485: Bumblebee

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: 192, let's get to Bumblebee. Came out in 2018, one year after The Last Night.

[00:00:09] [SPEAKER_00]: It's directed by Travis Knight who is the CEO of Leica Studios, the animation

[00:00:15] [SPEAKER_00]: studio who did Coraline, Paranorman, The Box Trolls, etc. Great studio. It stars

[00:00:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Hailey Steinfeld, Jorge Lindenborg Jr., John Cena, Pamela Adlin and the snops is

[00:00:34] [SPEAKER_00]: on the run in the year 1987 Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small

[00:00:40] [SPEAKER_00]: California beach town. On the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her

[00:00:45] [SPEAKER_00]: place in the world, Charlie Watson discovers Bumblebee,

[00:00:48] [SPEAKER_00]: battle scarred and broken. So I remember when this one was announced

[00:00:56] [SPEAKER_00]: and I was very happy to see that because I was like alright cool a

[00:01:01] [SPEAKER_00]: different vision, a different style. Not only that but I thought the origin

[00:01:06] [SPEAKER_00]: really I guess you could say Bumblebee and how he got to earth I love all

[00:01:09] [SPEAKER_00]: that. Them sort of just randomly choosing Travis Knight who I loved all

[00:01:15] [SPEAKER_00]: the Leica Studios films and I was like alright cool I wouldn't have thought of

[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_00]: him to do this but why not? And I realized re-watching this I don't

[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_00]: think I had actually gone all the way through it since I seen it in the

[00:01:29] [SPEAKER_00]: theaters so had been a long time even when I first saw it. I really

[00:01:34] [SPEAKER_00]: enjoyed it and now having had just one more Transformers film since this

[00:01:39] [SPEAKER_00]: is still by far my favorite. It was at the time and it still is. Biggest

[00:01:44] [SPEAKER_00]: thing though even though there are things I like about Michael Bay as I've

[00:01:47] [SPEAKER_00]: talked about this movie feels like it was made by an actual person and that

[00:01:55] [SPEAKER_00]: sounds kind of mean and I know that there's a time and place for the Bay

[00:01:59] [SPEAKER_00]: ones and something that works for me and I have fun with but this movie

[00:02:04] [SPEAKER_00]: it's charming, it's fun, it's got character, it's not the style of

[00:02:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Michael Bay where even the quietest most mundane scene is look at me I'm

[00:02:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Michael Bay. You know it's very restrained and creating a very well

[00:02:22] [SPEAKER_00]: rounded world and even though the action is good and it's got blockbuster

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_00]: elements in the best way it feels very Spielbergian because especially

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_00]: the relationship between Hailey Steinfeld and Bumblebee is very ET-esque

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_00]: but in a really good way doesn't feel like a ripoff of that.

[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_00]: I understand that this is a very different kind of movie than what

[00:02:49] [SPEAKER_00]: they're doing with the main franchise but what I love about this

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_00]: and it comes through direction, it comes through the effects and just

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_00]: overall story itself too. The movie is called Bumblebee and with all the

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_00]: great elements together he feels like an actual character whereas in the main

[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_00]: five films he always felt very distant. They felt in their own little world

[00:03:14] [SPEAKER_00]: because we're following the human characters which is fine there's

[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_00]: nothing wrong with that but from the moment we see Bumblebee especially

[00:03:21] [SPEAKER_00]: when he crashes on earth how they shoot him in terms of his reactions to

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER_00]: being shot at, the interactions with people, with other Transformers, whether

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_00]: or not he's speaking and I like how they reveal how he lost his voice box

[00:03:37] [SPEAKER_00]: that's very clever but I was immediately engaged with him I felt

[00:03:42] [SPEAKER_00]: like okay you know it wasn't here's his Autobot way in the background and

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_00]: I thought that was so well done and it's a very touching character. You're at

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_00]: least I was immediately caring for him and wanted to see where things went

[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_00]: even though it follows a very conventional format there's nothing

[00:04:03] [SPEAKER_00]: groundbreaking reinventing the wheel here it's just playing within a

[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_00]: convention within a genre but doing it really well and I love that.

[00:04:12] [SPEAKER_00]: I think that coming off of the five films it's easy to be like this is so

[00:04:17] [SPEAKER_00]: bland it's so vanilla but really if you look at the character work it's

[00:04:21] [SPEAKER_00]: really strong and I could care less about the plot like I don't really care

[00:04:26] [SPEAKER_00]: about plots in any movies and maybe that's why some people don't like

[00:04:30] [SPEAKER_00]: this one as much because it's so simple. I don't care if it's complex or simple

[00:04:35] [SPEAKER_00]: the character work is what I'm there for nine times out of ten with any

[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_00]: kind of movie. Talking some specifics though right from

[00:04:44] [SPEAKER_00]: the get-go I love the look of Cybertron that has that mostly yellow

[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_00]: hue to it and that yellow underbelly I really like how it looks

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_00]: there and that opening fight is very good.

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Hayley Steinfeld who I first saw in her big breakout which was True Grit I

[00:05:00] [SPEAKER_00]: haven't followed everything that she's done but I'm always happy to see her

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_00]: in a movie and I think she has good range and I thought her casting was

[00:05:10] [SPEAKER_00]: perfect. I think she works well with human characters but also in whatever

[00:05:16] [SPEAKER_00]: way they did it to have her actually looking at something or just talking

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_00]: into thin air at a green screen she played off Bumblebee quote-unquote

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_00]: incredibly well.

[00:05:28] [SPEAKER_00]: And with this being set in the 80s it's very easy for the rebellious loner

[00:05:33] [SPEAKER_00]: outcast teenager to feel very goofy and like a caricature but I thought her

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_00]: character was very very compelling and fun and relatable.

