Bumblebee

Was this another over the top special effects driven movie without a coherent story?  Absolutely not.  I see why critics were gushing over this movie.  In my opinion, this is the best of all the transformer movies.

I will start with my list of positives. Hailee Steinfeld as Charlie Watson shines as Charlie a teen trying to cope with the loss of her father.  She is the driving force and heart behind this movie.  The movie starts with an epic battle on Cybertron where Bumblebee is forced to leave and take refuge on Earth.  He quickly finds Charlie after being damaged in a fight.  Their relationship evolves over the course of the movie, but in the beginning it reminds me of an owner and a new puppy.  Bumblebee character develops over the course of the movie and he comes to truly care for Charlie.  The special effects this outing were on point.  In past movies, the effects were so over the top it was hard to follow the action.  That was not the case in this movie.  They were used sparingly and at the right moments.  This movie has a lot of heart and is where the series should have started.  (Spoiler) they did redcon all the pervious movies with the post credit scene which gives them an opportunity to develop this universe better than their first outing.

My lists of negatives are short for this flick.  I felt that the human villains were a waist and lacked any depth.  My biggest issue with this movie is that we have seen this movie / story before.  It is absolutely more of the same.  A new story or a new relationship dynamic could have been explored for this outing, but we just got more of the same.

If you are a fan of the Transformers movies, I highly recommend checking this one out.