Bumblebee Review: 6 Ups & 4 Downs

1. Prequel Syndrome

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Paramount Pictures

The film is at its best when it's charting a path completely its own. The original and unique flourishes it adds to the Transformers mythology are inventive and compelling. And for the most part, it's a film that stands on its own and could easily (and should definitely) serve as a reboot of the entire franchise.

However, there are moments where the film puts in an unusual amount of legwork to try and be as faithful as it can to Bay's universe, in the interest of being a true prequel to those films. Mercifully, we're spared the haunting prospect of human characters from Bay's films showing up, so there's no infant Sam Witwicky appearance, thank the Lord. But it does go out of its way to include some very direct nods to events and characters from the Bay mythology.

It's a strange mishmash for a film that, formally, spends most of the runtime cutting any and all ties with the Bay aesthetic. Honestly, it feels like when production started out, the producers weren't quite sure if they wanted it to be a reboot or a proper prequel. Thus, these moments of lip-service to Bay's films feel really out of place.

And now onto the positives...

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Contributor

A film enthusiast and writer, who'll explain to you why Jingle All The Way is a classic any day of the week.