Every Adventure Has a Beginning

Kaleidoscope’s latest is on Paramount’s & Hasbro’s production of “Bumblebee”. Directed by Travis Knight, the movie stars Hailee Steinfeld, John Cena, Jorge Lendeborg, Jr., Pamela Adlon, Stephen Schneider, Jason Drucker, John Ortiz, Len Cariou, & Glynn Turman and the voices of Dylan O’Brien, Angela Bassett, Justin Theroux, & Peter Cullen. Rated ‘PG-13’, it has a running time of 1 hr., 53 min.

The exposition takes place on the planet Cybertron; a war is taking place between the evil Decpticons & the good Autobots. The Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, are losing the battles; Opitmus devises a plan to flee the planet. Unfortunately, they are intercepted by the Decpticons, & Optimus sends a scout, B-127, to Earth, to prepare for the Autobots arrival. The Decpticons send one of their own, Blitzwing, to follow B-127. When the latter lands on Earth, he arrives in the middle of a training exercise of Sector 7’s (a secret Government agency that investigates extraterrestrial events). Its leader, Lt. Jack Burns (Cena), assumes B-127 is hostile & attacks it. B-127 flees into the forest where he is then attacked by Blitzwing. During their fight, Blitzwing tears out B-127's voice box & damages his memory circuit. B-127, however, beats Blitzwing in the fight & destroys it. B-127's transforms itself into a ‘67 Beetle that is nearby before shutting down. The audience is then introduced to Charlie (Steinfeld), a teenage misfit, who lives at home with her mom Sally (Adlon), her new husband Ron (Schneider), & her brother Otis (Drucker). Charlie resents her mom for remarrying after Charlie’s dad died; Charlie has not emotionally recovered after her dad’s death. She works at a concession; Memo, who works at a nearby stand, has a crush on her. Charlie finds B-127 in his Beetle form at her Uncle Hank’s (Cariou) scrapyard; he gives it to her as a birthday present. Charie renames the car Bumblebee. As she is working on repairing it, she activates a homing signal; the Decpticons, Shatter & Dropkick, intercept the signal & head to Earth. As Act I concludes, the best “Transformers” film, by far, continues.

There are 2 main reasons for this: a. it is the least “Transformers”--like film of the franchise & b. it is not directed by Michael Bay. With Bay, films are a showcase for interminable battles, explosions, mayhem, etc., with little regard for the humans that surround these occurrences. Here, Knight directs with a sensitivity that is apparent throughout the running time. He paints Charlie & Bumblebee as kindred spirits—both are outcasts looking to find their way in an ‘alien’ world. Charlie is at odds with her parents with a reconciliation at the end; Bumblebee is at odds with the military, also with an ending reconciliation. Knight keeps the robot fighting to a minimum; when it does occur, it is between 2 or 3—not the hordes seen in the rest of the canon. Christina Hodson’s screenplay is perfectly aligned with Knight’s vision. Her script is filled with humor, thoughtfulness, & understanding. Setting the story in the late 80’s is a plus, also. Knight, Hodson, & score composer Dario Marianelli have filled the soundtrack with nostalgic 80’s tunes that never intrude; they either comment on, or support the action of, what is on the screen. One unique aspect of the songs is that, since Bumblebee has lost his voice box, he articulates his words by employing portions of the songs whose words are relevant. Hodson’s dialogue is genuine & believable. The acting, with one exception, is spot on. Steinfeld is excellent as Charlie. In a sense, this is an extension of the character that she created in 2016’s “The Edge of Seventeen”. Her roles of Nadine there & Charlie here have a multitude of similarities. Both are outcast teens looking to find their way as adulthood approaches. There she found support in Woody Harrelson’s Mr. Brunner; here she finds it in the O’Brien-voiced Bumblebee. Lendeborg is very good as the Charlie-obsessed teen who accompanies & supports Charlie in her endeavors with Bumblebee. Cena, unfortunately, is miscast as Burns. Cena has been building an impressive number of roles that are humorous and/or touching. However, whenever he tries to be serious in this role, one cannot help but smile/laugh at his attempts. They are never believable. The rest of the cast is uniformly fine. Enrique Chediak’s cinematography, coupled with Paul Rubell’s editing, provide for clearly delineated fight scenes that are exciting to watch. Thankfully, they never obscure the humanity of the overall story.

I give “Bumblebee” 4 out of 5 nuggets. This is super holiday entertainment & sets a high standard for the franchise. If any more are to be filmed, Bay should stay on as executive producer & leave the directing to others. Transform & hop into your ‘punch buggy’ and head to your local cineplex for a fun time.