Just watched Bumblebee with the kids. What a great movie. I recommend it to everyone, whether you’re a transformers fan or not. Travis Knight did a masterful job. Best of all the live action films in my opinion.
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Just watched Bumblebee with the kids. What a great movie. I recommend it to everyone, whether you’re a transformers fan or not. Travis Knight did a masterful job. Best of all the live action films in my opinion.
My wife asked me why I carry a gun?, I said "Decepticons"... She laughed, I laughed, the toaster laughed, I shot the toaster. It was a good day.
Rank 6 - Dedicated Member
I heard this one is watchable. I still watched all even though the previous few were bad.Originally Posted by Meister
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Repeat, word for word
The best for G1 nostalgia.Loved the versions of Prime in this
Rank 6 - Dedicated Member
Bumblebee is a pretty good movie but I prefer Transformers (2007). Both have good storylines but the 2007 one has more robots to offer.
Though that would prove a curse in the later movies as the robots started to feel more like cardboard cut outs due to saturation and messing with the original g1 design formula is a big gamble if not recipe for disaster (e.g. Starscream).
Although the upside to Bumblebee's is the strong G1 integrity and the lack of robots means (hopefully) a more measured introduction of characters and character development over several movies.
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
Transformers 07 and Bumblebee both hit you in the heart.
TF07 does it literally as the excitement and action makes your heart pump and gets your adrenaline rushing like being on a roller coaster. I remember the first time I watched this movie, during some of the really fun parts the audience (myself included) were basically cheering at the screen with loud cries of "YYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHH!!"
Bumblebee gets your heart racing in a metaphorical and emotional sense as it hits you right in the feels. I also find it more intellectually rewarding as a piece of film literature.
TF07 is a fun pop corn movie that you can watch with your brain switched in low gear. But Bumblebee is a movie that engages you at a higher cognitive level and deals with numerous themes and motifs throughout. Bumblebee is the kind of movie that I would love to dissect and teach as an HSC prescribed text (but instead, as of next year this movie will become the prescribed text that I will need to teach (starting for the Class of 2020)). Okay, for me the prescribed film text has to be in Japanese, but English teachers could teach Bumblebee as a film text. And if anyone thinks that that sounds far fetched, don't forget that Star Wars: A New Hope used to be an HSC prescribed film text for English Standard.
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If Star Wars Episode 1 was prescribed. Does that mean that ESB, ROTJ or Rogue One are now prescribed?
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You mean Episode IV.If Star Wars Episode 1 was prescribed. Does that mean that ESB, ROTJ or Rogue One are now prescribed?
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The best and worst movies that I saw in 2018
TOP 5 COUNTDOWN
5: Incredibles 2
Love how this movie starts immediately from when the first Incredibles finished. Loads of thrilling action plus a relatable villain. Although we don't agree with her actions, we can understand what motivates her because ultimately, she's not wrong. Learned helplessness and a lack of independent resilience are ever increasing problems that we are seeing in society today.
4: Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse
Conceptually one of the freshest movies of 2018. Bold, vibrant and exciting. A real breath of fresh air after Sony's other pathetic Marvel movie of the year. This movie probably ranks higher on other people's list, but personally it just didn't hit me as hard on an emotional level. Still a jolly good and enjoyable film, although you might want to avoid it if you have epilepsy.
3: Black Panther
The Wakandan war cry (Yibambe!) rivals the Elvish war cry (Tangado haid!) from The Lord of the Rings. A hero is only ever as good as his/her villain, and this movie set 2018's standard of having the relatable antagonist. Again we don't agree with Kill Monger's methods but we certainly understand his cause. So much so that his cause proves right at the end and Black Panther even works to fulfill Kill Monger's vision of an open Wakanda that takes a greater role in its responsibilities as a global superpower. Wakanda forever!
2: Bumblebee
Transformers done rightly! Bumblebee focuses on characters and allows the emotional journey of these characters to drive the story. It is the story that drives the action, not the other way around. And the characters, even the villains, are likable! We even have a relatable antagonist, although not nearly at the depth of Screenslaver or Killmonger - but relatable nonetheless. It's a really nice wholesome Transformers movie that fans of all ages can enjoy.
