Escape Room - not the smartest movie but it does deliver some thrills

movie review

Escape Room

Starring: Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Deborah Ann Woll, Tyler Labine, Jay Ellis, and Nik Dodani

Directed by: Adam Robitel

Tagline: You're invited to play for your life.

The excitement of the escape room has captivated people around the globe, including celebrities like Ariana Grande and Barack Obama, and it’s easy to see why the trend has become so popular – it must surely be fun to unravel mysteries, solve puzzles, and find your way out of the room(s) by completing the adventure game.

But what if someone deliberately made the adventure deadly? That’s the idea behind the film Escape Room, a horror thriller in which a group of strangers find themselves trapped in a lethal maze and must fight for survival.

Shy student Zoey (Taylor Russell), ambitious executive Jason (Jay Ellis), struggling backroom worker Ben (Logan Miller), war veteran Amanda (Deborah Ann Woll), escape room enthusiast Danny (Nik Dodani), and truck driver Mike (Tyler Labine) all receive a puzzle box, each containing an invitation to an escape room facility with the chance to win $10,000 if they succeed in finding their way out.

When these individuals arrive at the facility, they quickly realize they are trapped together in a challenging game and that the dangers are very real.

As they try to make their way through the series of escape rooms, questions arise about why they were all chosen to participate in this mortal game. Who sent them the invites and why? What do they have in common? Who is behind all this? And will anyone manage to make it out alive?

There is enough suspense here to keep you watching and guessing, as Escape Room makes its way through different deadly setups. The rooms are fairly imaginative and well made, and some – like an upside down bar – are both visually and thematically impressive. The puzzles are fun but not particularly engaging; there generally aren’t enough clues for the viewer to play along, which feels like a missed opportunity. And there are more than a few clunky bits along the way that leave you thinking the arcs could have been more clever; a twist towards the end is especially questionable.

But you don’t generally watch a horror thriller for its smarts, and as far as thrills go, Escape Room mostly delivers. Director Adam Robitel may not have made full use of the rather intriguing premise but he has still managed to make the film somewhat exciting. Sure there is a general predictability to such movies, but there are enough mysteries here to keep you interested as things unfold. The focus of the proceedings mostly remains on the harried quests, and while there is death in the movie, there isn’t a lot of gore; you’ll be safe if you don’t enjoy watching the overly gruesome outcomes of the more gory thrillers.

The acting is serviceable. The characters might not be very original, but all the roles are appropriately cast.

Escape Room may be a rather typical thriller – it surely isn’t a masterpiece and it’s in absolutely no danger of winning a Best Picture Oscar – but it’s a fun ride nonetheless and interesting enough to keep you involved till the end. It’s not the smartest movie you’ll ever watch, but if you’re a fan of such horror thriller, then this film will keep you fairly entertained even if it won’t quite dazzle you with inventiveness.

Rating: 3 out of 5

- Sameen Amer

The Express Tribune Blog - 28th January, 2019 *

In the Picture - Instant Family and Night School

movie reviews 

The challenges and joys of adoption fuel Instant Family; Night School has its moments, but for the most part, the film struggles

Instant Family

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Rose Byrne, Isabela Moner, Gustavo Quiroz, Julianna Gamiz, Margo Martindale, Julie Hagerty, Octavia Spencer, and Tig Notaro
Directed by: Sean Anders
Tagline: Just add chaos laughter awkwardness mistakes love.

The challenges and joys of adoption fuel Instant Family, a comedy drama inspired in part by director (and co-writer) Sean Anders own experiences.

The story revolves around married couple Pete (Mark Wahlberg) and Ellie (Rose Byrne), who – motivated by the emptiness in their lives as well as the spirit to do something good – decide to adopt a child. But when they enthusiastically end up bring home three siblings – rebellious teenager Lizzie (Isabela Moner), her sensitive younger brother Juan (Gustavo Quiroz), and difficult young sister Lita (Julianna Gamiz) – their lives (and house) soon turn upside down.

