It took eleven years and five Michael Bay movies to get here, but with Bumblebee, the live-action Transformers films finally look like the ‘80s cartoons.
On Monday, Paramount Pictures released a new live-action trailer for Bumblebee, the Transformers prequel from director Travis Knight (Kubo and the Two Strings) that will explore the origins of the humble yellow Volkswagen-shaped Autobot. And in a treat for hardcore bot fans, the film’s trailer sports Autobots and Decepticons with boxier silhouettes, which better resemble the iconic cartoon, than the organic alien look of the previous films.
In short: the Transformers actually look like Transformers! And thank Optimus Prime, it will finally be easy to tell which robot is which onscreen.
But the trailer isn’t all nostalgia. Bumblebee also just plain looks like a good movie, with its central relationship between Bumblebee and his first human Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld) anchoring the story’s emotional core. WWE star John Cena also appears in the film as its primary antagonist, Agent Burns, who seems to unwittingly align with the Decepticons, unaware of their true motives.
Still, the spirit of the ‘80s Transformers series is everywhere in Bumblebee. There are shots of Cybertron and the Autobots (including Optimus Prime, voiced by none other than Peter Cullen), and Decepticons like Soundwave (AKA the tape recorder bot). Turn up the volume on your earphones and you’ll also hear the classic “transformation” sound ripped straight from the cartoon.
Soundwave, in all his '80s glory in the new trailer for 'Bumblebee.'
Bumblebee rolls into theaters on December 21.
