Bumblebee (film)

Bumblebee is a 2018 American science-fiction action film centered around the Transformers character of the same name. It is the sixth installment of the live-action Transformers film series and a prequel to 2007's Transformers. Directed by Travis Knight in his first live action film and written by Christina Hodson, the film stars Hailee Steinfeld, John Cena, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., John Ortiz, Jason Drucker, and Pamela Adlon, with Dylan O'Brien, Peter Cullen, Angela Bassett, and Justin Theroux in voice roles. It is the first live-action Transformers film not to be directed by Michael Bay, though he still acts as a producer. Principal photography on the film began on July 31, 2017, in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California.

Bumblebee premiered in Berlin on December 3, 2018, and was released in the United States on December 21, 2018, in 2D, Real D 3D, Dolby Cinema and IMAX. The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised the action and Steinfeld's performance, as well as the 1980s setting and sense of nostalgia, with most calling it the best installment of the Transformers franchise.

Plot
On Cybertron, the Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, are on the verge of losing their civil war with their enemies, the Decepticons, and begin making preparations to leave the planet. The Decepticons ambush them during the evacuation, and Optimus sends a young scout, B-127, to Earth in order to set up a base of operations where the Autobots can regroup. B-127 reaches Earth alone, crash-landing in California and disrupting a training exercise being conducted by Sector 7, a secret government agency that monitors extraterrestrial activity on Earth. Sector 7 Colonel Jack Burns presumes B-127 to be a hostile invader and attacks, driving B-127 into the forest, where he is then ambushed by the Decepticon Blitzwing. When B-127 refuses to reveal Optimus's whereabouts, Blitzwing spitefully tears out his voicebox and damages his memory core; despite this, B-127 manages to kill Blitzwing before collapsing from his wounds. Before entering stasis, B-127 scans and transforms into a nearby 1967 Volkswagen Beetle.

Charlie Watson, a teenage outcast traumatized by the death of her father and resentful of her mother Sally for remarrying, finds B-127 in his Beetle form in a scrapyard belonging to her uncle Hank, who gives it to her as a birthday present. Upon starting B-127, Charlie unknowingly accidentally activates a homing signal that is detected in space around the surface of one of Saturn's moons by Decepticons Shatter and Dropkick, just as they are in the middle of interrogating the captive Autobot Cliffjumper. After brutally killing him for defiance, the pair head to Earth, where they masquerade as peacekeepers to persuade Sector 7 to help them find and capture B-127, whom they deceive into thinking is a dangerous criminal.

Meanwhile, Charlie revives and befriends the amnesiac B-127, whom she nicknames “Bumblebee” and teaches him how to communicate through his radio. Together, they unlock a message from Optimus urging Bumblebee to defend Earth in their absences, which restores some of his memories. Bumblebee is discovered by Charlie's neighbor Memo, who agrees to protect their secret due to his feelings for Charlie. Left alone, Bumblebee accidentally destroys Charlie’s living room and causes an energy spike that attracts Sector 7’s attention. When Sally blames Charlie for the destruction, Charlie angrily leaves with Bumblebee and Memo, only for the group to be intercepted by Sector 7, Shatter, and Dropkick. Bumblebee is captured while Charlie and Memo are returned home. Charlie finally expresses her pain over her father’s death and makes amends with her brother, who helps Charlie follow Burns to the Sector 7 outpost where Bumblebee is being held. Shatter and Dropkick torture Bumblebee into revealing the Autobots’ whereabouts and leave him for dead after revealing their plan to bring the Decepticons to Earth. Powell is killed before informing Burns the truth about Decepticons. Charlie revives and restores the rest of Bumblebee’s memories with one of Sector 7’s high voltage guns. After fighting past Burns' obstruction and attempt to re-secure Bumblebee, the pair set out to prevent Shatter and Dropkick from contacting the Decepticons with a beacon. Burns and his men also attempt to stop Shatter and Dropkick, but Shatter destroys their helicopter and nearly kills Burns, who is saved by Bumblebee.

Bumblebee kills Dropkick and Charlie deactivates the Decepticon beacon, causing an enraged Shatter to pursue her. Bumblebee causes a flash flood by puncturing a dam wall, crushing Shatter under the rubble, before being rescued by Charlie. Realizing that he had been wrong about Bumblebee, Burns buys them time to escape before the army arrives. Charlie, realizing that Bumblebee has a greater purpose on Earth, tearfully parts ways with him. After saying goodbye, Bumblebee scans a 1977 Chevrolet Camaro and drives away. Charlie returns to her family while Bumblebee meets up with Optimus Prime, who is disguised as a red 1977 Freightliner semi truck, as more Autobots arrive on Earth.

