daily stream: a girl and her alien robot car
2018’s *Bumblebee* leaves UK Prime very soon; on Paramount+ in the US
It’s all science fiction this week at Daily Stream, ahead of an announcement at FlickFilosopher.com. And if anyone had told me five years ago that I would ever wholeheartedly recommend a Transformers movie, I’d have yeeted you into the sun, as the kids today say. But 2018’s Bumblebee is a charming delight, perhaps not least because it harkens back to the action-adventure dramedies of my teendom, like E.T. and other 80s kiddie sci-fi. This is a cute, funny, heartfelt throwback that is nostalgic without being mindlessly retro, a gentle girl-and-her-alien-robot-car lark that hits all the right notes of organic-metallic friendships. Hailee Steinfeld as the teen is wonderful, and there’s nary a whiff of Michael Bay — who made all those other, deeply terrible Transformers movies, but not this one — about it. (Read my 2018 review.)
US: stream on Paramount+ (via Prime and Apple TV); rent/buy on Prime and Apple TV
UK: stream on Prime (till September 30th); rent/buy on Prime and Apple TV
See Bumblebee at Letterboxd for more viewing options.
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"Charming" is absolutely the right word for this giant robot movie. I particularly like how the movie handles the boy-girl stuff. Which I'm not sure how to describe, but it's somehow wise, and funny, and sweet, and more satisfying than the "traditional" ending would have been.