Bumblebee review – Worth making a buzz about

By Peter Feldman

The Transformers franchise has never been a particular favourite of mine – yet I found the latest offering, Bumblebee, to be fun, clever and it wears its heart on its sleeve.

The lead character, a teenager named Charlie, is played with energy and style by Hailee Steinfeld.

The plot is far more coherent than its noisy predecessors and the robots here feel more like characters rather than gleaming computer generated creations. The action, too, is staged and edited clearly enough to follow.

Producer Michael Bay has a great deal to do with this one, and his signature can be found in some of the action sequences.

John Cena in Bumblebee. Photo: Paramount Pictures

Directed by Travis Knight, and conceived as an origin story, rather than a reboot, this production focuses on the franchise’s most popular Autobots; the good-guy robots that transform themselves into cars.

With Steven Spielberg also heavily involved, the plot embraces supernatural elements in a tried-and-tested formula and creates a scenario where a fragmented family is brought closer together by the unfolding drama.

Set in 1987, Bumblebee is sent by Optimus Prime to earth to scout the planet as a possible new home for the endangered Autobots who are engaged in a war with the Decepticons. He hides out in a junkyard masquerading as a dilapidated VW bug.

College student Charlie discovers the car in her uncle’s junkyard and repairs it. The adventure then takes off with a story that is crammed with lovely throw-away details such as Tab cola and rabbit-ear television sets. The soundtrack recalls the era with immense clarity.

Hailee Steinfeld in Bumblebee. Photo: Paramount Pictures

Bumblebee is equipped with blaster cannons and a huge retractable sword, but he comes across like a giant, obedient puppy for most of the time as he develops a bizarre relationship with Charlie. The real action begins when two Decepticon warriors trace Bumblebee to earth.

Wrestling icon John Cena plays the head of a military unit tracking Bumblebee and young Jorge Lendeborg Jnr is the shy neighbour with a crush on Charlie.

The production is an ideal antidote for the holiday blues and will enchant both adult and child.