Humans

 * Hailee Steinfeld as Charlie Watson, a teenage girl who finds and befriends Bumblebee
 * John Cena as Jack Burns, an agent of Sector 7
 * Jorge Lendeborg Jr. as Memo, Charlie's coworker
 * John Ortiz as Dr. Powell, an agent of Sector 7
 * Jason Drucker as Otis Watson, Charlie's younger brother
 * Pamela Adlon as Sally Watson, Charlie and Otis' mother
 * Stephen Schneider as Ron, Charlie's stepfather
 * Rory Markham as Jake Adams, an agent of Sector 7
 * Gracie Dzienny as Tina, Charlie’s classmate
 * Ricardo Hoyos as Trip, Charlie’s classmate
 * Rachel Crow as Celia
 * Abby Quinn as Alice
 * Len Cariou as Hank, the owner of a junkyard Charlie frequents

Autobots

 * Dylan O'Brien as the voice of B-127 / Bumblebee, a young Autobot scout who transforms into a yellow Willys MB jeep before switching for a rusty yellow 1967 Volkswagen Beetle and eventually a yellow and black 1977 Chevrolet Camaro.
 * Peter Cullen as the voice of Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobot resistance who transforms into a scarlet 1977 Freightliner semi truck.
 * Grey Griffin as the voice of Arcee, a female Autobot in charge of keeping contact with the capital.
 * Steve Blum as the voice of Wheeljack, an Autobot scientist.
 * Andrew Morgado as the voice of Cliffjumper, one of Bumblebee's fellow scouts.
 * Kirk Baily as the voice of Brawn, an Autobot commando.
 * Dennis Singletary as the voice of Ratchet, an Autobot medic.
 * Ironhide and Teletraan 1 appear in non-speaking roles.

Decepticons

 * Angela Bassett as the voice of Shatter, a Decepticon triple-changer who transforms into a red Plymouth Satellite and a Harrier Jump Jet.
 * Justin Theroux as the voice of Dropkick, a Decepticon triple-changer who transforms into a blue AMC Javelin and a Bell AH-1 SuperCobra.
 * David Sobolov as the voice of Blitzwing, who transforms into a red/white McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II.
 * Jon Bailey as the voices of Shockwave, a Decepticon scientist and Soundwave, a Decepticon Communications officer who houses a minion that transforms into a cassette tape.
 * Kirk Baily as the voice of various Decepticon soldiers under Soundwave, Shockwave, and Starscream's command called Seekers.
 * Starscream, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Dirge, and Ravage appear in non-speaking roles.

Production
On February 12, 2016, it was announced that the sixth film in the Transformers series Transformers 6 would be released on June 8, 2018, while later it was revealed that the film would be an untitled spin-off, featuring Bumblebee. On November 11, 2016, Deadline reported that Paramount Pictures was moving forward with the project by revealing that Christina Hodson had written the script for the spin-off, and she was one of the female writers Paramount and Michael Bay hired in the "writers room." On March 2, 2017, Deadline reported that Travis Knight was hired to direct the film. In May 2017, it was revealed that the film's story would be set in the 1980s, and that it would have fewer robots. In the same month, it was announced that it would be titled as Transformers Universe: Bumblebee.