1: Avengers Infinity War
Not just a movie, this was a cinematic event 10 years in the making. Avengers Infinity War shows us what a movie studio can do when they have a focused vision for its cinematic universe and gets all of its directors to work towards this common vision. This movie also rewards its audience for having followed the MCU for the past decade, because it is a movie that really only makes sense if you've seen the other MCU films. But hey, after a decade of releases people have had ample opportunity to catch up - the movie doesn't bog itself down with expositions because much of that was provided in the previous films. It assumes that the audience knows the gist of what's happened in this universe and runs with it. A movie by the fans for the fans that has us all eagerly anticipating Avengers Endgame!
BOTTOM 5 COUNTDOWN
5: Solo: A Star Wars Story
While I did enjoy watching this film, I cannot deny that it is a very conservative, risk-adverse and by-the-numbers movie. Then again, the last time they gave us a risky and daring Star Wars movie was with The Last Jedi, which fans whinged about too. The movie is also not helped by the fact that this movie had a change of director who did lots of reshoots at behest of the studio.
4: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Again, much like Solo I found it to be a very by-the-numbers movie. It's very much just a "It's okay" movie.
3: Teen Titans Go! To the Movies
This movie bored me to tears but Yuki, who's watched the TV series, loved it. This movie is much like 1986's The Transformers: The Movie, which I absolutely love but admittedly it doesn't make much sense if you haven't watched the original Transformers cartoon. So yeah, if you're a fan of the Teen Titans Go! TV series then you'll probably enjoy this movie a whole lot more than I did. The Stan Lee cameos were hilarious though.
2: Deadpool 2
Yeah, I dunno... this very base level of cheap humour might amuse me if I were a teenager. There's not a whole lot of appeal in this film beyond its crudeness. Yeah, some of the fourth wall breaking was amusing, but we already saw that in the first Deadpool film. Meh.
1. Venom
TERRIBLE!The other movies on this list are ones that I regard as "Okay but not great," but this movie was _awful_. It's not even explicitly linked to Spider-Man or any other Marvel properties in any way, shape or form... and that in itself isn't bad if the film was good (as Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy was despite not being linked to any other DC properties)... but it's not! It's just bad! The plot makes no sense, the characterisations make no sense... GAH! Okay, visually this movie is better than Venom from Spider-Man 3, and the acting from all cast members was really good. Tom Hardy does play Venom very well and is much better than Topher Grace (Spider-Man 3), but unfortunately no amount of quality acting can save this train-wreck of a story.
Avoid!
===========================
P.S.: Both the Elvish phrase "Tangado haid" and the Wakandan word "Yibambe" mean the same thing - "hold this position."
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
Lol I enjoyed Venom way more than Black Panther!!
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
Ohhh that's cool for the kids, Your Name is rather original and well crafted, and Star Wars is now part of the cultural zeitgeist. I can't say I hold Bumblebee in the same esteem. It's a good movie sure, but it is just a popcorn movie that has heart (as they say), and not at all original. Aside from being a good live action TF film I don't think it's a particularly noteworthy as a piece of film literature.
TF07 is a fun pop corn movie that you can watch with your brain switched in low gear. But Bumblebee is a movie that engages you at a higher cognitive level and deals with numerous themes and motifs throughout. Bumblebee is the kind of movie that I would love to dissect and teach as an HSC prescribed text (but instead, as of next year this movie will become the prescribed text that I will need to teach (starting for the Class of 2020)). Okay, for me the prescribed film text has to be in Japanese, but English teachers could teach Bumblebee as a film text. And if anyone thinks that that sounds far fetched, don't forget that Star Wars: A New Hope used to be an HSC prescribed film text for English Standard.
I suppose you could argue that the endless chain of blockbuster action films has dumbed the film going audience down to the point that we applaud when a film requires even the smallest use of our intellect, but I certainly wouldn't consider Bumblebee to be a particularly exemplary piece of cinema.
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