BUMBLEBEE
Robots you’ll recognise
RELEASED OUT NOW! PG | 113 minutes Director Travis Knight Cast Hailee steinfeld, John Cena, angela Bassett, Jorge lendeborg Jr
Finally! After 11 years, five films, 613 minutes and infinite explosions, a live-action Transformers movie that looks like the cartoon is here. It’s also the first Transformers movie to feature a Tom Baker Doctor Who poster on the bedroom wall of a key character. It’s so blurry you’ll have to pop a couple of jelly babies to see it, but it’s there alright.
That’s just one of many ’80s nods, winks and references that make Bumblebee feel like a real world, populated by – whisper it – real people. These are characters who have actual lives outside the three-act structure we happen to join them for. We can only imagine it’ll feel like a message beamed from space to Michael Bay.
The story sees Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld) finding a VW Beetle, who also happens to be a Transformer, in her local junkyard. This ’bot can’t speak, but emotes like some sort of giant, neon-yellow silent movie star. The pair bond, with Charlie defiantly defending Bumblebee from the Sector 7 agents, and their Decepticon mates, who want to track him down. It’s that simple.
If Bay’s complex take on the property constantly felt dialled to eleven, Bumblebee takes notes from Eleven; there’s a distinctly Stranger Things feel to the mix of ’80s nostalgia, government conspiracy and wide-eyed families encountering extraordinary stuff.
Of course, Stranger Things was inspired by a lot of Spielberg creations, and Spielberg’s guided the cinematic take since 2007 – but this is the first time it really feels like it. If you love ET and Ready Player One’s The Iron Giant, you’ll adore Bumblebee.
Bumblebee doesn’t reinvent the wheel. You’ve seen it all before – but rarely with this much warmth and heart. And any Transformers film involving a robot being made to listen to The Smiths is okay by us. The Transformers movie you’ve been waiting for has arrived, all you have to do is roll out and see it. Sam Ashurst
Jess Harnell confirmed at London Comic Con he was returning as Barricade, but the character didn’t make the final cut.