Bumblebee Review: 6 Ups & 4 Downs

2. The Action Is Remarkable

After spending eleven years seeing live-action Transformers action sequences only through the eyes of one Michael Benjamin Bay, it feels positively revolutionary to have a Transformers film in which the setpieces are full of clarity and are so genuinely well-crafted.

Bay's action sequences were often about as clear as a blender full of nails turned on high. He never cared to establish geography, stakes, or even which Transformers were which. As a result, the action often just looked like disparate shots of gray, jagged CGI parts crashing into one another without giving the audience a real sense of anything.

Thankfully, director Travis Knight approaches his action sequences very differently. These sequences are capture in wide shots, often through the employment of long-takes, with each and every fight featuring characters who have vastly different color palettes. This results in sequences in which the geography is clear, the characters are clearly distinguishable from one another, and the action is fluid and compelling.

From the moment the film begins, it is clear that this is a very different kind of Transformers film, with an opening sequence on Cybertron that is a larger-scale battle than anything Bay ever attempted, yet is infinitely more legible. Even in these huge action sequences, Knight keeps us grounded with our primary characters and delivers some truly awe-inspiring spectacle.