"It's a prequel!"
"It's a reboot!"
"It's a prequel!"
"It's a reboot!"
"Well, this person said it's a prequel!"
"Well, that person said it's a reboot!"
"I'm not supporting this movie because it's a prequel!"
"I'm going to support it because it's a reboot"
Bloody hell, we could probably start the Cybertronian Civil War with the status of what this movie is!
It's funny sometimes how closed minded some people can be when it comes to media, and I do count myself in that statement too. So consumed with learning everything there is to know about a movie, going to war over it's importance to a franchise and to the world as a whole, but ignoring other aspects to it, such as differing views for more than just a black and white mindset. I bring this up because, during the marketing push for Bumblebee, everything was picked apart in the debate over what it was, if it was a prequel to the 2007 movie or a reboot due to the diminishing returns on the first five Live action films.
My stance on the matter back then? "It was both, because right now Paramount is looking for a safe revenue generator to let them keep funding movies", and the continued debate on the matter, thanks to conflicting statements (to which I say "Paramount, what are your marketing and PR teams doing? It's their job to keep stories straight), the announcement of both a Bumblebee 2 and Transformers 6, and the (to put it mildly) conflicting reports on the "Hasbro Cinematic Universe" have only reinforced this belief for me. I wouldn't deny any claim that this movie struggled in the production side due to the conflicting story angles. It is very likely that this started life as a proper prequel, but was forced to course correct during development into a hodgepodge of the two, it's a sign that they don't know what to do. However, I'm not here to talk about the production side of the movie. I'm here to talk about the movie itself, the end result of its troubled life. How is it? Well, I'll put it this way, I get the feeling I'm not going to make some friends in the die-hard side of the fandom with this one (but what else is new at this point? Why do you think I haven't tried reviewing another fan game... Sonic Mania technically doesn't count). Absurdly long intro aside...
The movie can be neatly split into two main parts. The main focus of the movie revolves around the main human character, Charlie Watson, with her arc revolving around coping with the somewhat recent death of her father (maybe a few years prior to the movie's setting), while also assisting Bumblebee with hiding, getting his memories back and... basically if you've heard people comparing the movie to E.T, that's why (though I can't speak from experience as I haven't... really... seen E.T...). The secondary part of the movie does, shockingly, revolve around the Transformers, and the War for Cybertron (yes really, I'm not joking). Does it take up a huge chunk of the movie? No, but the scenes on Cybertron are done well, and the way they tie it into the events on Earth thanks to new Decepticon Triple Changers Shatter and Dropkick, are nice to see. I'm not a huge fan of Shatter and Dropkick basically making the Internet, but when compared to the past movies and Transformers being the cause of the technological revolution, the pyramids, concepts of gods, the Space Race, Chernobyl, the extinction of the Dinosaurs, Arthurian legend and a pocket watch killing Hitler, I'm willing to be more accepting of this.
One thing that helps the story a lot in this movie are the characters. These characters are genuinely likeable, and there are more of a variety other than generic army guy, generic authority figure, generic asshole, generic idiot, generic nerd, generic sex appeal girl and generic sex appeal girl that apparently isn't supposed to be because they're in glasses and a suit but the camera keeps treating them like they are. Please, feel free to try and find a character in the first five films that don't fit into one of those categories. There aren't many that come to mind other than the big appeal actors brought in for one movie each and Sam's parents... Maybe the kid from the desert in the first movie? Oh and the baby from the first film. Back on topic though, I do like Charlie as the main protagonist, Memo as her comedic relief, even the main Sector 7 guy, John Cena's character, does have some great moments such as the Paintball scene, and the fact that he's one of only a few human characters to ever go "You know, maybe we shouldn't trust someone who calls themselves a Decepticon!". With the exception of genuine villains ready to backstab them (or try to), I have never gotten the idea of humans trusting Decepticons, so he gets points from me just for that alone.
In regards to the Transformers designs in this movie, I think it's a step in the right direction, but there are a few things they still need to fix. Some of the faces like Soundwave and Arcee looked off to me, Shockwave's thighs were way too bulky, and, although it goes against what many think, I did enjoy some of the Bayformer designs, they were just overly complicated in terms of details, something that this film addresses (almost like it was directed by someone with an animation background and not a marketing background). A lot of my issues with the designs come from the Cybertronian scenes, likely caused by the change of direction during post-production and VFX. I do like Bumblebee's design in the movie, though the visual standouts for me are Shatter and Dropkick. If the sequel to Last Knight is genuinely happening, which I hope it isn't caused of that Unicron teaser, I expect this design mentality to be applied to Drift as well... provided anyone actually remembers that Drift is supposed to be a Triple Changer. Gives me hope for a live action version of the other Triple changers, including Blitzwing, which I wouldn't be surprised if there's a retcon later down the line to make this incarnation be another Seeker.
While many have their issues with the film, to me at least, it's somewhat easy to tell what was required from the many, many producers of the film, Hasbro, Paramount, etc. and what was Travis Knight's own ideas. There are things in this movie that aren't coincidental, there was a passion for the source material on display. From things like Prime's jump in the Cybertronian scene to the bulk of the Decepticon army in that shot being Seekers, even things like Bumblebee's visible head syndrome and the use of The Touch in something that wasn't a life or death situation. There's even a reference to the Go-Bots in this movie! Those aren't things you can fake, and I hope that if they bring Knight back for more movies, he's given more control over them. I have seen a fair amount of criticism against him for the similarities to the Bay films, I don't think it's all on him though due to how much a movie is a team project, with a team including several producers who are wanting the film to be as safe as possible in terms of acting as a revenue generator. I would rather the cues from the Bay films be purely aesthetical, rather than full of tropes, marketing, and stuck on repeat leading to things that make you question "who's idea was this?".
The question of if Bumblebee is a good movie or not isn't a very clear cut answer, it depends on what you're looking for in it. Are you looking for a faithful, 1:1 transition of the Generation 1 source material into the big screen, and believe that is the only way to do the brand justice? Then you're not going to like this movie. You are going to hate it. You will think nothing has changed. You will think this is just a prequel. However, if even after the decades of changes made to the franchise thanks to the many different writers, themes, character, and even the basic notion of selling toys, you might really enjoy the movie, as it all depends on what you look for in something tied to Transformers. As a movie, completely separate from its source material? I enjoyed it. I do think it's worth your time, and I do regret not seeing it at the cinema. It's the best stand-alone Transformers movie made so far, because for as much praise as the 86 movie gets (understandably so, it is worth a lot of its praise), it doesn't work as a stand-alone movie, a lot of its big moments require at least some understanding of the original cartoon. I hope this isn't the end of passion in these movies, because if we can get more directors with a passion for the franchise as a whole, we could be in for some great films. To those who think that these films will eventually die and force a total reboot, as evident by this movie, never underestimate China.
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