Review of Bumblebee

By Dave B.

Bumblebee (2018, currently on Amazon Prime) takes place after the conquest of Cybertron by the Decepticons. The Autobots, forced to flee their homeworld, task Bumblebee with establishing a new base on Earth, so that they can regroup and eventually retake their home. But the Decepticons are determined to exterminate the Autobots. They track Bumblebee to Earth, putting not just his new friends, but also the entire planet, in danger.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a big fan of the Transformers movies. They tend to bore the hell out of me because they’re all style, no substance. But Bumblebee is nearly the COMPLETE opposite of a standard Transformers movie. Most importantly, it’s focus is primarily on characters, not giant robot fights. This emphasis on character development makes it possible for viewers to actually care about what’s happening onscreen, therefore making it less likely that they’ll fall asleep before the movie is over (like I tend to do with most Transformers movies. That’s not to say there is no action. There’s plenty. It just takes up a balanced proportion of time and allows for there to be other things in the movie, like meaningful dialogue and emotional growth. 

Bumblebee isn’t perfect. At 114 minutes, it’s a bit on the long side. And just because it breaks the mold of previous Transformers movies by having meaningful dialogue, that doesn’t mean that all of it’s good. And like most prequels, it’s predictable. The outcome is never in doubt, just by the fact that the other movies in the franchise exist.

​That said, Bumblebee is very enjoyable. The fact that it eschews constant explosions and ubiquitous overdramatizations in favor of character development, while still having good-quality robot fights makes it easily the best movie in the franchise. If you’re looking for a heartwarming, family-friendly movie that has a legitimate story and some cool robot fighting action sequences, look no further. This is the film for you. 

Rating: 6.5/10