Bumblebee (2018)

Release date: 2019-01-04
Country: China|USA
Language: English
Director: Travis Knight
Production Co: Hasbro, Tencent Pictures, Di Bonaventura Pictures
Genre: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction
Rating: 6.8/10
Length: 1h 54min

Storyline

On Cybertron, the Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, are on the verge of losing the Great Cybertronian War to their enemies, the Decepticons, and begin making preparations to leave the planet. The Decepticons led by Shockwave, Soundwave and Starscream ambush them during the evacuation, and 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 reaches Earth alone in 1987, crash-landing in California and disrupting a training exercise being conducted by Sector 7, a secret government agency that monitors extraterrestrial activity on Earth. Sector 7 agent Colonel Jack Burns presumes B-127 to be a hostile invader and attacks, driving B-127 into the forest, where he is then ambushed by the Decepticon Blitzwing. When B-127 refuses to reveal Optimus' whereabouts, Blitzwing spitefully tears out his voice-box and damages his memory core. B-127 manages to destroy Blitzwing before collapsing from his wounds. Before entering stasis,...

Plot Keywords

1980s, spin off, final battle, outer space, change of heart, human versus machine, exploding plane, title at the end, one against many, blockbuster, whimsical, vomit, satellite, hot dog stand, one word title, interspecies friendship, insect in title, year 1987, violence, prequel

Short Review

The film presents late-80s America so fetishistically that it feels at times like a follow-up to Bennett Miller's Foxcatcher (2014), and its recycling of 80s teen-movie cliches are also weirdly reverential.