THE ‘Transformers’ movies have been pretty awful up to this point.
Nothing but big clunky metallic wrecks that have plodded along aimlessly for three mind-bending hours. And Michael Bay painting pretty cheerleaders orange or deafening us with thundering boomy explosions in the hope of distracting us from these odious prog-rock behemoths was never going to cut it.
So the punk rock immediacy of ‘Bumblebee’ comes as a breath of fresh air. It is true to the legacy of the original toy-based cartoons, bursts with big generous heart and unlike its predecessors, has a beginning, middle and end.
Making it even more likeable, director Travis Knight has also looked to the master of eighties kiddy capers – Steven Spielberg, who is executive producer here, to create a nostalgic throwback to such classics as ‘E.T.’ and ‘The Goonies’.
There is so much to love.
‘Bumblebee’ succeeds where all other ‘Transformer’ movies have failed. It is fun, entertaining and you are unlikely to suffer tinnitus by film’s end.
Sure, John Cena proves more cumbersome than the Decepticons, and if possible, even more wooden than Shia LeBeouf and Mark Wahlberg combined. But that’s a small price to pay for a real family treat, brimming over with such warmth and spirit. The eighties soundtrack isn’t half bad either.
This is the ‘Transformers‘ movie we always hoped for, and then some.
