Bumblebee 2018

     B-127 (Bumblebee) is a young scout transformer and he is sent to Earth.  He must set up a base of operations for the Autobots to regroup.  Optimus Prime is leading the Autobots but they are on the verge of losing the Great Cybertronian War to the Decepticons.  B-127 reaches Earth alone in 1987.  Charlie Watson is a teenage girl and she is still traumatized by the death of her father.  She finds a Volkswagen Beetle in a scrap yard.  Charlie asks the owner Hank about the Beetle and she wants to know who the owner is?  Hank gives it to that day Charlie for her 18^th birthday.  She accidentally activates a homing signal that causes two Decepticons to come to earth in response.  When Charlie begins to work on the Beetle, it transforms into B-127 and she nicknames him Bumblebee.  Charlie and Bumblebee begin to work together along with Charles’s friend Memo.

     Charlie lives with her mother, her younger brother and her mother’s boyfriend Ron in Brighton Falls somewhere near San Francisco, California.  Her mother has moved on after her husband's death with Ron.  Charlie misses her father every day of her life.  She’s trying to restore her Dad’s car but it’s taking a long time.  She’s very happy when she finds the Beetle.  Charlie gets into a LOT of hot water when Bumblebee goes into her house and destroys almost everything!!  What can she tell her parents about any of this?  I thought this was good.   

     There is a LOT of action and the characters are believable except for John Cena!!  Cena is a former professional wrestler and he has been an actor for five years.  He has acted in Bumblebee, The Wall (6.2 out of 10), Sisters (6 out of 10), Blockers (6.2 out of 10) and Trainwreck 6.2 out of 10).  4* (I really liked this movie)  

104 min, Action directed by Travis Knight with Hailee Steinfgeld, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., John Cena, Jason Drucker, Pamela Adlon, Stephen Schneider, Ricardo Hoyos, John Ortiz, Glynn Turman, Len Cariou, Kollin Holtz, Gracie Dzienny, Fred Dryer, Isabelle Ellingson, Mika Kubo.

Note:  Imdb 6.9 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 93% critic 74% audience, Roger Ebert 1 ½*, RollingStone 3* out of 5*, Metacritic 66 out of 100 with 39 critics 7 out of 10 with 456 user scores (positive 318, mixed 83, negative 55), Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 1276 reviews.

Special Note:  This is the sixth film in the Transformers film series.  Filmed in Santa Cruz, Felton, Vallejo, Marin Headlands, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Mount Tamalpais, San Rafael, Mare Island, Los Angeles and Mount Hollywood Dr Tunnel, Los Angeles, California.  The budget was $102-128 million and this is the least expensive Transformer movie to date.  The worldwide gross was $468 million.