A Geeky Dad's Movie Guide to Bumblebee (2018)

This weekend, my 13 year old son and I went to see Bumblebee. Surprisingly, even though the main human protagonist is an 18 year old girl, my 11 year old daughter had no interest in seeing the film. I have a feeling that she may enjoy watching it on Netflix later this year.

Bumblebee is yet another movie released in 2018 that will make my list of "movies I only need to see once".

Although it is a pretty decent origin story, there is really only one special thing about the entire movie: Hailey Steinfeld. Steinfeld portrays the aforementioned teenager who finds and bonds with the old school VW Beetle version of Bumblebee. Based on her performances in 2010's True Grit and 2016's Edge of Seventeen, Steinfeld is one of my favorite young actresses. Although she did an excellent job of making the audience believe she loved a transforming car like a pet or friend, if you have not seen Steinfeld's performance in those two previous movies, bypass this one and spend your time on those. I can watch either of those repeatedly.

As far as this movie is concerned, it is a basic origin story of an angst-ridden, lonely kid who teams up with an animal/alien/robot in an effort to save the creature... and the world. Think Free Willy + E.T. + Iron Giant... but only if other Iron Giants come to attack.

As ludicrous as it seems, the creators did a fine job of creating an emotional connection between Steinfeld's character and the Transformer. At one point when they were hugging, I was a little touched... and then I said, "Wait. She's hugging a piece of metal!" But that doesn't matter. It's a silly robot movie. I knew what I was getting myself into.

The writers very wisely opened with a fight scene on the Transformers' home planet of Cybertron. After a brief break, the fight moves to earth. As a result, at least 20 of teh first 30 minutes are action sequences. After that, there is the requisite break to establish the characters and the bond between them. Toss in a friend for some romance and comic relief and you have your basic story.

The creative team seemed to try to add some novelty by setting the movie in the 1980s and tossing in the fashion and music of the day. Although it was a clever idea, the music changed so fast that it was a bit overdone. It seemed as if the writer's goal was to include as many edgy and popular songs of the 1980s as possible. For some reason, for the second time this year, the music of The Smiths played a major role in a movie (Ant-Man and the Wasp being the other). As a result of the many song changes, the gimmick got old way too quickly.

This movie follows the very familiar formula of opening with a fight scene, establishing the story and characters, tossing in a minor skirmish and then finishing with an epic "boss battle". Because the special effects are so incredible and there was a giant screen filled with huge robots battling each other, I was never bored. But I don't ever need to see it again. My son seemed to feel the same way.

Technically, there is a mid credit scene. But it starts so fast that you pretty much can't miss it unless you run out of teh theater the second the movie ends. But that is it. There is only the one.

Geeky Dad's Movie Guide

Number of times I fell asleep: 0
Number of eye rolls: 2 (A couple of parts were too cliche.)
Number of face palms: 0
Number of times I checked my phone: 0 (Although it was silly, I was never bored.)
Number of times I said "That's ridiculous": 0 (Transforming robots. Enough said.)
Did my son like it: Yes
Would I see it without my kids: Netflix
Full price/Matinee/Rental/Free/Not worth the time: Matinee in a decent theater. The effects are the star.

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