Bumblebee [aka The TRANSFORMERS Thread]

[Monterey Jack]

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bumblebee/

A...good Transformers movie...?

[AndyDursin]

And I may well be seeing this sooner than later, because Theo is now a huge fan of TRANSFORMERS RESCUE BOTS, which is a perfect show for little kids. (Not sure I'd take him to a PG-13 movie yet, much less one in theaters because it'll be so loud).

Really, it shouldn't be THAT hard to make a good Transformers movie. Kids don't care about Shia and Wahlberg -- these films never needed to be 150 minute+ epics. They like the robots, they like the action -- make something competent with appealing enough human leads and you can get the job done without necessitating Michael Bay pretentiousness.

Sounds like they finally got the mix right, and BUMBLEBEE is both a fan favorite and a character kids like the most, so it could well be a sleeper hit this Christmas judging from word of mouth.

[Monterey Jack]

With this, Ouija: Origin Of Evil and Annabelle: Creation, I'm kind of liking this new trend of surprisingly good prequels to terrible movies. I had cautious optimism for Bumblebee because Travis Knight was directing (he made the wonderful Kubo & The Two Strings) and because I have a mad crush on the beautiful and talented Hailee Steinfeld, so I'm glad that apparently Paramount has finally gotten this franchise right. I loved the Transformers toys and original cartoon growing up, so it's been painful to see how badly they were mangled by Michael Bay over the last decade.

Who knows? Maybe this will be this year's Jumanji and perform beyond expectations due to good word-of-mouth. It'd be a shame if it tanked because the last ten years' worth of Bayhem has soured the brand for all time.

[AndyDursin]

I definitely don't think the brand has been soured for all-time. The Transformer toys (and believe me, I look because I have to) are still everywhere, there's a whole generation of kids who watch the movies plus RESCUE BOTS (which is coming back in another series in 2019) and other Transformers cartoons. And the Bay movies made a TON of money. Maybe amongst some older fans the brand's been devalued, but a (more than a) few people liked them because they all made a killing until the last installment...I mean, every sequel took in a BILLION each worldwide until "The Last Knight."

It's not as if there's a ton of stiff competition out there for this kind of movie either -- there's no STAR WARS or HARRY POTTER installments opposite it (Fantastic Beasts is already dead), RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET is just doing OK business by Disney standards. That leaves AQUAMAN, which might have its own difficulty "overcoming brand issues" just based on JUSTICE LEAGUE's DOA performance. The fact it's the only super-hero movie in town this Christmas will give it a push, but I think the road is pretty clear for BUMBLEBEE to do decent/strong business.

Another good sign is from the sounds of it, they did some reshoots on this movie so it's not just a one-off, but rather the launching pad for the series going forward.

[Monterey Jack]

Another good sign is from the sounds of it, they did some reshoots on this movie so it's not just a one-off, but rather the launching pad for the series going forward.

Not only that, but I think some of the reshoots/editing actually removed some of the more overt continuity nods to the Bay films, and if so, good riddance.

Anyways, weird that I'm actually looking FORWARD to a Transformers movie for the first time.

[Monterey Jack]

8.5/10



This was...adorable. Not only set in 1987, but evoking the wide-eyed optimism and charm of the best Spielberg/Amblin films of that era, Bumblebee is effortlessly enjoyable. Compared to the bad-taste racism and leering sexism of the Michael Bay films that proceeded it, to paraphrase Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption, "Bumblebee crawled through a river of [poop], and came out clean on the other side". Lovely Hailee Steinfeld makes for an appealing heroine, and her blossoming friendship with 'Bee has a genuine lump-in-the-throat pathos that Bay's charmless films never hinted at. It's also surprisingly clean-cut, with only a lone use of the "S"-word and violence that's fairly restrained. With some minor trims to mildly-bloody battle wounds, it'd almost qualify for a PG by today's standards. Set to a fine Dario Marienelli score, this is the rare franchise "reboot" that wipes the floor with everything that proceeded it, and director Travis Knight (Kubo & The Two Strings) should be commended for finally making the Transformers movies I've wanted to see since I was a kid. Recommended!!!

[Eric W.]

[BobaMike]

A good Transformers movie? Amazing. The first one was okay, and they wall went downhill since then.

