Bumblebee Movie Review [World's First Transformers Review]

Our team recently received a screening of The Bumblebee movie and we are happy to say that the film takes a step in the right direction to becoming the more quintessential Transformers story that fans of the franchise love.

Opening on the war for Cybertron, it’s immediately apparent that the previous aesthetic of the films has been stripped away in favour of a more bright and colourful tone. Gone are the darkly lit battles and hard to make out showdowns, replaced with eye-catching scenes and neatly designed faceoffs.

Those who expect a CGI heavy affair know exactly what they’re in for and Bumblebee by far tops the series in terms of special effects, cinematography, and character design. This feels like the 80’s cartoon brought to life in an astounding way and is something fresh and invigorating for the franchise.

80s Throwback

Charlie, played by Hailee Steinfield, feels like the perfect female counterpart to Shia Le Beouf and she does well at playing the enamoured 80s tomboy that has been made famous by the likes of Stranger Things, ET and IT. Whilst there are aspects that are slightly derivative, it’s still engaging to see this new aesthetic and Hailee does a great job. She wonderfully restores the Beetle car and its refreshing to see the Transformers take on something that resembles a rust bucket rather than a top of the line sports model. This Herbie vibe definitely makes the characters endearing early on and both adults and children will find themselves gravitating to the way that the Transformers are reintroduced here.

Hailee brings a lot of fun to the film and I loved seeing her get chased down by cop cars and she genuinely seem like shes strapped in for the ride and having fun with it.

Can’t See Him

John Cena equally does a serviceable job as an army soldier even though he doesn’t have as much screentime as you would expect for the star.

This isn’t a film that is going to blow you away plot wise and you could probably guess the majority of the movies moments from watching the trailer alone. However, that doesn’t mean that this isn’t an enjoyable journey for both newcomers and hardcore fans alike.

The Verdict

Overall this is a fun-filled kids movie, there’s a certain innocence to it that I feel like the original direction for the films was lacking. This rights a lot of the wrongs from those movies in a fantastic way and whilst it isn’t perfect, it’s very hard to ding the movie just because certain aspects are slightly predictable. This film is playing heavily on nostalgia so if you like things like the Goonies, ET, Honey I Shrunk The Kids and more, you will love it.

This movie restored a lot of my faith in the franchise and really feels like it is setting up some stellar things to come down the line.

Overall we had fun with the movie and that’s why it scores a…