Review of Bumblebee (2018) by Ashton M — 27 Dec 2018

I'll start off by stating that I'm a huge Transformers-fan, and that I loved the Michael Bay films. But I'll have to agree with the critics this time as this film is far superior to the others so far.

It's a refreshing take on an already well-known and well loved franchise. It's understandable for the first film, that they avoided making Bumblebee's disguise a Beetle, as Herbie was still pretty popular back then.

But Herbie is still popular, so B's character is a lot like Herbie's, not that I'm complaining. I liked the casting of a likable female-lead and props to John Cena for actually going to acting classes for this film.

The plot, although strong, has a few inconsistencies with the other films. The first film implied the only reason why the Transformers came to Earth is cuz of the All Spark, but this one implies that the Earth was merely a safe-haven for Bumblebee, besides, neither Optimus, nor any of the others mention the All-Spark, did they not figure out yet that it's on Earth? Plus, on Planet Cybertron, all the Transformers have vehicular disguises similar to the cartoons and the rest of the film franchise (again not complaining), but in the first film, at the arrival of the Autobots, they seem to appear just like any other big robot we've ever seen before transforming into their well-known vehicular disguises.

Plus, If Optimus was already on Earth in the 1980s, then why did he need to make a grand entrance like in the first film, unless he left Earth for some odd reason afterwards. I liked how this film managed to dial-back the crazy action sequences of the other Michael Bay films, and shifting the focus to Bumblebee, who is one of the most likable characters of both the film and animated franchise was a good idea.

I also liked how they somehow payed tribute to the toy-line, by having B "fall apart" when Hailee was trying to fix him, and then subsequently showing B's face while she's underneath him while in his Beetle-mode.

That scene kinda reminded me of my Bumblebee Camaro toy car/robot I still have. Plus they finally showed us how B lost his voice and learned to use the radio broadcasts, so thumbs up to that.