Bumblebee

This review may contain spoilers!

If you had told me at the beginning of 2018 that there would be a good Transformers film this year, let alone one in my top ten, I would have called you crazy. But here this beauty is. I would give Bumblebee an 8.5/10.

Michael Bay made a couple of fun Transformers flicks and a lot of just terrible ones, it is a wonder to see what a Transformers film can be in the hands of a different director. This is a complete revamp and excites me to see this homage to 80s pop culture blend beautifully with this modern day blockbuster picture. The best possible way to describe this experience is to equivalate it to Guardians of the Galaxy; no one thought Marvel could do superheroes in space and make it work but it did, and it invented some fresh movie magic for itself in the process. Bumblebee tells the story of the title character fleeing the war for Cybertron in an effort to find shelter for his fellow Autobots; along the way, his memory core is damaged and he has to rely on young human, Charlie, to keep him safe. It's a heartwarming story about a young woman trying to reconcile the loss of her Dad and a budding friendship that stands against aggression from all sides. This is fun, it has a ton of heart and it is easily one of the strongest blockbusters of 2018. The cinematography is phenomenal, steering away from the Bay flicks and favouring warm intimate shots ( a bold move in any blockbuster). The special effects are so carefully detailed, being able to see facial expressions and body language from the Transformer characters is brilliant. The score for the feature is thrilling, yet it is the soundtrack that grounds you in the setting and builds up characters.

Dylan O'Brien, who voiced Bumblebee, has the plucky earnest energy of the young Autobot; O'Brien really brings forth the selflessness at the core of this character and the scene in which he loses his voice becomes a truly tragic one. John Cena, who played Agent Burns, has a really charismatic sense of humour that is often rather blunt but immediately entertaining; Cena can also effortlessly switch to a silent intensity that really works for his military role. Angela Bassett, who voiced Shatter, is one of the best antagonists the Transformers films has ever had; her manipulative nature and disregard for life other than that of the Deceptions made her a true menace. Pamela Adlon, Stephen Schneider and Jason Drucker, who played Sally Watson, Ron and Otis Watson respectively, made for a very entertaining and dysfunctional family; Schneider, in particular, has a very humourous off-key relationship with Steinfeld that is great to watch. Peter Cullen, who voiced Optimus Prime, has played and mastered this role for a long time now; Cullen lends himself to this strong leader flawlessly and brings out the true hero that resides in this role. Jorge Lendeborg Jr., who played Memo, is a very awkward yet likeable role; he has a very sweet chemistry with Steinfeld and he often feels comedically out of place in the big moments of action. Len Cariou, who played Uncle Hank, is a gruff role that seems very caught in his own small world; yet his little displays of kindness towards Steinfeld make for a nice relationship at the beginning of the feature.

However, the best performance came from Hailee Steinfeld, who played Charlie Watson. Since Pitch Perfect 2 and Edge of Seventeen it has been hard to see Steinfeld as anything short of an up and coming icon, her sheer talent speaks for itself and it is front and centre throughout Bumblebee. This is a young woman who has retracted into herself and does not have a lot of room for family and friends after the death of her Dad. If there's one thing Steinfeld plays really well it's a role going through grief; she takes a role right through the process of experiencing and enduring this type of emotional pain. Yet Charlie Watson is hilarious, with a wry sarcastic wit and street smarts to outrival any other. The bond built up between Steinfeld what is essentially a special effect is the driving heart behind this film and it is so clear how much of that is driven by this wonderful actress.

This film loves the 80s film but at times it pulls a few bad tropes from it that really hijack this film's narrative. The coming of age elements are often done pretty well but watching Charlie have to deal with bullying from the popular clique is very dated and a hard watch.

Justin Theroux, who voiced Dropkick, is a very brainless antagonist compared to Bassett; Theroux's performance is very reminiscent of the two-dimensional antagonist we've seen in past films. Gracie Dzienny and Ricardo Hoyos, who played Tina and Trip respectively, are some of the most cliched roles in this film; Dzienny's arrogant and vain bully is as far from an original performance as one can get. John Ortiz, who played Agent Powell, is a role that is very convenient for the plot but hard to really buy into; Ortiz seems to have been constructed just to have a polar opposite to Cena for the sake of it. Glynn Turman, who played General Whalen, gives a pretty standard stern military role; his granite-like exterior is hard to read and there's not much as far as character goes.