Bumblebee
Published May 2, 2019
Film info
- Title Bumblebee
- Director Travis Knight
- Year 2018
- Run time 1hr 54m
- Genres Adventure, Action, Science Fiction
- Tagline Every hero has a beginning
Cybertron has fallen. When Optimus Prime sends Bumblebee to defend Earth, his journey to become a hero begins. Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld), a teenager trying to find her place in the world discovers and repairs the battle-scarred robot, who's disguised as a Volkswagen Beetle. As the Decepticons hunt down the surviving Autobots with the help of a secret agency led by Agent Burns (John Cena), Bumblebee and Charlie team up to protect the world in an action-packed adventure that's fun for the whole family.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 0:51 | Cybertron, it says. What’s that? I ask. Already clueless and we’re not a minute in. |
| 2:31 | I can’t believe Earth is well-hidden. We’re so space-noisy. |
| 3:24 | Cybertron = Death Star. |
| 9:14 | Had forgotten how incredible the graphics are on these Transformers. |
| 13:31 | Drumming solo during teeth cleaning means she’s our people. |
| 17:12 | “You still working on that damn personality?” |
| 20:01 | Wait, his signal is Cheers? What a great signal! Where everybody knows your naaaaame. |
| 24:42 | “I’ll make you a deal, if I get it started, it’s mine.” “That’s no deal. That’s just you taking my car.” |
| 26:28 | The soundtrack is AMAZING. |
| 27:53 | The garage is enormous. |
| 31:53 | A Bumblebee is a heck of a birthday present. |
| 37:49 | Dot matrix printer. |
| 47:17 | They’re too adorable, this is going to be hard going. |
| 51:15 | “They literally call themselves Decepticons. That doesn’t set off any red flags? |
| 1:04:55 | I recognise that tunnel. |
| 1:11:39 | Just really worried about the trouble that’s coming because Bumblebee is too damn cute. |
| 1:15:02 | You can’t have a car that is a helicopter that is a robot. That’s just greedy. |
| 1:30:49 | Otis is not chill. |
| 1:38:12 | “You think these chains can hold…” That conversation did not go how he was expecting. |
| 1:50:23 | Not an eighties song to finish on though. |
Conclusions
I pretty much knew I was going to love this movie from the outset. Bumblebee is everyone’s favourite Transformer, and I heart Hailee, so it was a good match. And the film was pretty much what I thought it would be - emotional scenes, an epic amount of cuteness, but tinged with those big robot fight sequences.
They very slightly marred the final third of the movie for me, because the problem with imbuing your robot characters with heaps of personality is that you can’t then get away with beating the crap out of them in the fight scenes. I’m going to worry when these characters get crushed by a massive boat, even if they are made of metal.
Nevertheless, the film had the comedy to lighten the mood - and it wasn’t really the zingy one-liners we’re used to with Marvel, but a more corny, awkward comedy from two teenagers finding each other and moving on with their lives. Plus John Cena marching around and being an idiot.
I had questions about the logistics of the Transformers, but in the end it didn’t matter. Suspend your disbelief, enjoy the great tunes and the fab story about friendship.
Rating: 5 / 5
