After crashing on Earth and trying to hide in 1987 Bumblebee is found in a junkyard in a small town in California, by Charlie who is about to turn 18 and wants her own car, the VW beetle seems perfect . . .
I firstly have to admit or even confess that I am not really fully into the Transformers series, I don't believe I have seen all of the films and I am not even sure which ones I have seen. I just remember sitting through a very long one a few years ago and not enjoying that experience at all. Something I can therefore confirm very early in this review is that Bumblebee is a very good film!
Charlie wants nothing more than her own car to help with her independence as she turns 18. The relationship with her mother is non-existent and she is still struggling and coming to terms with the sudden death of her father. She used to be on the diving team and that stopped with the death, that is a rather important part of the plot as well, which certainly made me smile at the end.
The VW beetle she then gets is not just a normal car it is a transformer who she names Bumblebee. The lack of communication between the pair very quickly becomes a good yet unconventional friendship. Something Charlie has been lacking in her life, something Memo is trying to change. They eventually do start talking to each other and that is another nice relationship.
The problem for Bumblebee is that some bad transformers have come to earth to find him in an attempt to track down Optimus Prime. Agent Burns believes Bumblebee is the dangerous one and they attempt to work together, will he actually work it all out though before it's too late?
Hailee Steinfeld leads the film in a fantastic manner and she really is becoming such a good force when it comes to the different films she stars in, all very different types of roles and that is something that really impresses me. I felt she worked very well with Jorge Lendeborg Jr, another young actor who I have enjoyed watching in a few films so far and I felt this was a slightly bigger role.
We are given a fantastic 80s soundtrack and that also links to the comedy moments and I certainly wasn't sure about this film going in. I knew it had decent reviews but with it being part of the transformers series I was dubious, hence why I didn't make it to see the film at the cinema. I am pleased I have now caught up with it as I felt it was well worth watching!