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld) in Bumblebee

Genre/Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi

Age Rating/10+

Lemonradar/70% sweet/sour

Introduction

Hi, this is Keaton Marcus from Sweet and Sour Movie Reviews and today I will be reviewing the newest Transformers franchise installment, Bumblebee. After the planet Cybertron was destroyed, Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots sent the remainder of the resistance to Earth to hide out before attempting to fight back. In the year 1987, Bumblebee, an Autobot is found by an 18-year old girl, Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld) while he is hiding, however, when the Decepticons get Bumblebee’s distress signal, they plan to wage war on Earth in order to find Bumblebee; Bumblebee, Charlie, and her friend Memo must protect Earth before the battles of Cybertron find its way to their planet.

How Was The Cast?

Refreshingly unfamiliar, younger singer-turned-actress Hailee Steinfeld takes the main role of Charlie Watson with a commited, charming and old-fashioned performance, driving the movie with gusto. Supporting roles include John Cena as Agent Burns, Jorge Lendeborg Jr. as Memo, and an enjoyable side part by Dylan O’Brien, who voices Bumblebee.

As mentioned, Hailee Steinfeld known for The Edge of Seventeen, the Pitch Perfect franchise, Ender’s Game, True Grit etc. as Charlie Watson. A more convincing and well-scripted Transformers hero than Shila Boeuf disappointing Sam Witwicky in the first three films, or Mark Wahlberg's slummy Cade Yeager in parts four and five, this is very surprising, but it shows throughout the film that Steinfeld, a more supporting actress has better action-film charisma than the more seasoned Bouef or Wahlberg. Steinfeld’s character, Charlie, is also more developed, better-scripted and much more likeable franchise hero, and is not objectified, like the other “supporting” female characters in previous installments. Previously, Steinfeld has delivered a supposedly amazing lead performance in coming-of-age drama, The Edge of Seventeen, and solid supporting roles in Ender’s Game and True Grit. Steinfeld has also had a much better transformation from song to film than most, and is currently sitting at the top with the likes of Lady Gaga, who was brilliant in this year’s A Star is Born.

Secondly, actor John Cena known for The Wall, Ferdinand, Blockers etc. as Agent Burns. In his wrestling-to-film transformation, Cena has had some success, but he found it to be very limited, and not as powerful as Dwayne Johnson has had to audiences; In his previous efforts, critics found Cena’s performance in Blockers to be hysterical, and his role in The Wall to be quite compelling, but Cena flopped in disappointing performance in 2017 animated feature Ferdinand, which was much anticipated. In this year’s Bumblebee, Cena is strictly a side-character, but has enough pratfalls, and kick-ass lines to break even, and creates another solid performance to the sprouting career on the big-screen which may or may not deride the audiences from the fact that they are listening to a previous wrestler act in a Hasbro-based Transformers flick, but surprisingly, it works.

Fourthly, we saw actor Jorge Lendeborg Jr. known for Love, Simon, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Brigsby Bear etc. as Memo. Although, Lendeborg character is usually cut-off, or having the spot-light stolen by Hailee Steinfeld’s performance, as the supporting character, the actor manages to generate enough laughs and charisma with the cast, bringing an enjoyable amount of dorkiness, and amidst the relentless action sequences, Lindenborg delivers a light within the film. Also, very new to the film business, Lindenborg has a so-far very successful career, treading in fantastic films such as Love, Simon and Spider-Man: Homecoming, and giving an abnormal, weird performance that supposedly works in Brigsby Bear, playing a supporting role.

And an honorable mention to actor Dylan O’Brien III voicing Bumblebee, the actor is known for his roles as Thomas in The Maze Runner trilogy, which we praised, he also delivered an enjoyable supporting performance in terrific disaster flick Deepwater Horizon. In Bumblebee, O’Brien only had a limited amount of lines, which did pull back his talents, though he made the most of it.

Quality

Directing this Transformers prequel is filmmaker Travis Knight known for Kubo and the Two Strings, ParaNorman, The BoxTrolls, and Coraline. With Michael Bay directing the first five films in the now fatigued franchise, with bombastic, loud and messy action sequences, only bringing impressive visual effects to the table.

Director Travis Knight practically doubles down on everything fans loved about the originals, delivering coherent action sequences, dazzling visual effects, and an emotional Iron Giant-type connection between human and machine, although the film does sometimes get cut-off by a somewhat choppy storyline and a less-than-stellar script; Though, overall, Knight’s Bumblebee is not only the best in the franchise, it may as well be the savior to the saga, as rumours see a sequel being placed to the timeline.

Special effects wise, Bumblebee stands at a reported 135M cost, and the film uses it wisely, bringing dazzling eye-candy to the table, including two thrilling Cybertron battle scenes that are particularly good, surprisingly un-confusing action sequences and a great new look for the Transformers. Box Office wise, the film delivered a soft three-day weekend of 21.654M, though was moderately helped by a five-day of 34.253M, this is because of franchise fatigue, and by far, this debut remains the lowest opening in the franchise. Though, luckily, for Bumblebee, the film has the smallest cost in the franchise, with Transformers (150M), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (200M), Transformers: Dark of the Moon (195M), Transformers: Age of Extinction (210M) and Transformers: The Last Knight (217-260M).

Storyline wise, the film fared better than the rest of the franchise, but still had trouble finding its way, suffering from a choppy layout that did not always work out, though its flaws were helped by solid performances from the cast, visual effects and a lessening of run-time, standing at just 114 minutes, compared to the other installments, Transformers stands at 143 minutes, Revenge of the Fallen at 150 minutes, Dark of the Moon at 154 minutes, Age of Extinction at 165 minutes and The Last Knight at 149 minutes.

Aging ‘The Transformers’

Much more family-friendly than the other installments, Bumblebee carries a reported PG-13 rating, but could also arguably be PG, but for older kids. The film includes the common action sequences, but lessened and more coherent, there is also some mild language and very mild sexuality.

The violence includes a beginning scene on Cybertron that features loud action, including rapid gun-fire, and explosions galore, though fans of the franchise will enjoy, the film also endangers the main characters commonly, and the Decepticons will take innocent lives just to find the remainder of the Autobots.

Language wise, there are single uses of s..t, damn, hell, ass, crap and shut up, however most of these words will pass by younger viewers heads. Sexuality wise, this Transformers installment lessens on the objectifying of the lead female characters and portrays Charlie as a strong, independent character; The majority is the flirting between Charlie and Memo which shows throughout the film, and in one scene she asks him to take of his shirt for an experiment.

Transformers Best Installments

Bumblebee 70% sweet/sour

Violence: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Language: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

Sex: ⭐☆☆☆☆

Age Rating: 10+

Transformers 59% sour

Violence: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Language: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Sex: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Age Rating: 13+


Bumblebee 70% sweet/sour

Storyline: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

Cast: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Role Models: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Transformers 59% sour

Storyline: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

Cast: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Role Models: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

News Related to Bumblebee

$plurge, $tream, $kip: Although is occasionally cut-off by a choppy storyline, and script, Bumblebee delivers fantastic action sequences, dazzling special effects and compelling performances, which make it the best in a truly fatigued franchise…$TREAM IT

Rated: PG-13

Run Time: 114 Minutes

Director: Travis Knight