There comes a time in the life of every film franchise where the juice is no longer worth the squeeze. As the quality and domestic box office numbers of the Transformers sequels continued to slide, it seemed like the franchise had run its course. After the second film in the series, Revenge of the Fallen, the US returns shrank with each installment and the addition of Mark Wahlberg to the cast did nothing to stop the bleeding. However, the third and fourth movies both grossed over $1-billion globally with massive support from the international box office. The fifth movie, The Last Knight, didn’t fare nearly as well as its predecessors but still managed to win its opening weekend and total $600-million globally. So, here we are eleven years in, profits shrinking, and a dead-end story. What’s next? Obviously, it’s prequel time.
As much as I had checked out of the franchise after the second film, the Bumblebee trailer piqued my interest in a way the majority of its predecessors failed to. Beyond the obvious robot-on-robot violence and patented Michael Bay explosion porn, this movie went back to basics and invested in its characters…human and machine alike. This is where the franchise probably should have begun all those years ago. There was no hiding some of the cliches and the cheesiness but, as a period movie set in the 80s, it’s a lot more forgivable.
Strangely enough, it was really nice to see fewer Transformers and shout out to Sean Haworth for simplifying the designs and going back to the retro look. Rather than a relentless and metallic onslaught on the senses, Christina Hodson’s script focused on a select few who were important in telling this story. It’s basically just Bumblebee, a couple people and a pair of Decepticons with a handful of cameos from familiar 80s favorites: Optimus Prime, Cliff Jumper, and Arcee along with villains Shockwave and Soundwave (who has been completely underutilized in this series). By limiting the cast, Hodson was able to focus the story on the key relationship which worked so well in the original. Namely, the friendship formed between Bee and his human companion. That’s the most important relationship to showcase and it was made much easier because Bumblebee was a well-written character and a lot of fun. Ultimately, the film missed the mark on some of the heavier emotional tones that were present in the screenplay but this was a much more human story than the franchise has been accustomed to. Hodson is in pre-production writing the next adventure of Harley Quinn, Birds of Prey, and set to pen an additional screenplay for the DCEU, Batgirl.
Hailee Steinfeld took over the lead role and Bee’s aforementioned human companion, Charlie. She’s a gearhead, which she got from her dead father, and the narrative ultimately leads her to find a busted up yellow Volkswagen Beetle in a scrap yard. There is a surrogate relationship she develops with the quirky alien that should have played out better but worked well enough to get the point across, without generating any real emotional resonance. The young actress/singer stepped into some pretty big shoes taking on the lead in this franchise but she acquitted herself well enough to earn another crack at it.
The same can’t be said for John Cena, playing Agent Burns, who was terribly miscast by Denise Chamian. Firstly, He is first introduced as a slapstick character cracking terrible jokes as he pelts a teammate with paintballs, seemingly setting up his role as a good guy. Instead, he makes a hard 180 and becomes a transformer hater, only to make another 180 at the end of the film to the point where he comically salutes Bumblebee. Secondly, I’m not sure why he is “Agent” Burns at all. He dons US Army uniforms on numerous occasions and there is no Sector 7 at this point in the timeline so, at best, he is maybe Captain Burns. The WWE star has shown a lot of promise as a comedic actor, taking on completely ridiculous characters in the past but it didn’t work here. While Cena certainly looks the part of the hardened military leader, the character was just a poorly written mess from top to bottom.
Pamela Adlon wasn’t the right fit either as Charlie’s mom, Sally. She’s great and I’m sure she got a decent payday for this role but it just wasn’t a good character. While her daughter is still very clearly traumatized by the death of her dad, Sally has moved on into a new and happy relationship and seems completely oblivious to her daughter’s pain and mostly uninvolved in her life, except for when it suited the necessary moments of levity in the script. Either she isn’t a good mom (which was never well established) or the character isn’t well written, I’m going with the latter. This was another unfortunate swing-and-miss on a key supporting role.
Thankfully Jorge Lendeborg Jr. was good playing Charlie’s love interest Memo. It looked for a long time like he wasn’t going to be one of the main characters but after a persistent approach and an accidental encounter with Bumblebee, Memo actually played a big part. He’s got a good knack for comedic timing and an unassuming screen presence that lends itself well to the supporting role. Lendborg Jr. and Steinfeld had good chemistry which really helped to carry the film through its weaker moments and gave the audience something to cheer for instead of the Autobots.
Director Travis Knight (Kubo and the Two Strings) really put together a nice movie here. It’s no masterpiece but the action was well done and it was nice to see it get a bit more toned down. That isn’t to say the action wasn’t intense and crazy when it needed to be but the CGI and the robot battles were used more strategically to tell the story, rather than just for the sake of it. Knight had a strong understanding of the strengths in the script and wisely played them up rather than going for cheap thrills. Additionally, this was the first Transformers movie to incorporate music as a major element to the story. Set in 1987, the soundtrack includes a plethora of 80s hits from the Smiths, Tears for Fears, and Duran Duran as well as several other pop culture references scattered throughout.
It’s always nice to be pleasantly surprised. Bumblebee isn’t at the top of the list when it comes to the films I have seen this year but it’s no dumpster fire either. It has heart, action, and humor while managing to balance those elements relatively well. For the sixth installment of a franchise on the brink of total collapse, this was a much needed shot in the arm that should do well to boost the stock and open the door for a potential bridge sequel or Optimus Prime origin story. I’d personally love to see the animated film version of the story get retold and I’m pretty sure Judd Nelson is available.
Recommendation: If you’ve stuck with the franchise thus far, this is right up your alley. If you gave up on it after the 2nd sequel or never cared in the first place, this is a nice bit of redemption and/or a good place to start.