Given the surprise positive buzz around this flick, I went in expecting the best and I kind of got the worst. I hated the first half of this film… thinking I might have to give it some slack for being a baby movie for babies. The humor didn’t work, the action didn’t work, the work… it didn’t work! But then it takes a bob and weave into borderline story complexity and things started to get better.
It’s a Transformers prequel (though, by precedent, maybe it should have been called Transformers Minus One?). We are introduced to proto versions of all our favorite robots like an Optimus Prime and a Megatron. They work the energon mines while their heroic leaders scour the war-torn surface for the Matrix of Leadership. And, of course, all is not as it seems.
The first half of the film is grim. Between the generic, super predictable plot, the boring characters, the mediocre action, and the terrible sense of humor, I was thinking I was going to have to suck it up and give it a Hot Take McGee low score. Which didn’t make sense since people seem to love the flick. Can I (again) be so wrong?
After the movie plods around for a bit, it finally finds its real plot and some pretty good (if predictable) twists to the boring formula. And I started to appreciate and then kind of enjoy it, especially in some iconic moments near the end. Hardcore Transformers fans are going to adore it for the classic tv show and movie references.
The voice cast is curious… they skipped the Frank Welker’s of the world and went with bigger names. So you can hear Scarlett Johansson and Chris Hemsworth poking out of the voice track. The strangest, most incongruous voice was Steve Buschemi getting his Starscream on. But the funniest goes to Keegan-Michael Key and the most incongruous and yet most subtle joke in the movie (AAron would be proud).
I was rolling up my sleeve for a fight over a 2 star rating until the movie flip turned upside down and I started to enjoy it. It’s never a great film but 3 stars from this 80s fan still makes it the third best Transformers film. Even if it makes me increasingly sad we’ll never got a proper sequel to the Bumblebee movie. Boo hiss.
Score: 79