How Bumblebee sets itself apart from the other Transformer movies

I always found myself going back to Transformers since I was little. When I was six I was absolutely terrified of the movies. They looked so big and scary, I hated them. But everything changed when I turned ten. On my tablet, I had an Angry Birds app that allowed me to watch cartoons and on it was the 1985 original cartoon of Transformers. It was shocking, exciting, suspenseful, and thrilling all at the same time! I was absolutely captivated by it, and I still am. When the “Bumblebee” movie was first announced I was ecstatic. I was nervous at first, thinking it was another Michael Bay movie but it wasn’t! it was an original and it was amazing.

The “Bumblebee” movie was made in 2018  by Travis Knight. The film is set in the 1980s similar to the original cartoon (also made in the 80s) and takes inspiration from the cartoon as well with its character designs for the Transformers. Our main focus is on our main character Bumblebee and his time on earth. Bumblebee or formerly known as B-127 is sent to earth by his leader Optimus Prime, voiced by his original voice actor Peter Cullen, to prepare the earth for the Autobot’s arrival. The Autobots are in a war with the Decepticons on their homeworld Cybertron. But because of this war, Cybertron is dying. The Autobots are forced to retreat to earth if they want to survive. While folks may have seen this plot laid out in former films by Michael Bay this film is made by an entirely new director. 

This isn’t the first time people have had this plot in a Transformers movie. Micheal Bay used this plot in his 2007 Transformers movie. In fact, Michael Bay could be said to have reignited the spark for Transformers with his movies. However, his movies lacked what the original Transformers cartoon had with all the excessive violence. However, in Travis Knight’s film, he had the perfect blend of action, comedy, and drama.

In the span of an hour and 53 minutes, Travis knight’s “Bumblebee” gives us amazing acting, CGI, and plot. With these three things, Travis Knight creates a movie that captivates the audience with each scene. 

“Bumblebee” includes actors like Hailee Steinfeld as our human main character Charlie Watson, John Cena as Agent Burns, Jorge Lendeborg Jr. as Memo Dylan O’Brien as the voice of Bumblebee, and the original voice actor of Optimus Prime from the 1980’s series Peter Cullen. The acting in the film seems real and it’s like you can feel how the character feels during the serious scenes. John Cena is, not surprisingly, an excellent actor with the ability to be both comedic and serious when needed to be. Hailee Steinfeld makes a great main character, making us feel sorry for her when we saw Charlie’s backstory. If the movie didn’t have the great acting that it did, I’d doubt I would be writing an article on it as I’m doing now.

Travis Knight’s “Bumblebee” is a live-action movie. Using both technology and real life, Knight’s film makes it so that these cartoon robots seem, look, and act as though they actually walk among us, humans. And it works. You can tell the production team had a lot of love for this film. Each scene fits together perfectly. An example of this is the final fight scene between Bumblebee and Shatter. The fight is visually pleasing, the sound effects are on point and the music in the background makes the fight even better, making you feel the emotion and tension. And when Bumblebee essentially sacrifices his life, you feel shocked and sad. Without the amazing CGI, that scene wouldn’t have been as visually or emotionally amazing as it was.

The plot in “Bumblebee” has been used many times before. In fact, it was used in the “Transformers” movie made back in 2007 by Micheal Bay. A human character teams up with Autobots to save the world. Except there are a few tweaks and differences in both. For instance, in Michael Bay’s film, his main character Sam Witwicky, played by Shia LaBeouf,  is teamed up with Optimus, Ironhide, Jazz, Ratchet, and Bumblebee. While in “Bumblebee” Charlie is only teamed up with Bumblebee. And while the “Transformers” 2007 movie is for more mature audiences the Bumblebee 2018 film is made for younger kids and teens. And while “Transformers” 2007 has its own designs, you can see that in Bumblebee they took references to the original 1980’s cartoon.

In conclusion, Travis Knight’s “Bumblebee” is a cinematic masterpiece with its amazing plot, acting, and CGI. All the work behind the scenes and with all of the production teams really made things pop into place. Everyone working on this film had so much love for the characters and you can tell they really did love making this film. All the comedic, heartfelt, and suspenseful moments were impactful and the people watching left the theater with their hearts full of emotions. I can say with 100% guarantee that this movie was one of the best made in 2018. You can watch Bumblebee on Paramount Plus, The Roku Channel, Spectrum TV, Prime Video, Vudu, Redbox., ROW8, or Apple TV on your Roku device.