The duo experience both the difficulties and the rewards of fostering the children, as Anders brings authenticity to the underlying sentiments. Instant Family is competently made, well-acted, clearly well-intentioned, and surprisingly heart-warming, although its emotional impact isn’t quite as strong as the film would have hoped. The feel-good moments often seem forced as the movie settles for pleasing the audience instead of exploring the complexities of the conflicts it generates, keeping it from going down roads that could have been more rewarding.

To its credit though, the film is fairly successful at shedding light on the value of adoption and has some fun satirising the pitfalls of childrearing, but the project does struggle with contrivances as things go along, and the overall journey feels very predictable. Even when the movie is taking fairly obvious turns, however, its impressive cast keeps the proceedings enjoyable. Byrne is terrific as the female lead. The underused Margo Martindale, who plays Pete’s overbearing mother, steals the show whenever she is onscreen and leaves you wishing she had been given more scenes bonding with the children. And Moner brings empathy to her moody teenage character.

For the most part, Anders does a fairly good job tugging at the heartstrings while trying to navigate a complicated topic, and Instant Family certainly has some moments of mirth and revelation. But on the whole, the movie is quite predictable and too saccharine to make the best use of its affecting topic. In the end, Instant Family is sweet and pleasant but its commercial earnestness makes the film less interesting and less impactful than it could have been.

Rating: 3 out of 5

*****

Night School

Starring: Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish, Taran Killam, Ben Schwartz, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Rob Riggle, Romany Malco, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Al Madrigal, Anne Winters, and Fat Joe
Directed by: Malcolm D. Lee

When a film stars two of the most popular comedians of the moment, then it has no right to be nearly as dull as Night School is. The movie pairs Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish but burdens them with an unexceptional script which fails to make the most of their comedic talents.

The story revolves around a high school dropout, portrayed by Hart, who must pass the GED exam in order to get a job he desperately needs.

The protagonist is Teddy (Hart), a barbecue grill salesman, who has successful maintained the illusion of wealth while dating the beautiful and successful Lisa (Megalyn Echikunwoke) who by all measures seems to be out of his league. But when an accident leaves him jobless, Teddy is left with no option but to get his GED so that he can potentially join a firm where his best friend (Ben Schwartz) works and keep impressing Lisa with his financial success.

When he goes back to his old high school, hoping to simply charm the principal into giving him the degree, he is dismayed to find his former classmate Stewart (Taran Killam) – who Teddy used to bully when they were young – in charge of the institute. Unable to get what he wants via shortcuts, Teddy ends up in the night school class of unorthodox teacher Carrie (Haddish), and joins a group of other misfits on their quest to get their high school qualifications.

The premise, though promising, isn’t very original, and director Malcolm D. Lee’s execution isn’t very inventive. There is the occasional turn that is interesting – like the film’s exploration of learning disabilities, for instance (although even that eventually takes an odd turn) – but for the most part the project suffers from its inability to be creative and bold.

There are times when Night School is amusing, but there are hardly any laugh-out-loud moments in the movie. Even Hart and Haddish’s comedic timing and delivery can’t keep the proceedings from becoming weary, especially when the slender plot is stretched into a film with a nearly two hour long running time. And the Hart-Haddish pairing doesn’t quite pay the dividends you’d expect; they are gifted performers, but here they are being smothered by the mediocrity of the material they have to work with. Likewise, the impressive supporting cast is mostly given stock roles and over the top personas, squandering their considerable talents.

Night School has its moments, but for the most part, the film struggles to generate laughs, mostly because the script just isn’t that funny, and for a movie that purports to be a comedy, that’s quite a big failing.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

- Sameen Amer

Instep, The News on Sunday - 27th January, 2019 *

Glass - disappointingly anticlimactic

movie review 

Glass

Starring: James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Sarah Paulson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Spencer Treat Clark, Charlayne Woodard
Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan

Tagline:  The world of superheroes will be shattered.

