Bumblebee was mediocre. The only reason this movie is getting high praise is because Michael Bay stepped down as director. Everybody is just exaggerating how good the film is just to spite him. I saw this coming since I'm one of the few people in this world who actually wants to be fair to the guy. Let me start off by saying that out of the five Michael Bay movies only two of them are legitimately terrible: Revenge of the Fallen and The Last Knight. Revenge of the Fallen for being a juvenile farce and The Last Knight for being a convoluted mess. the other three films were perfectly adequate, at least as adequate as Bumblebee. Though for my money, I'd rank Bumblebee below T1,3&4. The people who go around saying "this is the Transformers movie we've been waiting for." are a bunch of hypocrites. Nobody is praising this movie for what's in the film, they're only praising what's NOT in the film. I.E no hot woman, product placement, American flags, excessive explosions, the one or two PG-13 level/Marvel-esque sex jokes. Wow, if only Michael Bay knew that's all he had to do to win people over.
But seriously, this movie is barely passable. the only exceptional aspect about it was Charlie Watson and her character arc. How about that, the best part of this Transformers film is the part that has nothing to do with Transformers. everything else was by-the-numbers, uninteresting, and bland. As a Transformers film, it offers nothing new, interesting or original. this movie actually feels like it's ashamed to be a transformers film, it couldn't even be bothered to give any of the decepticons names. Our two main villains are red decepticon and blue decepticon and they're hear to find B-127 because Optimus told him to go to Earth and establish a base for the Autobots. Ok, so let me get this straight: Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, wants to risk bringing his war to Earth and put the human race in the crossfire? Does that sound like something Optimus would do? Why Earth? it's not like they need air to breath. Also, Optimus Prime, Ravage and Cliff-jumper have names but Bumblebee is just called B-127? is there a practical reason for this or is this just a convoluted way to give Bumblebee's name more meaning? Bay's films handled the Transformers aspect better. For one thing I actually know what the Autobots and Decepticons are fighting over. This movie couldn't be bothered to tell us what the war on Cybertron is about. Ironic, since everybody seems to think the opening scene is the best part of the movie. Oh boy, 2 minutes of nameless robots shooting at each other for no discernible reason is the highlight of this film, huh? totally worth the 92% RT score.
For all the shit the Bay films get for their 'plot-holes' and "stupid" moments, this movie is filled with just as many but nobody cares because, you know, no Michael Bay automatically equals quality.
Why does Optimus want to bring his war to Earth? How come when the Decepticons shoot at the launch pad the rockets go around the surface of the tower and destroy it's base instead of the actual launch pad? Oh right, because then there would be no movie. How the hell did Bumblebee lose his memory, Infact, WHY was it necessary for him to lose his memory? What exactly was Bumblebee going to do if he didn't lose his memory? His mission was just to go to Earth and wait.(yes, the plot is that thin) Why does his memory inexplicably come back? Why does turning the car key automatically send a signal out into space? is it just so we can get the Decepticons to come to Earth? Why the hell would the blue Decepticon, who was shown slicing Cliffjumper in half, fail at killing bumblebee when he had him in captivity? Oh right, because he's Bumblebee, plot armor is strong with this one. How the hell is Optimus not dead? The last time we saw him, he was surrounded by 50 Decepticons charging him at once but for some reason, he's alive and well on Earth at the end of the film. You know if Michael Bay directed this movie, everybody would be fuming over this shit.
For so long, Transformers fans have bitched and moaned about how the Transformers never got enough screen-time, personality, or lines of dialogue in the Bay films. Well I think you all owe Michael Bay an apology because the Transformers in this film have even less presence than they ever had in any of Bay's films. Especially fan-favorites like Soundwave, Shockwave, and Starscream who only appear on screen for 10 seconds, do nothing, and have 2 or no lines of dialogue. Hell, they don't even have names. Just to put that in perspective for you: Jolt,the most insignificant Autobot in the worst Transformers movie, not only had a name but a purpose in the story, he transplanted Jetfire's parts to Optimus, giving him the power to beat The Fallen. how does it feel to have your favorite decepticons out-shined by a soulless walking piece of product placement? "Bumblebee is the Transformers film we've been waiting for." this isn't a Transformers film, this is a decent Disney-channel original movie reluctantly trying to be a Transformers film. It's very telling when the last thing you see in this movie isn't the Autobots arriving to Earth, but Charlie working on her dad's car. Think about that.
As far as I'm concerned Age of Extinction is the best Transformers film. Optimus prime actually has a character arc, the autobots have names and personalities, the villain is a menacing badass, Cade Yeager is still the most useful human character any of these movies have ever had, the plot actually has a lot of interesting ideas and creative turns. Such a shame The Last Knight was so terrible.
