Caffeinated Clint
Back before they transitioned into the traditional showy, deafening headache-inducing snorefests for which we know them best, the live-action “Transformers” movies begun with the funnest, most charming and stylistically simple family entertainment since early Spielberg – but that all concluded at minute 22 on the original 2007 film.
Those early scenes in Michael Bay’s excessive, expensive original film – remember when Shia LaBeouf was getting to know his unique, charming new car/transformer, to the soundtrack of some retro tune greats? – were unarguably the best moments in the five-film series. Sadly, Paramount didn’t get the “ya know, less is more— more of that please” memo until recently. Damn postage service.
Travis Knight’s “Bumblebee” is essentially a reboot/spin-off of the original film series – but with Bay (producing) and his usual stratagem keep strictly on the sidelines. Instead of a swollen, horribly-edited and super-commercialized war film, we’ve a simple, charming, funny and very heart-warming throwback to Amblin entertainment’s 80s hits – which is appropriate, after all, considering the film is set in 1987.
After a quick rehash of the Transformers backstory (with a sequence set on Cybertron), and how one of them is forced to flee to Earth, robo-car Bumblebee – guised in ‘beetle’ form – finds shelter in a Californian beach town. It’s there that Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld), a slightly forlorn 18-year-old with a thing for fixing cars, discovers the bright yellow car in a junkyard. Before Charlie has even given him a wash, Bumblebee transforms into robot form – scared witless but quickly warming up to his helpful ‘driver’.
With the evil Transformers (the Decepticons) tracking Bumblebee’s movements, and the military (led by a stern John Cena), Charlie, Bumblebee and their new friend Memo (Jorge Lendeborg Jr) are up for a rather eventful few days.
From a dynamite soundtrack that includes everything from Steve Winwood to Bon Jovi and The Smiths, to nods to the TV and film favourites of the time, not to mention some choice visual refs to the consumables or the Reagan-era, Knight has finely tuned with his period piece with all sorts of joyous delights for the eyes and ears.
But the film, penned by relative newcomer Christina Hodson (of the upcoming), has done more than just charged its production designers the task of paying great attention to detail. From the surprisingly touching story, the effective humour, the likeable and charming performances (especially by lead Hailee Steinfeld), and the straightforward but stirring storyline, “Bumblebee” gets it completely right.
Sure, the finale starts to drag a bit (only due to the 150 min-plus runtime) but the preceding minutes are “Smiths” good (see the movie).
Knight’s “Bumblebee” isn’t just the best “Transformers” film to date, it’s one of the year’s biggest surprise packages – just an all-round, super entertaining joyride for the whole family (but especially us tragic ‘80s music buffs).
