Bumblebee Movie Review: The film has humor, heart and action!

By: Lynn Barker

In Bumblebee, during the Cybertron civil war, young scout B-127 is send by Optimus Prime to establish a base on Earth so the good guy Autobots can regroup. The young bot makes it but is found and injured by Decepticon Blitzwing. When he won’t reveal where “Prime” is, the evil bot tears out his voicebox and damages his memory. Before collapsing, B-127 transforms into a yellow 1967 VW bug.

Bumblebee in mid-morphCourtesy of Paramount Pictures

In 1987, he is found in a junkyard by 18-year-old Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld) who is a good mechanic. She fixes him, names him Bumblebee and they bond as two misfits.  When the Decepticons track B-127 to Earth, the new friends must stop them from bringing the whole Decepticon army down to Earth.

Charlie bonds with BumblebeeCourtesy of Paramount Pictures

Bumblebee Trailer

Injured Soldier

On Cybertron, the Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, are losing the Transformer civil war to enemies, the Decepticons, and must evacuate but the Decepticons ambush them and leader Optimus sends a young scout, B-127, to Earth in order to set up a base of operations where the Autobots can regroup. B-127 crash-lands in California in the middle of a training exercise by a secret government agency that monitors extraterrestrial activity on Earth. The Lieutenant Jack Burns (John Cena) assumes “B” is hostile and fires on him. “B” is ambushed by a Decepticon who badly damages him. He destroys the bad bot but has to transform into a VW Bug.

On first arrival Bee has to run from the agency menCourtesy of Paramount Pictures

Enter Charlie

Years later, in 1987, Charlie Watson, a teen tomboy misfit suffering trauma from the death of her beloved dad, finds the Beetle in a junkyard. She used to fix cars with her dad but mom, who has a new boyfriend, won’t buy her one for her 18^th birthday. Junkyard owner Hank (Len Cariou) gifts her with the VW. She starts repairs and accidentally activates a homing beacon that the Decepticons (Shatter and Dropkick) detect and track to Earth. The arrive on Earth where they pretend to the secret agency that they are  peacekeepers after war criminal B-127. They will help us if we will help them find him.

Shatter (left) and Dropkick pretend to be PeacekeepersCourtesy of Paramount Pictures

What Are You?

Meanwhile, Charlie’s VW transforms into B-127 and freaks her out. He can’t speak or remember anything. Afraid, he curls into a ball in the corner and she feels sorry for him. He can only hummmm so she names him Bumblebee and teaches him how to “talk” through the car’s radio and when to transform to hide. Meanwhile the two Decepticons destroy a couple of hot cars into which they transform, killing some humans in the process “I like the way they pop!”.

Lieutenant Burns discovers the DecepticonsCourtesy of Paramount Pictures

Lieutenant Burns is now looking for B-127. Charlie’s neighbor Memo (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.) discovers Bumblebee and agrees not to tell anyone because he has the hots for Charlie. Left alone and curious, “Bee” accidentally wrecks Charlie’s house, causing a big energy burst that the agency notices.

Memo and Charlie on the runCourtesy of Paramount Pictures

On the Run

Together, Charlie and Bee unlock a message from Optimus urging Bumblebee to defend Earth in Autobots’ absence, which restores his memories. Charlie’s mom blames her for the destruction so she, Memo and Bee leave only to be intercepted by the agency and the two Decepticons who torture Bee to learn where Prime is hiding. Memo and Charlie are sent home but swear to go to the rescue. She sneaks away with Memo and they break into the military base where Bee is held. Finally Burns realizes the Decepticons will destroy Earth by bringing their army to our planet.

Bee makes friends with the family dog prior to wrecking the houseCourtesy of Paramount Pictures

Stop the Transmission!

Charlie rescues Bee and they have to prevent Decepticons Shatter and Dropkick from sending a beacon transmission to summon their army. Will they succeed or are they too late.? Will Burns finally come to their aid? Will Bee ever reunite with Prime? Will Memo win Charlie’s love? Will Charlie and Bee have to part?

Memo and Charlie have to stop the transmission signalCourtesy of Paramount Pictures

Wrapping Up

Bumblebee is really fun! It has great emotional heart, hot action and a lot of humor. Without cluttering up the main story, it manages to include fun, teen-relatable scenes like one in which Charlie gets even with a mean girl with Bee’s help and one in which she learns that a lot of 1987 music doesn’t appeal to Bee. He spits the audio tapes across the room. He hugs her when she is sad. So cute!

Will Charlie and Bee have to part?Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

The film serves as great backstory for how Bee got his name, how he visited Earth and is a nice lead-in to the films we’ve seen or sets us up for more sequels to this one!  Hailee Steinfeld is great at pretending a big, yellow bot was actually with her on set and we really believe their relationship. Most of us name our first cars and feel attached to them anyway. The film takes this relationship a few steps further with great success.

Charlie and new best buddy hit the roadCourtesy of Paramount Pictures

Both Bee and Charlie are lost souls searching for meaning and they find it together. That sort of thing always makes for a good, character-driven tale. The movie appeals to all ages, is a sweet holiday treat and is great for tweens and teens so we give it a full five stars!

Bumblebee Movie Rating: 

Bumblebee Movie PosterCourtesy of Paramount Pictures

See Bumblebee in theaters now!

What Do You Think?

Are you a Transformers fan in general or a Hailee Steinfeld fan? Were you always hoping to see a truly funny yet kick butt Transformer film again? Drive on up with a comment below or tell it like it is on your Kidzworld profile page!