Michael Bay's Transformers franchise evokes a lot of mixed feelings for me, on the one hand, it was awesome seeing one of my favorite tv shows as a kid on the big screen but on the other hand the way he represented the characters, the total lack of plot, and the lame jokes completely ruined those movies for me so when I heard they were making a prequel/spin-off I had zero hopes for it. however, Bumblebee surprised me(in a good way).

Bumblebee directed by Travis Knight and starring Hailee Steinfeld as Charlie Watson and John Cena as John Burns is a prequel to the franchise and is set in the '80s, the movie follows Bumblebee and Charlie as they try and hide from the Decepticons and the US government.

This movie has the least amount of action then any of the other movies in the franchise instead it focus on the bond between Bumblebee and Charlie. Director Travis Knight takes inspiration from classic 80's movies like E.T and The Breakfast Club and pulls it off, by the end of the movie you are invested in the bond between them and ends up changing this movie into a well made coming of age movie, that doesn't mean it doesn't fall into a few cliches but they are forgivable.

Hailee Steinfeld gives a strong performance and carries the movie well, John Cena has screen presence but his acting skills still have a way to go, the jokes, for the most part, are ok and a few did make me giggle when the action does take place it is great to watch, especially a chase scene that takes place halfway thew the movie.

The way they incorporated music into movie feels fresh so prepare to hear a lot of 80's hits, all in all, Bumblebee does a lot of little things well and that makes the final product a good watch. This is the best Transformers movie and that's saying something.