Bumblebee Review

Bumblebee


Release Date: 20th December 2018 - Australia


Production Companies
Paramount Pictures (presents)
Allspark Pictures
Bay Films
Di Bonaventura Pictures
Hasbro (in association with)
Tencent Pictures (in association with)
Tom DeSanto/Don Murphy Production

Distribution
Paramount Pictures Australia


Genre: Sci-Fi/Action

Rating: PG 

Runtime: 114 minutes


Budget: $135,000,000

Box Office Gross: $467,989,645 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary
California, 1987. Bumblebee
the Autobot is on the run
and finds refuge in a

junkyard in a small beach
town. Charlie, a soon-to-be-
18-year-old girl struggling
to find her place in the

world, discovers Bumblebee,
battle-scarred and broken.
Her attempts at resuscitation
soon reveal that this is no
ordinary yellow VW bug.

Cast

The Humans
Hailee Steinfeld - Charlie 
Jorge Lendeborg Jr. - Memo 
John Cena - Agent Burns
Jason Drucker - Otis
Pamela Adlon - Sally
Stephen Schneider - Ron
Ricardo Hoyos - Tripp
John Ortiz - Dr. Powell
Glynn Turman - General Whalen
Len Cariou - Uncle Hank
Kollin Holtz - Craig
Gracie Dzienny - Tina
Fred Dryer - Sheriff Lock

Isabelle Ellingson - Mean

Girlfriend

Mike Kubo - Mean Girlfriend

Lenny Jacobson - Roy

Megyn Price - Amber 
Nick Pilla - Young Agent Simmons

Sachin Byatt - Pilot Hutton

Tim Martin Gleason - Charlie's Dad

David Waters - Impatient Guy (Cameo)

Antonio D. Charity - Bill the

Mechanic

The Autobots

Dylan O'Brien - Bumblebee (Voice)

Peter Cullen - Optimus Prime (Voice)
Grey Griffin - Arcee (Voice)
Steve Blum - Wheeljack

(Voice)
Andrew Morgado - Cliffjumper (Voice)

Dennis Singletary - Ratchet

(Voice)
Kirk Baily - Brawn (Voice)

The Decepticons
Angela Bassett - Shatter

(Voice)
Justin Theroux - Dropkick

(Voice)
David Sobolov - Blitzwing (Voice)
Jon Bailey - Shockwave/
Soundwave (Voices)
Kirk Baily - Decepticon Soldier (Voice)


Crew
Director - Travis Knight
Story/Writer - Christina Hodson

Associate/Visual Effects Producer - Ron Ames

Executive Producers - Chris Brigham,
Edward Cheng, Brian Goldner and
Steven Spielberg
Producers - Michael Bay, Tom DeSanto,
Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Don Murphy
and Mark Vahradian
Co-Producer/Supervising Location Manager -

Jonathan Hook
Casting Director - Denise Chamian

Military Advisor - Harry Humphries

Animal Wranglers - Jules Sylvester

and Janine Aines
Production Designer - Sean Haworth

Visual Consultant - Jeffrey Beecroft

Supervising Art Director - Maya Shimoguchi

Art Directors - Gustaf Aspergen,

Richard Bloom, Jordan Ferrer,

A. Todd Holland and Sebastian Schoeroder
Set Decorators - Anne Kujian and

Amanda Moss Serino

Property Master - Guillaume DeLouche
Costume Designer - Dayna Pink

Makeup Department Head - Tina Rosier Kerwin

Hair Department Head - Kevin Trahan
Director of Photography - Enrique Chediak

Director of Photography: Second Unit -

Peter Lyons Collister

Aerial Director of Photography - David B. Nowell

Underwater Director of Photography - Peter Zuccarini

"C" Camera Operator: Second Unit - Brooks P. Guyer

Unit Production Manager - Leeann Stonebreaker

First Assistant Director - Brian Reylea

Second Assistant Director - David Waters
Second Unit Director/Stunt Coordinator -
Mike Gunther
Stunt Coordinator: Second Unit - Kyle Woods

Aerial Coordinator/Helicopter Pilot - Frédéric North

Special Effects Coordinator - Scott R. Fisher

Special Effects Coordinator: Second Unit -

Jesse Noel
Visual Effects Supervisor - Jason Smith

Visual Effects Supervisors: ILM - Ivan Busquets

and Samir Hoon

Visual Effects Producers: ILM - Abbigail Keller

and Ryan Wiederkehr

Visual Effects Art Director: ILM - Alex Jaeger

Animation Supervisors: ILM - Scott Benza,
Rick O'Connor and Marchand Jooste
CG Supervisors: ILM - Jeremy Bloch,

Mathias Lautour and Andrew McDonald

Digital Compositing Supervisors: ILM -

Ryan B. Clarke, Sam Bassett and Jeff Sutherland

Digital Artist Supervisors: ILM - Kevin Barnhill,

Gregory Bossert, Jacob Buck, Enrico Damm,

Alison Farmer, Justin Kosnikowski,

Johanes Kurnia, Kelvin Lau, Daniel Letarte,

Sean MacKenzie, David Marsh, Naren Naidoo,

Daniel Pearson, Anthony Rispoli,

James R. Tooley and Michael Van Eps

Editor - Paul Rubell

Additional Editor - Nancy Richardson

Supervising Sound Editors/Designers -

Ethan Van der Ryan and Erik Aadahl

Sound Designer - Tobias Poppe

Sound Re-Recording Mixers - Anna Behlmer

and Mark Paterson

Additional Re-Recording - Terry Porter

Production Sound Mixer - José Antonio García

Foley Artists - Alicia Stevenson

and Dawn Lunsford
Music - Dario Marianelli

Music Editors - Kelvin McKeever and

Mark Willsher


Review

After being very disappointed by the previous movie, The Last Knight, I had misgivings about the prequel/spin-off BUMBLEBEE as this could be the last Transformers movie. Fortunately, after the film's release, I learned it gained a positive critical reception, which could revitalise the movie franchise from exhaustion. It rarely happened in the series. The sequels didn't get the same applause that the first instalment had. BUMBLEBEE did break the mould, and many fans believed it was a soft reboot despite having the same continuity as the earlier films. It has anything to do with Michael Bay letting go of his directorial reins and moving over to a position as the producer with Travis Knight as his replacement director. Having directed the animated movie Kubo and the Two Strings, it's surprising that a fresh, talented face has been given new opportunities in addition to making his big break in the Transformers series.

BUMBLEBEE features a character-driven storyline that the original movies have lacked and a genuine throwback to the 80s. The latter is where the G1 toy line and cartoon originated. Also, the film focuses on one of the main Transformers who shares the same title. Bay's signature style is nowhere to be found as the film contains a fast-cutting action style with its movements and pace. It recaptures the sense of fun and wonder and delivers emotional resonance absent in the sequels. 

Hailee Steinfeld succeeds in acting as a more believable human character than Shia LaBeouf or even Mark Wahlberg had done for the previous Transformers films. John Cena is incredible, and it comes from the sheer menace he provides for the part of the antagonistic Agent Burns. Though the visuals are good, they aren't as flashy and detailed as the films directed by Michael Bay. It's great that the robots are reformatted into their G1 designs and are less cluttered to fit the old style.

I can't believe there is still hope for the film franchise Transformers, but this movie is a step in the right direction. BUMBLEBEE is different from the "Bayformers" interpretation that many people see. It's a fun, heartwarming, action-packed movie and is the best of the Transformers series. I hope there will be a new instalment that goes down the same road.

Star rating: (10/10) Best Movie Ever

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