While the previous five installments of the Transformers franchise have seemed to involve the end of the world, the new prequel Bumblebee is going in a much lighter, family-friendly direction. The first trailer focuses on the relationship between Charlie (Academy Award nominee Hailee Steinfeld) and her yellow VW Beetle (voiced by Martin Short). That E.T./Iron Giant vibe is definitely intentional.
Set for a Christmas release, the film looks much sweeter than the epic Michael Bay-directed films. This one hails from Travis Knight, a longtime animator at Laika Studios, home to gorgeous stop-motion films like Coraline and ParaNorman. And in a first, the script is written by a woman. Christina Hodson gets her first big budget film after two smaller thrillers (Shut In and Unforgettable).
As with the other films in the series, the supporting cast is excellent. John Cena, Pamela Adlon and John Ortiz all co-star. Take a look at the first poster below.
Bumblebee hits theaters on Friday, December 21.
About Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about.
I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague.
Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work.
In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo.
I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.
