Are you a fan of the Transformers movie franchise? Me and my family are. The first one has to be our favorite (or at least it is for me), but Age of Extinction was really good too.
Throughout the Transformers movies, one of our favorite characters is the sweet, yellow Transformer known as Bumblebee. We like him so much that my son, and husband, even used to have Bumblebee action figures and transformer cars.
Available today on Blu-ray and DVD (it’s already been available on digital) is the spin off, or prequel (depending on how you see it) Transformers movie, Bumblebee. As you can guess, it’s all about our beloved Transformer.
Bumblebee stars Hailee Steinfeld, John Cena, Dylan O’Brian, Angela Basset, Justin Theroux, and Fred Dryer, to name a few.
It is the first live-action Transformers film not to be directed by Michael Bay.
Long before they Transformers came to Earth they lived on a planet called Cybertron. There is a war ragin on between Decepticons and the Autobots. The Autobots are headed by a Transformer called Optimus Prime.
As the Autobot plan on leaving Cybertron in effort to find a safe place to exist, they are intercepted by some Decepticons. During this time Optimus Prime sends one of the Autobots, named B-127, in an escape pod. He wants him to set up a base of operations some place safe where the Autobots can come together again.
B-127 crash lands on Earth, specifically in California.
A secret government agency, lead by Colonel Jack Burns, believes that B-127 is a hostile extraterrestrial. They find him and attack him, only forcing him into the woods where a Decepticon finds him and ambushes him. He demands to know the where about of Optimus Prime. Because B-127 refuses to give up his location, the Decepticon rips out his voice box and damages his memory core.
B-127 manages to escape, but he’s seriously injured. To protect himself he turns into an old Volkewagon Beetle.
B-127 awakens when a teenager named Charlie tries to start him up. The car (B-127) was given to her as an 18th birthday present.
Turning B-127 on also activates a homing signal that the Decepticons pick up on. Two of the Decepticon’s are sent to Earth to find B-127. In effort to find him they pretend to be friendly aliens in order to gain the trust of the secret government agency (Sector 7) in hopes that they can help track down B-127’s whereabouts.
Meanwhile, Charlie soon discovers that there is something special about her Volkewagon Bug when she attempts to fix it up and triggers B-127 to transform back into an Autobot. She also unlocks a special message from Optimum Prime where he tells B-127 to defend Earth in their abscense. In addition, some of B-127’s memories are triggered.
Charlie gives B-127 his nickname, Bumblebee.
Will the Decepticons find Bumblebee/B-127 and destroy him? Will the Autobots arrive to Earth before it’s too late? Will the government discover who Bumblebee/B-127 is and where he is? And what about Charlie? Will she be safe once he’s found? To find out you need to pick up (or rent) Bumblebee. Look for it where ever movies are sold/rented.
There are over an hour of bonus features including 14 delete/extended scenes and outtakes. There is also a comic book with the Blu-ray, DVD & Digital combo pack called Bumblebee’s Next Adventure.
I think there is even a Bumblebee 2 movie in the works. That would be great if there was one. If it’s anything like this movie I’ll definitely want to see it.
As fans of the movie franchise, and with Bumblee being our favorite Autobot, my family and I loved the film. Even though there were different characters, the same appeal that the other Transformers movies have is in this movie also.
Bumblebee is a short compared to other Transformers movies (114 minutes compared to the shortest Transformers’ film, the first film in the franchise with 143 minutes). I appreciate the run time. Sometimes a longer film is “overkill” and I end up losing interest towards the end. This film was just the right length.
Bumblebee had the same action and excitement as all of it’s predecessors. You can tell that this film is very much a part of the movie franchise. It’s not a stand alone film, although it could be (especially if you haven’t seen the other Transformer movies yet).
I appreciate the back story to Bumblebee. I would love to see a film like this for Optimus Prime. I’m not sure if the other Autobots are popular enough to warrant their own films.
This film is rated PG-13. I know that young kids watch these films, just let it be known that there is a lot of violence (shooting, fighting, intense situations). This film also has tender moments between Bumblebee and Charlie, as well as some humor. After all, Bumblebee is a sweet Autobot who clearly has some kind of a heart.
The special effects in this film are awesome! I am going to have to watch the movie again just to make sure I didn’t miss anything while I was focuses on following all of the action on the screen. I also wouldn’t mind watching it again because I really enjoyed the film.
I received a free screener copy of the film to review. In addition, I also received some A-W-E-S-O-M-E Bumblebee movie related toys. My favorite is the talking/shaking large Bumblebee action figure.
We LOVE the large Bumblebee action figure. It records what you say to it, then speaks it back to you in Bumblebee’s voice, as well as dances to music.
Check out the brief video I made for it. I forgot to turn the phone on it’s side (sorry!).
These the other cool toys we received along with the movie screener.
The two toys pictured above are action figures. One is a Bumblebee action figure, and the other is Blitzwing. Blitzwing is one of the Decepticons featured in this film.
We haven’t opened the action figures up yet (pictured above). I’m deciding if we are going to keep them ourselves or if I’m going to use them as prizes for the various contents we do where I work.
Below is another toy we received. It’s one of the weapons used in the film. We haven’t opened this one up yet either. I’m trying to figure out who I am going to gift it to.
Below is the film’s THEATRICAL trailer for your enjoyment. The film is no longer in theaters.
Kimberly
*I received a free screener copy to review, as well as free movie related toys to review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.