Directed by: Travis Knight
Release date: December 21st, 2018
Rating: 8/10
Bumblebee is probably my favorite Transformers movie. I think it most closely captures what was great about the original cartoons and it has kind've this E.T. dynamic between Bee and Hailee Steinfeld.
The action in this movie is leaps and bounds better than the Michael Bay movies. While there is significantly less of it, when we do see it it's entertaining, fast, and most importantly, it's comprehensible. One of my favorite sequences is the introduction on Cybertron. Fantasic action and a real display of what the G1 Transformers are supposed to be.
Another thing I liked about the movie was the design of the Transformers. They moved away from the confusing, messy designs that Bay had and when back to the simple blocky designs of the old cartoon. I like that even when the Transformers are in humanoid form, you can still kind've tell what vehicle they transform into. Also the actual transforming was slower in this movie and it made some sense as to why that piece moved there to make that and so on.
The story is much smaller than any other Transformers' movie but I think it's a nice change of pace to have stakes but not any that are "if we fail the world will immediately come to an end" kind of stakes.
I think that this is the best Transformers movie and I love Travis Knight as the director. The cast is incredible (yes, even John Cena), the effects are beautiful, the characters are well written, and overall it's just an enjoyable film. I hope (when) they make a sequel that it follows what this movie did. I would love to see more Transformers movies like this one.