Casting
In May 2017, it was reported that Hailee Steinfeld was in talks for the female lead in the film, and she confirmed her involvement later in June. On July 11, 2017, Jorge Lendeborg Jr. joined the cast as the male lead. On July 12, 2017, The Tracking Board confirmed that Rachel Crow had been cast in the film. On July 13, 2017, the rest of the core cast of the film was confirmed, including Jason Drucker, Abby Quinn, Ricardo Hoyos and Gracie Dzienny. On July 22, 2017, it was reported that Pamela Adlon had been cast in the film to play Steinfeld's mother. On July 31, 2017, the film added John Cena to its lead cast along with Kenneth Choi and Stephen Schneider in the supporting cast. On October 2, 2017, while interviewing in promotion for the home media release of Transformers: The Last Knight, Peter Cullen revealed he will be in the film. On December 11, 2017, it was rumored that actor Martin Short has joined the film's voice work, although he is not listed in the final credits. On May 31, 2018, Jess Harnell revealed he will be reprising his role as the voice of Barricade from the 2007 film and The Last Knight, but was presumably cut from the film On July 13, 2018, it was announced that Angela Bassett and Justin Theroux would be voicing a pair of new Decepticons respectively called Shatter and Dropkick, who will be the main antagonists of the film. On August 26, 2018, voice actor David Sobolov, who had previously voiced Depthcharge in Beast Wars: Transformers, Brawl in the 2007 video game and Shockwave in Transformers: Prime confirmed he will voice Blitzwing. On December 3, 2018, Lorenzo di Bonaventura revealed to IGN that Dylan O'Brien will voice Bumblebee. On December 9, 2018, about a week before the film's release, voice actress Grey Griffin revealed through a special fan screening that she had reprised her role as Arcee from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. On the same day, voice actor and long-time Transformers fan Jon Bailey also revealed that he has voiced both Shockwave and Soundwave in the film, both of which were previously voiced by Frank Welker in Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

Filming
Principal photography on the film began on July 31, 2017, in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Vallejo, and Mare Island, California, and was scheduled to finish on November 16, 2017, under the working title Brighton Falls. Filming concluded 6 days ahead of schedule on November 10, 2017.

Later, in November 2017, the film was revealed to have changed its title to Bumblebee: The Movie, as well as having wrapped up filming.

Music
Dario Marianelli provided the music score for the film, making this the first time Steve Jablonsky has not scored one of the films in the franchise. Hailee Steinfeld's single "Back to Life" was released from the soundtrack on November 2, 2018.

Post-production
Visual effects for the film were provided by Industrial Light & Magic, Cantina Creative, and The Third Floor with Jason Smith and Tony Lupoi serving as the main visual effects supervisors.

Release
Bumblebee was released in the United States on December 21, 2018, by Paramount Pictures, having initially been set for a release on June 8, 2018. The first trailer was released on June 5, 2018. The new trailer was released on September 24, 2018, while its international trailer was released on the same date showing that Bumblebee was formerly disguised into an old Jeep Wrangler before he became a Volkswagen Beetle. The film held its premiere at the Sony Center in Berlin on December 3, 2018.

On November 21, 2018, Paramount announced it would hold one-day previews for the film on Saturday, December 8, 2018, similar to the promotion Amazon Prime and Sony Pictures ran with films like Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, and fellow December 2018 release Aquaman.

Box office
, Bumblebee has grossed $46.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $31.1 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $77.4 million, against a production budget of around $135 million.

In the United States and Canada, Bumblebee was released alongside Aquaman, Welcome to Marwen, and Second Act, and was projected to gross $20–25 million in its opening weekend, and $35–40 million over its first five days. Prior to its release, the film made about $500,000 at 325 theaters from its December 8 screenings, an "impressive" average of $1,500 per venue. The film made $8.5 million on its first day, including $2.15 million from Thursday night previews (a total of $2.85 million including the early screenings). It went on to debut to $21 million, finishing third behind Aquaman and Mary Poppins Returns. It then made $3.8 million on Monday and $8.9 million on Christmas Day for five-day total of $34.2 million.

Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 175 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's critical consensus read, "Bumblebee proves it's possible to bring fun and a sense of wonder back to a bloated blockbuster franchise -- and sets up its own slate of sequels in the bargain." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". It is the highest-rated Transformers film on both websites. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an 85% overall positive score and a 68% "definite recommend".

Liz Shannon Miller of IndieWire gave the film a "B+" and wrote, "...there are many scenes where giant robots fight each other, and in those scenes, you can actually see what's happening. The Autobots and Decepticons toss each other around with slick judo-like moves and blast each other with abandon, and the cinematography and editing hold still long enough to let you enjoy each moment."

Peter Debruge of Variety called the film a "quieter, more character-driven Transformers origin story" and wrote that "Bumblebee is basically the movie that fans of the 1980s animated series wanted all along." Jesse Hassenger of The A.V. Club praised Hailee Steinfeld, saying, "her screen presence is the best thing about Bumblebee". He compared the film to The Iron Giant, but although he found many improvements over other Transformers films, Hassenger called the film "disappointing in the end, because it's still a careless stretch of blockbusting", giving it a "C+".