After five twisted metal orgies from Michael Bay, it looks like we may finally get the Transformers movie we've been waiting for with Bumblebee. Stepping away from Bay's spectacle-over-substance template, Travis Knight has taken the franchise back to its roots, conjuring all those warm and fuzzy feelings the Robots In Disguise first brought with them in the eighties. With the first proper trailer giving us a decent look at what's in store, we asked Knight to talk us through the the major points and shed some light on what awaits.
The Love Bug
Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld) is 18 years old and, after landing her very own VW beetle as a first car, discovers there's more under the bonnet than a 1.1 litre engine.
"This film is Bumblebee's story," explains Knight. "It's effectively an origin story, where we see how he became the character that he is, where he came from, how he evolved. The Transformers film mythology is masive, it's expansive, it's huge. This film is an opportunity for us to focus in on one aspect of that canvas and that is Bumblebee. He has his Autobot family, he has these baddies that he goes up against. That is an aspect of his story but fundamentally it's about his relationship with this girl Charlie and how essentially they find each other and make each other whole. There are other layers at play but that is at the core of the story."
Eighties Fashion
From Bumblebee's VW curves to the film's eighties setting, Bumblebee harks back to the Transformers heyday of the early eighties, abandoning Michael Bay's modernised look for a classic Transformers look and feel drawn from the original 1983 animated movie.
"For me that was the touchstone. That was when I was first exposed to the Transformers. I loved those characters, I loved their designs and I introduced my kids to Transformers and the first thing I showed them was the Transformers cartoon and they loved it as much as I did. Part of it is the beauty and simplicity of the design, so when we were trying to bring a new perspective to this franchise we went back to the beginning and asked how can we bring that to a modern era but still pay tribute to the wonder and magic of those original designs."
The Boy Next Door
We're introduced to one of the film's supporting characters: Charlie's sidekick, Memo (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.). "Memo is new to town, he's Charlie's next door neighbour and someone who we get to know as she gets to know him at the same time. We see their relationship bloom and grow and be challenged; they have a lovely friendship in the film but the core of the movie is the relationship between Charlie and Bee."
And His Name... Is John Cena
On slightly less friendly terms is John Cena as Agent Burns, a military commander who's less concerned with the welbeing of Charlie's new mechanical pal than he is about stopping a full-blown robot war from breaking out oin the San Francisco Bay area.
"Agent Burns is less a villain and more of a grey area character — I don't think moustachio-twirling baddies are particularly interesting. Certainly he is somebody who puts the screws on our heroes but he does so for reasons we can understand. In fact on some level he's probably right. He's a heavy guy, he's not someone who you'd want to run afoul of, but we also as an audience can understand where he's coming from."
Robot Wars
The film has been rather misleading uptil now, intentionally giving the impression that, as its title suggests, this is a film about the taciturn yellow beetle alone. We're swiftly disabused of that notion thanks to a barrage of familiar faces including Decepticon premiereship players Shockwave, Starscream and Blitzwing, all in their original, first generation forms.
"I grew up with these Transformers and the story that I wanted to tell was something that was resonant and evocative of those original wave of Transformers stories. I loved those things so much. They were new, they were magical, they were wondrous. They connected with me emotionally and they were exciting to watch. That's the kind of film I wanted to make here."
We also see a shot of the original '80s Soundwave, complete with chest-mounted tape deck (ask your parents, millennials), from which Ravage bursts forth.
"There's a lot going on," laughs Knight. "If I was going to make a Transformers film I wanted to give nods to some of the things that I loved most about the series to begin with and for me seeing those original designs on Shockwave and Soundwave and Ravage and Wheeljack and all those different characters was a really exciting opportunity to take the audience back to that initial wave of Transformers and to evoke the same feeling that they evoked in me. I was pretty giddy bringing those guys to life."
I Am Optimus Prime
No Transformers movie would be complete without Prime, who makes an appearance here both on Cybertron and as a hologram down on Earth. Prime fans will get their fix but don't expect him to start wading into the action to help Bee out, as the Autobot leader's presence in the movie is strictly limited.
Triple Threat
Leading the hunt for Bumblebee are Decepticon triple-changers Shatter (Angela Bassett) and Dropkick (Justin Theroux). Shatter has a Harrier Jump Jet and a red Plymout Satellite muscle car up her robotic sleeve, while Dropkick can flit between a blue AMC Javelin car and a Bell AH-1 SuperCobra attack helicopter. Being Decepticons they're not the most reliable of sources, informing Agent Burns that they're on the trail of a fugitive (Bumblebee), whose capture is essential to stopping an interstellar war.
"The triple changer aspect was something we leaned into just because I thought it was cool. I wanted to showcase how formidable an opponent could be if they have those kind of abilities and putting our main character up against someting like that was really exciting. One of the things we do in animation is try to evoke an idea or a feeling just with something's silhouette. You can see in this film how with the two Decepticon heavies you have these big, muscular cars these angular aircraft and then you see them go up against this round, warm shape of a VW beetle. Just in the shape language you can evoke a certain feeling."
There's No Place Like Home
The steel and rivets architecture on display here isn't classic San Francisco but rather the robots' home planet of Cybertron, which makes an appearance in the film with an aesthetic drawn, like so much else in the film, straight from the original eighties animation.
"We do go to Cybertron, yes, and I have to say it's pretty awesome! That's where the Transformers started and while it's not heavily featured in our film it is an aspect of it. I absolutely embraced the opportunity to see Cybertron the way I saw it when I was a kid."
Game Face
Confronted by Burns and clearly having none of it, Bumblebee slides down his battle visor and prepares to start taking names. Bee's look is something that evolves as the film goes on.
"One of the cool aspects of the Transformers is right there in the name: their ability to Transform. In this film we see how Bumblebee takes this gift that these characters have and how he uses it in a way that we haven't seen before. Him changing shape is something that is rooted in his emotional growth and I thought it was fun to play with that idea that his physical transformation and emotional transformation are linked together."
Spielberg Magic
The trailer's final shot is a playful sequence in which Bumblebee attempts to sneak into Charlie's living room before seating himself on (and crushing) the family couch. It's a fun moment reminiscent of E.T., a nod that Knight admits is entirely intentional.
"Growing up in the eighties, the most powerful stories were the Amblin stories. They had a thinking brain; a strong, beating heart; and a poetic soul. They evoked wonder and laughter and tears every single time. So knitting those two things together: my love of Transformers and my love of Spielberg and Amblin, was something I really wanted to evoke in this film. And it didn't hurt that Steven Spielberg was an executive producer on the movie! Having this guy who has been an icon for me my entire life and being able to collaborate with him and make this film in a way that evokes what was so special about those movies to me as a kid was a joy."
Bumblebee is released in the UK on 26 December.