The Lowedown on “Bumblebee” (PG-13 – Theatrical – US)

Or, “My 17 year old self has a crush on Hailee Steinfeld”
Well, fellow space travellers…here I am to bring you The
Genre: Sci-Fi Sub-Genre: Tech/Alien

Let’s look at the movie scores:
Cast=7
Acting=6
Plot=7
Ending=9
Story=7
Movie Score=7.2
It’s a good score, but not great. There were some issues I had, but it was a solid effort. For the cast, I could only award seven points… Hailee Steinfeld and John Cena are recognizable right off the bat and I noticed John Ortiz in there. Not much else to work with. The acting was ok, but a lot of it fell a bit flat… Six points there.
Plot:
Set in 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard of a small Californian beach town. A young woman about to turn 18, finds the alien robot as she also finds herself. It’s solid, but leaves some holes with the other movies… Seven points.
I really liked the ending… It closed the movie well and there was a lot of action. Nine points will go to that, but only seven for the story. Again, there are a few holes connecting to the franchise, but it does link a little better to the comic book.
Favorite quote: “They literally call themselves Decepticons. That doesn’t set off any red flags?”

Let’s look at the Genre scores:
CGI=10
Violent=8
Pace=8
I loved the CGI in this! Ten full points awarded for it having the CGI needs but

The Sub-Genre Scores:
Tech=9
Alien=8
Genre Score: 8.6
The technology was great… I loved the 80’s tech as well as the alien tech. There was one small exception… So nine points. Now for the alien… It’s Bumblebee. I would have wanted more information on the others, but I guess that wasn’t needed… Eight points there.
Total Score: 7.9
So as the car drives off into the sunset… I actually enjoyed the movie. I liked Hailee’s role in the movie… After seeing her in the Pitch Perfect franchise, it was nice to see her in a “plain Jane” look. There was an obvious foreshadowing bump and I think my biggest disappointment was in the acting. But if what you’re looking for is a sci-fi movie, this is a solid watch.