'Bumblebee' A Review

Bumblebee is an action movie, a prequel to 2007's Transformers and the sixth in the franchise. The movie opens on the war for the Transformers home planet as the good Autobots are forced to flee against the hordes evil Decepticons. Autobot leader Optimus Prime charges B-127 with going to and safeguarding Earth as a rendezvous for the Autobots. B-127 is damaged and disguises itself as a VW Bug. Sometime later it is picked up at a junk yard by Charlie(Hailee Steinfeld), the two develop a surprising friendship, and B-127 is dubbed the titular Bumblebee. The Decepticons are still on the hunt however and Charlie and Bumblebee must work together to thwart them.

Steinfeld brings her burgeoning charm to bear in this relatively straightforward role, alternatively sincere and sweet but not terribly complicated, she plays at least a character and isn't on display for the male gaze, a vast improvement from some of the other installments in the franchise. The supporting cast all give solid if not terribly sophisticated performances- John Cena as the suspicious government official, Jorge Lendeborg Jr. as Charlie's love struck neighbor, Pamela Adlon as Charlie's mom(criminally underutilized), John Ortiz in a brief role- actually the casting is relatively inspired and all are able to pivot from and balance with the action/comedy tone with some stabs at genuine emotion.

On it's own Bumblebee is an entertaining enough action movie, with a vein of solid comedy running through it, with some surface attempts at straightforward emotional engagement. Taken in the context of the Transformers series it is a real triumph. The action has more clarity than any sequence in the earlier installments, the characters have more depth and actual discernible feelings, and the story has stakes, consequences, and concern for collateral damage unlike the grim metallic parade of destruction the series is known for.

On it's own, serviceable, taken in context a surprise.

Rent It.