"My name is Bumblebee."

Bumblebee

Mini Non-Spoiler Review

[December 15th, 2018]

[PG-13 | 1hr 54min | 80's, Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Transformers]

Well, I've been watching a lot more movies since the last time of these reviews but the two films that I have watched in the cinemas last month still remains unchecked. Well, no more I say!

Having been saddled with a lot of responsibilities to softly reboot the Transformers franchise with his first live action feature, there's a lot hanging onto this project especially after how much I love Kubo and the Two Strings but lo and behond Travis Knight actually did it! Wow, I am just happy he is able to make a seamless transition from stopmotion to real life, leaning on his strength in telling a family narrative again now with the age-old friendship between a human and a dog. Turning the focus from solely resting on the spectacle but rather the relationship that can blossom in this futuristic concept is a smart decision especially when leaving it in the capable hands of Knight. I am wholly enamored by the performance of Hailee Steinfeld (what a December for her, huh?  This and Spider-Verse!) and how she can make me believe in her personal journey while befriending this mute mechanical beast. The circumstances in her life makes her long for someone to relate to and she finds it in this extraterrestrial, and to my surprise I totally buy it! I shouldn't be though seeing how well he told the story in Kubo but this just shows his talent to be able to tell an effective heartwarming story despite the change in medium. I really wish that she will return in the followup to this prequel(?)-slash-spin-off since how well she is leading this feature from start to finish. Seeing how much she has gone from Barely Lethal to Pitch Perfect and now this, her career is poised to rise even higher. Being a successful voiceover actor and a singer herself just add to her impressive repertoire! 

Oh, just look at that. Seeing how I dedicated the whole first paragraph to the main lead (well, John Cena is actually great in his supporting role, following up his Blockers role well) and her relatable relationship with Bumblebee should tell you how important and effective it is in propping up this film, setting it up to have a whole new take on the Transformers itself and reverting to the original G-1 designs of the cartoon is another approach that proves to be worth the risk taken. That opening ten minutes on Cybertron is what we have been craving for ever since we saw the animated shows and you can see them paying a beautiful tribute to it from the designs of the Autobots and the Decepticons to the iconic sound effects. While the action changes when the narrative goes to Earth, the sporadic action sequences between the titled protagonist and the opposing hunters is the perfect example of them reigning themselves back to the benefit of the flick, scaling back the trademark Bay visual extravaganza and letting Bee gets its own spotlight to lead the front and actually have his own character progression that you can see from the moment he crash lands to the final scene of heartfelt good bye. This bodes well to the direction the franchise can go after this and I hope they will learn the correct lesson with the success of this soft reboot and built upon it and finally live up to their potential. I just wish this would be a whole new universe rather than tieing into Michael Bay's. It is admittedly a crutch now that would hinder its progression ...

While LAIKA is doing well on its own without Travis at the helm with the upcoming the Missing Link, this feature should be a great proven evidence for him to fully lead this new direction for the franchise. He had a lot to overcome but by golly he did it!

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