The worlds of Unbreakable (2000) and Split (2016) collide in Glass, the final chapter in writer-director M. Night Shyamalan’s Eastrail 177 Trilogy.

David Dunn (Bruce Willis), the plane crash survivor with superhuman abilities from Unbreakable, is now a vigilante known as The Overseer, who is taking down criminals with the help of his now-grown son Joseph (Spencer Treat Clark). The superhero finds himself on the trail of Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy), the kidnapper with dissociative identity disorder from Split who has been given the nickname The Horde.

But just as they clash, both men are arrested and sent to a mental health facility which also houses Dunn’s nemesis Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson). The three become the patients of psychiatrist Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson) who specializes in people exhibiting delusions of grandeur and tries to persuade the men that they are normal humans who mistakenly believe they have super powers.

Things eventually come to a head as a supposed twist leads us to an ending that is about as anticlimactic as a climax can be. Shyamalan is no stranger to controversial endings; even Glass’s parent project Unbreakable had one. But this time you’re just offered a conclusion that leaves you thinking “this can’t be it?” as you keep waiting for something more interesting to happen, although that satisfying finale never arrives.

There are some intriguing parts along the journey; there is significant tension at points as you try to figure out which side is more convincing and who will, in one way or another, emerge victorious. But the overall pace is too slow to maintain the intrigue and interest. And when things derail towards the end, the whole thing becomes a convoluted mess that doesn’t do justice to the significantly better original projects that inspired this final chapter.

It does not feel like Glass was masterfully thought up nearly two decades ago (even though it supposedly was) and you aren’t left with the impression that the worlds of Unbreakable and Split have been seamlessly put together here. This feel like a rather forced marriage, disappointingly less than the sum of its disparate parts.

For all its many pitfalls though, the film does make fairly good use of its absolutely stellar cast, especially the wonderful McAvoy who is terrific throughout the film and makes the movie worth the watch as he displays his acting range while skilfully switching between his character’s many personalities. Jackson too is impressive, as is Willis despite being relegated to a secondary slot for a large chunk of the movie. Paulson is good in her role as well, and it is nice to see the grownup Clark reprise the part he played as a child 19 years ago.

Visually, the film is competently made and grips you with its ominous atmosphere, but Shyamalan can’t make full use of the potential this project inherently possesses. The movie begins promisingly, but Glass ultimately suffers because of issues with its pacing, coherence, and how its story unfolds.

Viewers are likely to enjoy watching the performances of the actors and be intrigued by the overall concept of the movie, but its underwhelming, polarizing conclusion will probably leave you wishing the filmmaker had made better use of the fascinating characters he inherited from his previous films.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

- Sameen Amer

The Express Tribune Blogs - 25th January, 2019 *

In the Picture - Won't You Be My Neighbor? and Three Identical Strangers

documentary reviews

Won’t You Be My Neighbor? takes a look at the life and legacy of Fred Rogers, the beloved American children’s television presenter; Three Identical Strangers does justice to its extraordinary real-life tale of three brothers

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Starring: Fred Rogers, François Clemmons, Yo-Yo Ma, Joe Negri, David Newell, Tom Junod, and Joanne Rogers

Directed by: Morgan Neville

Tagline: A little kindness makes a world of difference.

Morgan Neville takes us on a stroll down memory lane in Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, a look at the life, work, and legacy of Fred Rogers, the beloved American children’s television presenter who educated and entertained kids for decades.

As affable as the man himself, the documentary sheds light on the events and ideas that inspired the Presbyterian minister to pursue a career in broadcasting and how it led to the creation and development of the unconventional Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood which went on to become one of the most iconic kids’ shows of all time.

We find out why Rogers gravitated towards children’s television and the impact he had on his audience as well as the (ridiculous) criticism he received from his detractors.