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Not only that but I totally thought her more as a mechanic black thumb

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_00]: sort of person as opposed to Megan Fox whereas respectfully I did not buy her

[00:05:57] [SPEAKER_00]: for a single second being this car truck aficionado like can fix anything

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_00]: auto shop worker did not buy that for a moment I felt like that was a Michael

[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Bay dream girl sort of thing whereas in this she felt authentic and I could

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_00]: buy her kind of being into the vintage stuff the unconventional things

[00:06:17] [SPEAKER_00]: not always having the most sense but still having a knack for it and then

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_00]: also what allowed for more development there as opposed to Megan Fox which had

[00:06:28] [SPEAKER_00]: nothing we learn about in this Haley Steinfeld's father dying in whatever

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_00]: way and therefore us learning that that's where she got her mechanical

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_00]: skills from and that's one of the many reasons why she misses him so much

[00:06:45] [SPEAKER_00]: and then you see the rest of the family with this stepdad getting along

[00:06:50] [SPEAKER_00]: fine and the younger brother connecting with them very easily where she doesn't

[00:06:54] [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's all you know it's very standard stuff but I was never once

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_00]: thinking all this is so cheesy it's so lame like seen this before which I

[00:07:04] [SPEAKER_00]: have everybody has but it works

[00:07:08] [SPEAKER_00]: John Cena has a big part in this he plays the sort of villain in this

[00:07:13] [SPEAKER_00]: more so just an antagonist because he's mainly just doing his job

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_00]: whereas there are the bad transformers in the story as well

[00:07:22] [SPEAKER_00]: but I like him he's not an amazing actor but he's got a decent presence I

[00:07:26] [SPEAKER_00]: think he has all right comedic chops so I have no problems with him

[00:07:33] [SPEAKER_00]: I think if anyone has not seen a Transformers film this is a good one

[00:07:38] [SPEAKER_00]: to start with because the Michael Bay ones are so out there that it would

[00:07:44] [SPEAKER_00]: be harder to immediately connect with if you weren't already a Michael Bay fan

[00:07:49] [SPEAKER_00]: and or a big action blockbuster person I think that this is one that

[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_00]: most people could get into it's hard to really hate some other things the

[00:08:00] [SPEAKER_00]: editing is very clean like the transitions from whether it be

[00:08:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Cybertron to Earth or whatever might be very clever creative transitions that

[00:08:10] [SPEAKER_00]: I notice a lot on this watch and it looks very good overall cinematography

[00:08:16] [SPEAKER_00]: wise lighting some action sequences the one where Bumblebee lands on Earth

[00:08:23] [SPEAKER_00]: and encounters John Cena's special agent government group and then where

[00:08:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Bumblebee runs away and there's that whole chase and then eventually fight

[00:08:34] [SPEAKER_00]: with one of the bad Transformers

[00:08:38] [SPEAKER_00]: the chase or car chase through the tunnel where there's that to me it was

[00:08:42] [SPEAKER_00]: a men in black homage where Bumblebee goes on the ceiling of the tunnel I

[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_00]: think that was pretty clever when Bumblebee is in the house and just

[00:08:54] [SPEAKER_00]: causing destruction purely by accident and that's what really feels a lot

[00:08:59] [SPEAKER_00]: like ET the prank that they pull on the bully at school the girl

[00:09:07] [SPEAKER_00]: the beach sequence where she's trying to teach Bumblebee how to hide the

[00:09:14] [SPEAKER_00]: sequence out in the woods where she's inspecting his malfunction or missing

[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_00]: voice box like there are so many quiet scenes that you would never ever

[00:09:23] [SPEAKER_00]: have in a Michael Bay Transformers film that allow you to sit with those

[00:09:28] [SPEAKER_00]: characters get to know them even just get to learn their quirks and

[00:09:35] [SPEAKER_00]: facial expressions as silly as that sounds you just never really get a chance

[00:09:39] [SPEAKER_00]: to ground yourself with someone to me in the Michael Bay ones where as in this

[00:09:43] [SPEAKER_00]: it was such a breath of fresh air after having watched those five as a

[00:09:48] [SPEAKER_00]: wow this is this is what a true movie feels like who actually has a sense

[00:09:53] [SPEAKER_00]: of narrative who cares about the story it's not here I'm putting my style

[00:09:58] [SPEAKER_00]: in transformers or on this or on that it's alright I'm a storyteller

[00:10:02] [SPEAKER_00]: how can I find a way to create the best most well-rounded picture of this

[00:10:09] [SPEAKER_00]: situation of this story and I hope Travis Knight does a lot more films like

[00:10:15] [SPEAKER_00]: this because I think he is having come from animation I think he is a

[00:10:19] [SPEAKER_00]: perfect person to direct films like this besides that the soundtrack is

[00:10:26] [SPEAKER_00]: good a lot of somewhat popular but not exactly what you would expect

[00:10:32] [SPEAKER_00]: 80s radio choices I like those a lot the score is good it's not too long the

[00:10:38] [SPEAKER_00]: third act I think is still decent it's as with most films it's my least

[00:10:42] [SPEAKER_00]: favorite part but no real problems with that

[00:10:46] [SPEAKER_00]: so I'm a big big fan of this movie I wish it had done better financially so

[00:10:52] [SPEAKER_00]: maybe we will get more films in this nature or maybe even a sequel in

[00:10:55] [SPEAKER_00]: some way because it is in its own little world but I would highly highly

[00:11:00] [SPEAKER_00]: recommend it whether you're a transformers head or not I would still

[00:11:05] [SPEAKER_00]: give it a look I think you'd be surprised give it a rewatch it's a good

[00:11:10] [SPEAKER_00]: time love bum will be that one is a four and a half out of five