| 01.07.2019 – The Transformers Film Series for 10 years have been met with good to critical reviews under the direction of Michael Bay prior to this prequel spin-off featuring the solo adventures of Bumblebee. Its previous film “The Last Knight” has been met with negative feedback.
With this Prequel, Spin-Off fans and the media were holding their breath on the announcement that focuses more on one of its beloved characters. Bumblebee has been a well-loved character that connects to the younger generation as with his childish characteristics. |
The new film this time is directed by Travis Knight who is popularly known for his animation studio that brought you Kubo and the Two Strings. This movie is set in 1987 featuring Hailee Steinfeld in the lead role and John Cena which you can definitely see him in a new light. The producers for this sixth iteration of the franchise focus on more a small scale with only one character in the spotlight, namely Bumblebee.
It's still credited Michael Bay as one of its producers, but now the vision and aesthetics are incredibly different with Christina Hudson (credit who wrote “Shut In”) writing the origin story of this fan favorite Autobot. It’s a first for the franchise to have a female lead character with Steinfield as eighteen-year-old Charlie Watson, while the film introduces new characters Optimus Prime is still voiced by Peter Cullen from the original G1 cartoon series, 1986 The Movie, and all five live-action films previously.
Starting Point to History
Bumblebee Movie is both a prequel and sort of soft reboot for the next films moving forward. It’s mostly a course correction from the five previous films. It can be watched as a standalone without the need to go back and see the previous films. There’s no need to confuse yourself with the entire technicality and gibber jabber if you want you’re new to the world Transformers or who previously stop seeing the films and the many iterations of the animated series after the original G1 cartoon.
What makes this film stand out is the inspiration from previous 1980s pop culture as Travis Knight shared his thoughts in the interviews growing up in that era. The film clearly takes inspiration from Steven Spielberg’s E.T. (Extra-Terrestrial) and coming of age John Hugh teenage films. The film’s timeline set to 1987 has got all the best things about this era that the fans who grew up seeing the original cartoon can definitely relate to this film.
Eighties Callbacks and Fan Service
The film references had a slew of that particular era from ALF to poking fun of its contemporaries with its soundtrack namely “The Touch” by Stan Bush which first heard in the original 1986 Transformers: The Movie. Technology plays a crucial part of the film from cassettes to vinyl records it’s nostalgia to the fans. Not only that the much-discussed Cybertron scene reveals Bumblebee’s compatriots on his home planet is more inspired from their Generation One counterparts including the Decepticons.
Longtime fans can be assured that Hasbro and its production team behind Bumblebee surely have listened to the critics and really put a good story for those who are not just after the toys. World building to introduce Transformers has been challenging, but Travis Knight has made Bumblebee not only just a robot character it made him more relatable not just to the fans but everyone in general.
Rocking to Roll Out for the Future
This is not the first or last solo outing of any Transformers character. Bumblebee might not have a sequel, but moving ahead to the future Hasbro is testing the waters in featuring one specific character to be the spotlight in their own film. It’s like what IDW Publishing did with some of the well-known characters in the comic books and a potential Optimus Prime solo film would probably in the discussion too.
Overall Bumblebee is probably the best Transformers iteration in the franchise with an actual story behind the character’s origin and its contact with the humans. Hailee Steinfeld and John Cena did right with their performance with just the right pace in the film each scene is a delight with those eighties callbacks that certainly a film to catch now playing in cinemas.
Bumblebee Movie Release Dates | 20 December 2018 in Australia | 8 January 2019 in the Philippines | Listing for the Rest of the World HERE!
RATED: A+
NOTE: This film was screened privately as an Advance Screening at IMAX Cinema in SM Megamall in the City of Mandaluyong, Metro Manila. This is reviewed with a personal opinion without spoilers not for you to agree or disagree about the views written by the author but to gain insight on his perspective about the film.
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