The film weaves archive footage of the late presenter – including clips from his shows and snippets from conversations – with interviews of his family members, co-workers, and journalists while employing the occasional creative touch – like beautiful animated sequences – to relay the thoughts and philosophies of the remarkable man who gently taught kindness, love, compassion, patience, and self-acceptance to kids, and who did not shy away from having sincere, earnest discussions about difficult topics with his young viewers.

This isn’t exactly an all-encompassing look at his life. Those expecting a more personal slant – like thorough details about his family and upbringing, for instance – will not find what they are looking for here. The documentary touches upon Rogers’ background and life as it explores his television career, but the focus primarily remains on his work and ideas.

Those who grew up watching Neighborhood will bask in the warmth of the nostalgia this film invokes. But even those who weren’t lucky enough to experience Fred Rogers’s charm when they were children will still find the documentary engrossing simply because it’s hard not to find its one-of-a-kind, peculiar, wonderful subject interesting.

As far as documentaries go, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? is fairly straightforward and doesn’t reveal any surprises. But there is no resisting the emotional response this film will draw from you. There are parts that will make you smile; there are parts that will make you tear up; and in the end you will be left with a reminder of the power of kindness and love, much needed in our divisive times. Ultimately, this revisit to the world of Fred Rogers will make your day special, because surely there was no person in the whole world quite like him.

Rating: 5 out of 5

*****

Three Identical Strangers

Starring: Edward Galland, David Kellman, and Robert Shafran

Directed by: Tim Wardle

Tagline: The most amazing, incredible, remarkable true story ever told.

Three Identical Strangers starts off with a series of remarkable coincidences.

On his first day of college, Bobby Shafran is bewildered by the overly warm welcome he is receiving from his fellow students. What’s bewildering him even more though is the fact that everyone keeps calling him “Eddy”. The realization that he has a doppelgänger leads to the reunion of the identical brothers, a story that generates considerable media interest. And then things get even more bizarre when David Kellman and his family and friends come across a newspaper article about Bobby and Eddy and are shocked by David’s undeniable resemblance to the recently united brothers.

That’s how Bobby, Eddy, and David – American triplets separated at birth – incredibly find their way back to each other at the age of 19.

But just when you think you’re about to get a feel-good tale, things take a disturbingly sinister turn.

Why were the boys separated as infants? Why were their adoptive parents not told about the split? How did they end up with families at three different economic levels? As the triplets and their adoptive parents try to unravel the mystery behind the brothers’ separation, they are shocked by what they uncover.

The film has to work around a couple of constraints but it does so quite well. And while it can’t answer all the questions that come up, that is simply because it does not have access to all the answers; but this never feels like a shortcoming and only helps to illustrate the frustration its subjects must feel.

There is joy and wit and anguish and utter devastation at the various stages of the documentary, all captured beautifully by Tim Wardle. The brothers recount their strange experience with the help of close friends and family members, and the presence of actual footage from their lives makes for a riveting viewing experience.

The less you know about the events behind the documentary, the more you’ll be intrigued by the proceedings as the pieces fall together. But the film even remains compelling on repeat viewing, and its heartbreak remains just as affecting.

Built around what is quite possibly the most surreal story you’ll ever hear, the very engaging and thought-provoking Three Identical Strangers does justice to its extraordinary real-life tale and effortlessly proves that reality sure can be stranger – and perhaps even more disturbing – than fiction.

Rating: 5 out of 5

- Sameen Amer

Instep, The News on Sunday - 20th January, 2018 *

What Men Want - yet another gender-flipped remake

trailer review

Thanks to Hollywood’s never-ending fondness for recycling ideas, we are now getting a new film inspired by the very mediocre Mel Gibson-starring romantic comedy What Women Want. Because everything in existence must be remade, obviously.

Director Adam Shankman and co. have taken the concept behind the 2000 Nancy Meyers film and flipped the gender to come up with – you guessed it! – What Men Want, a (hopefully amusing) look at what would happen if a woman could hear men’s inner thoughts.

