By the End of This Article, You Will Be Emotionally Invested in a Transformer
Guys listen... Bumblebee is a good movie. Dare I say great movie.
To preface, I’m aware that Bumblebee did come out seven years ago, so you may be thinking “Hey, Neng, you’re pretty late to that train!” Well, you might be right, but frankly, I’m not even sure the train has even left the station…
The Transformers movies have not had the best track record in cinema history. Michael Bay’s attempts to create a cinematic universe with the films had inadvertently dug the franchise’s grave. With character designs somehow simultaneously dull and overzealous and conflicts so giant yet so shallow, the stage was set for the downfall of the franchise. It only made sense that, after five letdowns, Michael Bay retired from the project, and it was completely rebooted.
Enter Bumblebee–a diamond in the rough. This movie brought a real splash of color and breath of fresh air that the franchise desperately needed. And by that, I mean this movie undid everything that Michael Bay had worked to accomplish in the prior five movies. With a new director, Travis Knight, a new ingredient was introduced to this franchise: passion (what a crazy development!). It all starts with a little yellow robot crash landing into the Bay Area, an almost symbolic reminder that Michael Bay should not come near these movies ever again.
Bumblebee seemingly tells the story of, well…, Bumblebee, a rebel “Autobot” who becomes a government fugitive, a war refuge, and a friend to a 17-year-old girl, Charlie, all within a span of a few days. Just three things make this movie truly a masterpiece: scope, design, and hit ‘80s rock band The Smiths.
Compared to its predecessors, Bumblebee feels rather modest, with there being significantly less flashy explosions and excessive screaming. The film chooses to focus more on character relationships rather than flashy fight scenes (take notes Bay), creating a more lively and colorful atmosphere. No, really. The average frame of this movie is literally brighter than any of those in the Michael Bay movies, with your average scene cranking up the saturation tenfold. That said, while Bayverse movies introduced more and more world-ending threats with each successive failure, this movie opts to stick with a more traditional villain–just two enemy transformers who want to kill our tiny yellow friend. While this may be interpreted as basic or cliche, it actually works in favor of the film. With Bumblebee hidden from his enemies for the large majority of the film, this gives the project much more time to focus on character relations. With no impending world doom acting as a deadline, you can truly appreciate and watch a teenage girl and a yellow transformer find their voice.
It is usually at this point that my friends (who I’ve yapped to about this many times) bring up the, “Oh, isn’t this just a carbon copy of Iron Giant?” And to that, I counter: For the past four decades, the “alien-like creature comes to earth and befriends a struggling adolescent” trope has appeared in many movies–E.T. , The Iron Giant, Big Hero 6. What do these movies have in common, I ask? Why, they’re only regarded as some of the best movies of their decades. Long story short, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
While we’re on the topic of fixing things, Knight did wonders with the character designs in this movie, with the Transformers having much more colorful and simplistic, actually robot-like designs compared to Bay’s dull, overdesigned, weirdly uncanny valley-type designs (seriously, the Autobots had NO business looking so human). Bay’s designs were very black and white, just like his writing style! Decepticons are bad. Bad people are gray. Autobots are good! Good people are colorful! Bumblebee throws this out the window, with heroes and villains alike boasting new, colorful, geometric designs that remain faithful to their animated counterparts. This gives a sense of nostalgia among megafans and a type of flashiness among new watchers–the kind of designs that viewers actually want to see in a movie about transforming robots (not a jumble of pipes and metal). It is also a reminder that both sides of this movie truly believe that their point of view is the correct point of view–not everything is so black and white. It’s simple really. Making Transformers is like making soup. You have to add veggies and aromatics to give it color and flavor. You can’t just keep adding water without diluting all the substance.
But by far the most important aspect of Bumblebee’s journey revolves around The Smiths. Having his voice box and memory core ripped out at the beginning of the movie, Charlie helps Bumblebee communicate through iconic radio clips, movie quotes, and of course songs. While he takes an initial liking to much of the music that Charlie feeds him, he outright rejects The Smiths (criminal, right?), ejecting the VHS almost instantly upon hearing the song “Girlfriend in a Coma.” This is symbolic of Bumblebee’s situation in a way, with his being in a coma-like state without his voice or his memories. However, as Bumblebee grows throughout his adventures with Charlie, he embraces The Smiths and even uses lyrics from the very song he rejected instantly to speak to her before the final battle: “I would hate anything to happen to her.” It is this Smiths song that ultimately characterizes Bumblebee’s growth, and makes him all the more appealing to audiences. Plus, it makes for a damn good movie soundtrack.
It is the beautiful culmination of these components that made me fall in love with Michael Bay’s brainchild. Like all babies, it’s certainly not perfect, but we ought to love it anyway! And with that final analogy, you’ve (hopefully) become emotionally attached to a transformer.