It seems that most blockbuster films encourage the laziness of 30 to 40-year-old writing teams by deliberately setting films in the 1980s.

The formula for Hollywood pics today is simple: introduce a relatively easy-to-follow story and then slap on as many 1980s pop-culture references as you can. That seemed to be the formula in films such as Guardians of The Galaxy, Deadpool and Ted, and, now, we see it in Bumblebee.

The film, a prequel, is set in the 1980s, which is when the original Transformers cartoon was aired. With this setting, the writing staff felt it had the freedom to use as many 80s songs and pop-culture references as they wanted, which might have been acceptable had they not used the same songs and references that have been featured in other blockbusters.

At one point in the film, a television screen shows the end scene to quintessential 80s film The Breakfast Club, and the soundtrack is filled with the same boring group of 80s songs usually featured in films: “Never Gonna Give You Up”, “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” and “Take on Me”. For a film set in the 80s, and for being 80s kids, it seems that the staff did not explore too deeply their era.

This whole throwback pattern in blockbuster films is an example of lazy writing by a Generation X-dominated writing staff with no interest in mining outside of their own nostalgia.

On a positive note, they do a good job at trying to maintain the look and feel of the original cartoon, though this is primarily seen through the design of the Autobots themselves.

As a film, Bumblebee also doesn’t really stray far from the boilerplate action-movie template, making it unremarkable when pitted against other films in the box office, but it would undoubtedly triumph financially over every film in theaters. Hasbro is likely to make a lot of money from merchandise sales. After all, Bumblebee, the character, is popular.

But despite its flaws, Bumblebee is the most well-made in the Transformersfranchise.

For one thing, the film does not explicitly look like a blatant and overlong toy commercial. It may still be a toy commercial, but it is one that takes care in its delivery.

Bumblebee tells us the origin story of one of few likeable Transformers: the tough yellow car who is able to triumph in the face of the daunting Decepticon robot race.

Here, we find out the reason why Bumblebee is incapable of speech and what brought him to Earth in the first place. These are the only things that one learns about the Transformers universe in this film, though they aren’t exactly completely new information.

As the female lead, Hailee Steinfeld is probably the franchise’s best. Her performance way outshines that of original Transformers lead girl Megan Fox and her forgettable replacements.

She does not really have to look tough in this film, there is no obligation for her to show her skin at unnecessary times and she can pass off as a run-of-the-mill teenager who happens to be interested in cars and indie rock.

If Michael Bay were to direct this film, none of these things would be true and Hailee would have lost some credibility in show business. Instead, it was the careful directing of Travis Knight (of Kubo and the Two Strings) that managed to give the franchise ounces of real emotion, even if the execution was not perfect.

Bumblebee makes it possible to actually feel touched by a Transformers movie. There is more emotion in one frame of Steinfeld’s teary-eyed face than there ever was in any second of Bay’s Transformers films.

That does not mean that the film is without its glaring flaws though. The film seems to be centered so much on the Autobots and on Hailee’s character Charlie Watson that a storyline involving a nervous love interest seems rushed and incomplete.

Jorge Lendeborg Jr. does an OK job playing the nervous and overthinking Memo, the foil to Charlie’s heroic lead, but the circumstances as to why he is there, and why he is needed at all, are vague. The movie could have gotten on better without this tacked on storyline, which just serves as a distraction rather than a meaningful addition.

The film’s main target market, kids and teenagers, are unlikely to adopt this cynical view on the film and the industry trends behind it. They shouldn’t care.

Bumblebee is enjoyable for them. It’s a good effort – finally – from the Transformers franchise. They should watch it.

_________________________

Bumblebee

(Paramount Pictures; 113 minutes)

Directed by Travis Night

Cast: Hailee Steinfeld, Dylan O’Brien, Megyn Price, John Cena

Popular

Volcano erupts in North Sulawesi, hundreds evacuated

Dubai roads, airport reel from floods after record rains

Ramadan boosts consumer confidence, retail sales