The terrific Taraji P. Henson plays the lead role, portraying a sports agent who is passed up for a promotion and told it’s because she “doesn’t connect with men”. An encounter with a peculiar psychic leaves her with the ability to hear what men are thinking. She quickly realizes that she can use her new powers to her advantage in order to get ahead in a "man's world".

It appears the project aims to take a dated movie and update it for the #MeToo era. The filmmakers have the opportunity to ride the current waves of change and take a look at what it’s like for a woman to get ahead in a corporate career while exploring how men think about and objectify women. How well and sensitively the film tackles these subjects, of course, remains to be seen.

It is great to see Henson – who seems charming and feisty in the clip – as the protagonist of the movie. The supporting cast – which includes Tracy Morgan, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Josh Brener, Tamala Jones, Phoebe Robinson, Max Greenfield, Jason Jones, Brian Bosworth, Erykah Badu, Pete Davidson, and even features cameos by Shaquille O'Neal and Mark Cuban – is also extremely impressive. (And there is no Mel Gibson is sight, which is always a good thing.)

There is nothing particularly exceptional or inventive about the trailer though, and it doesn’t ever go in a very exciting, unexpected direction. Plus the movie clearly targets fans of raunchy comedies, and seems reliant on lots of swearing and adult humour, which might not be everyone’s cup of tea.

Still, if you enjoy wacky, raunchy wit, then this gender-flipped revisit might be worth checking out. It could potentially be fun to get a female perspective on the idea. We do hope Shankman can give the concept a fresh spin and make good use of Henson and her co-stars’ considerable acting talent.

When Men Want arrives in cinemas on 8th February this year.

- Sameen Amer

The Express Tribune Blogs - 15th January, 2019 *

In the Picture - Bird Box and Peppermint

movie reviews

Bird Box, a Netflix movie, borrows heavily from several of its predecessors and seems particularly fond of genre tropes; Peppermint serves as a reminder that Jennifer Garner makes an impressive action hero

Bird Box

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich, Vivien Lyra Blair, Julian Edwards, Danielle Macdonald, Lil Rel Howery, Jacki Weaver, Rosa Salazar, BD Wong, Tom Hollander, Sarah Paulson, and Colson Baker

Directed by: Susanne Bier

Tagline: Never lose sight of survival.

Hollywood’s department of post-apocalyptic thrillers currently seems very intrigued by the human senses. Just a few months after A Quiet Place took us to a dystopian world where making a sound would lead to death, we now have Bird Box, where seeing equals suicide. Unlike A Quiet Place though, Bird Box is neither exciting nor compelling.

With a premise that is somewhat akin to the aforementioned John Krasinski film as well as the M. Night Shyamalan thriller The Happening, the Netflix movie borrows heavily from several of its predecessors and seems particularly fond of genre tropes.

As the film begins, a woman (Sandra Bullock) directs two children – a boy (Julian Edwards) and a girl (Vivien Lyra Blair) – to do exactly as she says and not to take off their blindfolds under any circumstances, before setting out on a dangerous journey down a river in a boat.

A flashback swiftly takes us back five years, where we find out that mysterious, supernatural entities are causing people who see them to commit suicide. A ragtag group of survivors – among them, a heroic Trevante Rhodes, a grumpy John Malkovich, a weary Jacki Weaver, and even Machine Gun Kelly for some reason – eventually find themselves holed up in a house, trying to figure out what is going on and how best to navigate the impending doom.

We go back and forth between the river journey and the flashbacks, but swinging between the two timelines takes away whatever little suspense the story possesses. The writers never coherently detail (or stick to) the rules of their apocalypse, nor do they seem very adept at creating three dimensional individuals, settling instead for using archetypical characters to populate their tale. The always bankable Sandra Bullock isn’t given much to work with here, while the terrific Sarah Paulson is completely wasted in her small role; the biggest mystery the film leaves you with is how the project even managed to attract such an impressive cast.

