Bumblebee

The version of Bumblebee released in Ireland and the UK had 6 seconds removed from it to make it suitable for a PG audience meaning it's more or less ok for anyone over 7 to watch. Ironically it's an audience of 35+ who'll probably get the most from it. It's a big ol' nostalgia fest and a genuinely good one at that. After the mostly shambolic series so far that comes as a nice surprise.

B-127 is a Transformer who has been sent to Earth of 1987 to escape civil war on Cybertron and to set up a base where his fellow Autobots can regroup. His appearance leads to the decimation of Colonel Jack Burns' (John Cena) special unit and to avoid the enemies who've followed him to Earth he hides out in a nearby scrap yard disguised as a yellow Volkswagen beetle . A yellow Volkswagen beetle that troubled teenager Charlie Watson (Hailee Stenfield) has her eye on.

This was thoroughly enjoyable. And there's one big reason behind that. The lack of Michael Bay as director. The master of overblown idiocy has been given the flick for this prequel and the film is so much better for it. The nonsensical and gratuitous bombast that plagued the series so far is pared down the the bare minimum, letting personalities, both robotic and human come to the forefront. The film is fun because of it instead of stupid and numbing. Director Travis Knight keeps everything lean and not so mean delivering a surprisingly moving story in just under 2 hrs. Yup, i said moving. Who the hell expected a touch of emotion in a film about gigantic space robots?

Of course because its a film about gigantic space robots there's still plenty of action too. But this time it serves a purpose instead of just being "WOW, LOOK AT THIS SPECTACLE!!! and in one hilarious moment subverts our expectations brilliantly during a night time car chase. No doubt this film will do well enough to have a sequel and you can only hope that the things this film does right are carried forward into the next installment instead of "Let's make Bumblebee 2 but lets do everything bigger!" Bigger ain't always better as this film proves. 

Giving us a lead we'll actually care about helps too. John Cena as Burns does his usual entertaining thing and Hailee Stenfield's Charlie is a much more likable main character than the ones played by Shia LaBeouf and Mark Wahlberg. She's warm, funny, has relatable problems and her relationship with Bumblebee is just great. It brings to mind the friendship between Eliot and E.T. in Steven Spielberg's 1982 classic. Bumblebee clumsily trying to adapt to his new surroundings while military men search for them and Charlie left to panic and clean up while striving to hide his existence. Charlie's father issues help make that comparison too and that combined with the film's loving recreation of 1980's America and all it's glorious music and fashion makes for a very nostalgic feeling watch.

Don't let the previous films put you off. This is a prequel and a reboot of sorts. The overwrought action and dodgy humour of the previous films are nowhere to be seen here. Instead we get a warm, funny, thrilling movie that will excitement the young and give the not so young a wistful smile.