Bumblebee

Following the failure of Transformers: The Last Knight at the box office, the next scheduled film in the Live-Action Film Series, a prequel titled Transformers Universe: Bumblebee Bumblebee: The Movie Bumblebee, was set to be the last one while Hasbro rethinks the direction of the franchise. The change in Director from Michael Bay to Travis Knight, in addition to the trailers, had me curious about how this movie would turn out, since Knight’s directorial debut, Kubo and the Two Strings, turned out really well. Upon being able to see a recent early screening of the movie two weeks before its official release (in which it will go head-to-head with Aquaman), it turned out to far exceed my expectations in the best possible way.

As the war for Cybertron rages on, while the Autobot cast from the 2007 movie loads into escape pods, Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) sends Bumblebee (Dylan O’Brien) to Earth to establish a base of operations for the Autobots. On 1987 Earth, Bumblebee crash-lands, interrupting a military exercise. Following a battle with the Decepticon Blitzwing (David Sobolov), Bumblebee blacks out. Meanwhile, teenager Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld) is facing challenges in her daily life, including not getting along with her family and holding a job at Hotdog on a Stick, wishing she could have her own car. On her birthday, she stumbles upon a yellow Volkswagon Beetle, which turns out to be Bumblebee in disguise. As Bumblebee starts to get along with Charlie, the Decepticons Shatter (Angela Bassett) and Dropkick (Justin Theroux) are hot on his trail.

The story is written very well, telling a story that works (mostly) well as a prequel to the 2007 movie while being very easy to follow and able to stand up on its own. This is backed by some very good casting, especially on the parts of Hailee Steinfeld as Charlie Watson and pro wrestler/internet meme John Cena as Agent Jack Burns, in addition to some very well-timed and largely tasteful humor. There are a number of moments between Charlie and Bumblebee that evoke The Iron Giant in a good way, taking a note from the Transformers: Prime cartoon, which feels better than the human/robot relationships in the other live-action movies. As a prequel, there are at least a handful of retcons that more observant viewers of these films may notice (such as, among other things, the origin of Bumblebee’s lack of a voice box and some backstory of Sector 7), though the story is overall good enough that these discrepancies can be overlooked.

One thing of note is the general design of the robot characters is different than in previous live-action films, though generally for the better. The designs are sort of a happy medium between the G1 cartoon and the live-action aesthetic, being much more heavily streamlined than in Age of Extinction and The Last Knight. On Cybertron, the robots (and the planet Cybertron) much more closely resemble the G1 incarnations while taking cues from the Fall of Cybertron game, whereas the Earth designs of the characters Blitzwing and Bumblebee take more liberties (the latter being a cross between G1 and the 2007 movie in robot mode) while new characters Shatter and Dropkick (the latter of whom isn't wholly original; it’s complicated) make use of the aforementioned streamlined “movie” look. As noted in a special behind-the-scenes video following the screening, they actively tried to give each robot a unique silhouette and color scheme, which, combined with Travis Knight’s animation experience and there being a much smaller robot cast this time around, worked out very well in the end.

Though there are a lot more quiet moments in this movie, the few action scenes are just as intense as ever, though improved by the shrunken robot cast. Bumblebee only ever battles one or two Decepticons at any time, making them much more intimate and increasing the tension of each fight. This is helped by the more conservative presence of explosions, making them feel much more well-deserved. The final battle with Shatter and Dropkick, who feel a lot more fleshed out than most other past Decepticons, is a true spectacle, as are flashback scenes to the war on Cybertron, thanks to more intimate framing that makes you feel like you're in the middle of the action.

Bumblebee is very solid and legitimately the best of the Transformers Live-Action Film Series. The change in Director to Travis Knight provides a much-needed change of pace and an overall much different feel from the other live-action movies; I would even dare say it’s what the 2007 movie should have been. Transformers fans, whether they enjoy the live-action movies or not, will find some entertainment in this movie, as it represents the best of what the film series has to offer (more die-hard fans will also enjoy some seemingly Easter egg references to other incarnations of the brand). Non-fans are likely to find some entertainment as well, as the movie is more accessible to casual viewers than previous films. The idea has been floating around that there is potential for this film to be good starting point for Hasbro to reboot the live-action films and/or use it as a starting point for a planned cinematic universe; if this turns out to be true, I wouldn’t mind either way.

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Kubo and the Two Strings

In the realm of feature animation, stop motion isn’t a form that is seen that often, likely because the technique is very time-consuming. However, if done right, a studio can produce some very top-notch results, as proven by Laika. While I have not seen their first feature animation Coraline or their follow-up ParaNorman, I have seen, and was absolutely blown away by, The Boxtrolls, which has some of the best stop-motion work that I had seen up to that point. For this reason, I had been curious about their latest foray into this area of animation, Kubo and the Two Strings, and ended up getting much more out of it than I had anticipated.

Years after washing ashore on a beach, Kubo (Art Parkinson) takes care of his mother (Charlize Theron) in a cave on top of a mountain, while during daylight hours he tells stories to a nearby village by manipulating paper with his guitar. At night Kubo returns to the cave, where his mother tells him stories about his father, however she can only remember the details for so long. One day, the village is having a festival meant to celebrate passed loved ones, which Kubo decides to participate in in hopes of being able to communicate with his father. However, Kubo ends up staying out past sundown, which he is not supposed to do, and ends up being hunted down by a dark power.

Though the story is more that of the hero’s journey, there is enough of a spin on it that it comes off as more unique, helped by the movie’s world and setting. This helps to make the film easier to follow, which isn’t really a bad thing, and there is just enough depth in the narrative to make it believable and its mythos easily picked up by any viewer without having to explain that much. Without spoiling anything, the story, while kept upbeat by a number of humorous moments, also gets surprisingly deep in the way it handles a particular subject, and the final act actually had me in tears once the credits began to roll.

The animation, as come to be expected from Laika, is incredibly top-notch. Of note is the animation of paper, which can be seen folded into origami shapes and brought to life by the magic Kubo possesses in his guitar. The paper is animated so well that their movements feel very natural, especially when it can be seen folding and unfolding at will. Also of note is a scene involving a fight against a giant skeleton creature, as seen in trailers and TV spots, which is reportedly the largest rig ever produced for a stop-motion feature. The characters also interact seamlessly with water and smoke effects, and multi-layered scenery involving the village demonstrates just how much Laika is willing to push the envelope with stop-motion.

The voice acting is very good, especially amongst the lead characters played by Art Parkinson (Kubo), Charlize Theron (Monkey), and Matthew McConaughey (Beetle). While I am not that familiar with much of the actors’ previous works, their performances in this movie are excellent, working well with each of their respective characters’ personalities. The other voice actors, including those of the antagonists, are also done well, and the actors of the villagers (including a cameo from George Takei) do well in making their respective roles sound realistic. The music is also excellent, though some scenes without it work very well, plus the soundtrack includes a perfectly-timed cover of the Beatles song “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”

If you are a fan of animation, especially in stop-motion, I would highly recommend seeing Kubo and the Two Strings. The animation is some of the best that has ever been produced and, while the story does get kind of deep, there is generally a more light-hearted tone as there are a lot of funny moments to keep it entertaining. It will make you laugh and cry, but most importantly, Kubo is a great movie for anyone looking for solid entertainment and storytelling this summer, animated or otherwise.