While dystopian dramas often explore the human condition or some deeper underlying meaning, Susanne Bier doesn’t bother with any such effort. Instead she throws around a couple of vague thematic elements here and there, and leaves viewers with the errand of imagining some allegorical depth in the shallow narrative. The film might be trying to say something about the powers of motherhood and there is perhaps a vague look at mental health, although, without giving too much away, the movie’s portrayal of mental illness is either ignorantly dangerous or offensively clumsy, or quite possibly both.

As it stands, Bird Box is a little too bird-brained for its own good. The filmmakers could have easily spun the story a different way, but the direction they decided to take is so tepid and hackneyed that it simply isn’t effective as a thriller and just ends up squandering a fairly decent premise.

Rating: 2 out of 5

*****

Peppermint

Starring: Jennifer Garner, John Ortiz, John Gallagher Jr., Juan Pablo Raba, and Tyson Ritter

Directed by: Pierre Morel

Tagline: The system failed. She won’t.

Hell hath no fury like a woman whose family has been murdered, at least according to Peppermint, an action thriller that finds a bereaved woman seeking revenge for the assassination of her family.

Jennifer Garner portrays the protagonist Riley North, who has a young daughter, Carly (Cailey Fleming), with her husband Chris (Jeff Hephner). When the financially struggling Chris agrees to be part of a robbery, he incurs the wrath of the intended target, powerful drug lord Diego Garcia (Juan Pablo Raba), who orders his men to make an example of the would-be thief. Chris and Carly are gunned down in a drive-by shooting, while a severely wounded Riley ultimately survives.

When the corrupt justice system fails to punish the men who killed her family, Riley takes matters into her own hands and sets out for revenge against the cartel that destroyed her life.

Things unfold exactly how you’d imagine. There is no subtlety, no complexity, no nuance. The movie basically plays out like a comic book vigilante has been dropped into a video game, which probably wouldn’t be as big a disappointment had the proceedings been original in any way. You are continuously reminded of past projects – John Wick, The Punisher, and director Pierre Morel’s own Taken – only this time the (anti)hero just happens to be female.

The film could have still delivered an exciting action outing despite the unoriginality of its premise had the filmmakers bothered to give their characters some depth and detail. There is precious little we know about Riley outside her tragic ordeal, and there is next to nothing we know about the perpetrators (who, problematically, are mostly Latino); she is basically there to do the asskicking, and they are there to receive brutal endings.

The main problem here is the lazy screenwriting which refuses to come up with interesting layers for the characters to explore. Plus Riley is put in such a bleak position that her actions don’t deliver the exhilarating effect that is generally intended with such vigilante thrillers.

To her credit, Jennifer Garner brings both strength and vulnerability to her role, and holds her own throughout the proceedings. Peppermint serves as a reminder that the actress makes an impressive action hero, but ultimately just leaves you wishing her talents had been put to use in a better action movie.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

- By Sameen Amer

Instep, The News on Sunday - 13th January, 2019 *

In the Picture - Aquaman and Bumblebee

movie reviews 

Aquaman very desperately wants to be epic but doesn’t quite have the right ingredients; not an ounce of originality appears to have been expended in the creation of Bumblebee’s storyline

Aquaman

Starring: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Dolph Lundgren, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Nicole Kidman
Directed by: James Wan
Tagline: Home is calling.

After wallowing in darkness for far too long, DC embraces some relatively lighter fun in its latest superhero adventure, Aquaman.

Rooted in fantasy and sprinkled with (attempted) levity, the first outing of the titular character finds its half-Atlantean/half-human protagonist reluctant to become king of Atlantis.

Jason Momoa portrays the superhero who is forced to embrace his role as the heir to the undersea kingdom when his half-brother, Orm (Patrick Wilson), tries to start a war between the underwater world and the surface world. It may not be the most intuitive casting choice but it works nonetheless. The actor is striking in the main role and makes his character feel like the Thor of the DC universe.

