Bumblebee

[kevinknapman]

Not being a fan of the Michael Bay Transformers franchise, I thought Bumblebee was a film more enjoyable and engaging than it has any right being.

Mostly putting aside the tedious effects heavy bombast of the Bay films, this 80s set prequel plays less like a spirit-draining CGI blockbuster and more like a heartfelt homage to 80s family films, most notably producer Steven Spielberg's ET, though the spirit of War Games and Flight of the Navigator is evident too with a dash of The Iron Giant thrown in for good measure.

Effectively helmed by Laika Studios animator and Kubo and the Two Strings director Travis Knight, and led by a very charming lead performance from Hailee Steinfeld, Bumblebee is a retro treat that occasionally, perhaps inevitably, succumbs to all too familiar and scrappy robot on robot punch-ups but redeems itself with a cuter and more human story than usual.
John Cena is fine as the government agent on Bumblebee's trail while Love, Simon's Jorge Lendeborg Jr. makes for a winningly geeky sidekick for Steinfeld.

Better than expected it doesn't entirely escape the Bay excesses and is admittedly derivative at times, but in its quieter more retro moments it's a fun and emotionally involving blockbuster with a great 80s soundtrack that's actually worth seeing.

[tonethestone]

Hated Bay TF films but this one amazingly was ok, wouldn’t watch it again but was surprised it was passable. 2.5/5

[RandomHajile]

saw this weeks ago and again few days ago, its a love letter to all those 80s caper/sci fi movies for sure.
very family friendly but in a nice way, hope the next movie is a anthology then a direct squeal
8/10

[yogi]

I've only seen one of Michael Bay's headache inducing Transformer films, but I thought this was great fun.

Bumblebee was full of personality and could give Rowan Atkinson a run for his money in terms of physical comedy (maybe it was him doing the mo cap )

The main relationship between Bumblebee and Hailee Steinfeld was really well done and the minor characters all got a nice moment or two as well.

And it was great to see a true PG family film with no gore or darkness and only some mild swearing.

A nice surprise 8/10

[raj101]

the first transformers release thats actually a movie. Keep Bay out of it for future films and we might see more.

3.5 stars.