Funny that you mention Travis Knight as the director. In a bunch of reviews I've read (the washington post, for example), the reviewer goes out of the way to praise the fact that a woman wrote the script and it has a female lead, as if that is the only conceivable reason it could be any good!

[AndyDursin]

If only a robot had directed it, THEN I would be impressed!

[Monterey Jack]

Tell me about it. It's like if the first-ever Superman movie were Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, and five equally-terrible sequels later, the sixth turned out to be Superman: The Movie. I don't know if the bad rep of the Bay movies will affect this one's box office (not to mention a loaded Christmas movie season), but it deserves to find an audience. It's charming.

[Monterey Jack]

Funny that you mention Travis Knight as the director. In a bunch of reviews I've read (the washington post, for example), the reviewer goes out of the way to praise the fact that a woman wrote the script and it has a female lead, as if that is the only conceivable reason it could be any good!

[AndyDursin]

Washington Post is always "super woke" in the media.

[Monterey Jack]

Bumblebee is a good example of a movie directed by a stinky man that nevertheless manages to have a strong, well-rounded female protagonist who isn't a flawless Superwoman who can do no wrong but someone with relatable flaws and self-doubts. And, yeah, having a female screenwriter would account for some of that, but I wish the current political correctness hysteria would stop forcing genre movies to only be written and/or directed by filmmakers of the same sex/race/orientation of the leading character.

But that's beside the point...Bumblebee! It's actually good!

[AndyDursin]

Article on Deadline sums up the film's performance. In short, they're happy, the lower budget and ancillary revenues will push it into the profitable realm and they should see a return on that investment with the next one(s). It'll end up pretty close to THE LAST KNIGHT at a fraction of the cost.

EXCLUSIVE: Paramount’s Bumblebee is buzzing past the $400M mark worldwide today. The Transformers origins story has revved up $401.3M global, including $113.9M domestic and $287.4M at the international box office through Saturday. Japan, which has been a solid play for the franchise, is the last market to bow, on March 22, meaning there’s further fuel in the VW Bug’s tank.

Helmed by Travis Knight, the well-received picture reboots the Transformers series with humor and an emotional connection that’s been fed by great word of mouth. There’s a sequel in development (might that mean a Bumblebee/Optimus Prime buddy movie?). Before that, there’s an animated movie in the works and future iterations of the overall Transformers series that may introduce new characters and bring others along.

With Bumblebee, producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura says, “We had many objectives (including) to bring a new set of families into the series, and that succeeded; in the after markets that will continue to succeed in a big way. Part of our obligation was to bring people back who had left the franchise or never experienced it which worked well… We are finding our way. Our intention was we wanted to please the core fans but also bring a new audience.”

Rounding out the Top 5 behind China through Saturday are the UK ($14.1M), Korea ($12M), Mexico ($11.3M) and Indonesia ($11M). Bumblebee was made for a wider demo than the rest of the franchise, on a lower budget (est $135M) than its stablemates and will be profitable.

The last two films in the franchise did best in China, although last year’s Last Knight was notably down on the previous pic, Age Of Extinction. Bumblebee, on January 4, swept into the Middle Kingdom this year and has grossed $130M through today. Although there were eight new films releasing this weekend, the Bug is holding No. 1. With Chinese New Year not kicking off until February 5, that potentially puts the Autobot in the realm of Transformers: Dark Of The Moon which finished at $165M in unadjusted figures in 2011 (and when revenue splits for the studios were lower). Bumblebee also has an extension to play through Chinese New Year, a 7.2 Douban score and Tencent Pictures as an investor and co-marketing partner in China.

Domestically, the Hailee Steinfeld-starrer is expected to final close to last year’s The Last Knight which did $130.1M. There, it has an A- CinemaScore and 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. Around the time of release during the Christmas frame, RelishMix noted superfans agreed Bumblebee “is the Transformers movie they’ve been waiting and yearning for, which means a more authentic look at some of their favorite characters and dosing down of the super-action in previous, Michael Bay-directed chapters.”

https://deadline.com/2019/01/bumblebee- ... 202538143/

[Monterey Jack]

If they could keep the quality of Bumblebee going forward, and not backslide into the Axe body spray miasma of the Bay films, I'd gladly see another.