BUMBLEBEE (2019)

9/15/19 - Bumblebee (2019) - 6-/10

I can’t stand the Transformers franchise. I think they are generally pretty poor and cater to the worst tendencies of modern blockbuster culture. That said, Bumblebee was surprisingly pretty good. I know! I was shocked as well, but I would recommend this Transformers spin-off.

Kind of a juiced up version of Herbie the Love Bug, Short Circuit and Iron Giant that mostly strokes the right notes. This one is a period piece (can you call it that if it is the 80’s?) which I was a sucker for the soundtrack (The Smiths!) and aesthetic. The action was legible, the gist of the plot made sense, and it wasn’t gratuitously sexy or grotesquely asinine. It’s a coming of age story, featuring a female lead (Steinfeld is pretty damn good), avoiding fretting over the boy, where the interactions with giant transforming robots from space mostly make sense.

Sure, the story beats are cliche. The broken down car = dead dad symbolism is in your face. The familial stereotypes are sitcom-esque and the Adventureland/Karate Kid/Goonies situational hijinx are tokenly just there, but they aren’t overdone nor are they overemphasized. They provide just the right amount of MSG flavoring to a fairly satisfying meal. Even the villains are understandable (a first for the Transformers robot conflicts), providing seeming stakes and legitimate characters. Cena’s military man is a cartoon character, but one that is able to wink at the camera and be logical enough to refrain from distraction.

This was a much better film than I expected and a solidly enjoyable blockbuster fair. It was competent in its depictions of gender, character, action, history, and scope. This was solid fun was dumb in the right ways and smart enough in the others. I doubt this will transform the franchise for the better, but I will take 1 out of 6.