Momoa is supported by an impressive cast. Most notably, Amber Heard plays his love interest and sidekick, a fierce warrior who refreshingly holds her own in the midst of conflict. And the terrific Nichole Kidman portrays his mother, the Queen of Atlantis, who is shunned for falling in love with a human.

Unfortunately though, the script and storyline of the film don’t do these fine actors any justice. The movie’s problems partly stem from the fact that under its overambitious visage lies a very run-of-the-mill origin story that keeps the proceedings from being truly exciting. Aquaman very desperately wants to be epic but doesn’t quite have the right ingredients to achieve its desired magnitude. The script is in severe need of polishing and a thorough edit. The story is downright predictable; you can anticipate any attempted twist about an hour before it happens. Some of the attempts at humour work; many don’t. Even its visuals aren’t as impressive as they should be; in the underwater scenes, the actors mostly look like they are suspended from wires instead of actually swimming in water.

Perhaps the project was just too big in scope for horror movie maestro James Wan to handle. The director seems a little out of his depth here. He does imbue his work with flavours of action, fantasy, and horror which, at times, come together in an entertaining way, but his effort also ends up being more scattershot than riveting. The film lacks the imagination that would have made the first outing of Aquaman truly special. Parts of it may be fun, but overall the movie is tonally uneven and too long for its own good.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

*****

Bumblebee

Starring: Hailee Steinfeld, John Cena, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., John Ortiz, Jason Drucker, and Pamela Adlon
Directed by: Travis Knight
Tagline: Every hero has a beginning.

For their sixth big screen outing, the Transformers take a step back from Michael Bay’s bombast and embrace a more emotional arc in Bumblebee, a prequel that frames the franchise in a noticeably different light.

The film explains how the Transformers ended up on Earth by telling the story of B-127 (voiced by Dylan O'Brien), a young Autobot who, amidst a war with the Decepticons, is sent to Earth by Optimus Prime to establish a base on the planet. After getting injured in a skirmish with Sector 7 agents – including Jack Burns (John Cena) – and Decepticon Blitzwing upon his arrival, B-127 disguises himself as a yellow Volkswagen Beetle. The seemingly dilapidated car is eventually acquired by Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld), a teenager (with convenient mechanic skills) who is struggling with the death of her father (Tim Martin Gleason) and resentful of her mother (Pamela Adlon) for moving on and remarrying.

Charlie soon discovers the vehicle’s true form and starts to bond with the damaged, amnesiac Autobot, giving him the nickname “Bumblebee”. But when danger arrives on the planet in B-127’s wake, the duo find themselves on a perilous quest on which the fate of the world relies.

Revelling in ‘80s nostalgia (mostly by way of pop music), Bumblebee is built around the bond between its main characters and adds heart to its adventure. The reins this time have been handed to director Travis Knight (who is best known for his animation work), which is a suitable choice since this instalment feels more like a Disney movie than a high-adrenaline blockbuster. The film’s action is accompanied by warmth; the performances by its cast are decent enough, if not altogether remarkable; the action sequences are enjoyable; and the titular character is easily lovable.

And it would all have been a whole lot of fun if the film wasn’t so distractingly, disappointingly derivative. Bumblebee feels like The Iron Giant meets Herbie by way of E.T. Not an ounce of originality appears to have been expended in the creation of Bumblebee’s storyline. Clichés abound and the reliance on familiar story arcs serves as a let-down.

It could have been a good movie if it wasn’t so heavily and obviously inspired by better films. It’s hard to enjoy a tale when it is downright unoriginal and predictable, which is why this chapter might be better suited for younger viewers who aren’t as jaded and who will find the cheesy, calculated teenage drama less corny.

Still, while it may not get all its elements right, Bumblebee is a definite improvement over its recent predecessors, and nudges the series in the right direction. If the filmmakers can come up with a more original story for its successor, then we might finally have the film that long-term fans of the franchise have been eagerly waiting for.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

- Sameen Amer

Instep, The News on Sunday -  6th January, 2019 *