Movies are a part of my life. It's not uncommon for one of our weekend activities to include a trip to the movies. My obsession started in high school when almost all of my friends worked at the local movie theater and I'd cycle through going to movies with them. Once married, my husband and I visited an independently owned theater in Cedar Rapids, Collins Road Theaters, frequently. It didn't take a lot for us to be satisfied with our movie choices, even though they were second-run movies. It was always a pleasant experience going to this theater and the concession prices weren't gouging nor was waiting a few weeks a harsh experience for us, but then disruption happened in the movie-going industry. Second-run movies were not coming out much before, if at all before, they were available at home - and with a 180 inch projection screen in our basement, there wasn't a whole lot of need to go to the movies anymore.
On November 2nd, that changed. Collins Road Theaters once again began showing First-Run movies (as it had when it first opened). Their First-Run movies right now include Aquaman and Bumblebee. Since summer, when Bumblebee was first advertised, my son asked to see Bumblebee every time we saw a movie. Today, he finally saw the movie and it was a good movie.
First, transformers had something for everyone. There was the hint of romance for me. There was plenty of action for my husband and daughter, and there were Transformers for my son. As with many science fiction movies, there is a certain amount of creative license given to make the story believable. The characteristics of Charlie as a hurting teen were consistent with what I would expect - especially from the 1980s. The annoyingly perfect little brother Otis comes to Charlie's rescue when she promises to tell him why she needs him to keep her secret and the boy next door is definitely on his way to winning Charlie's heart when Bumblebee drives off.
Next, even though we were watching Autobots and Decepticons infiltrating Earth, it didn't seem like the characteristics of the aliens were outrageous for the setting of the movie. The backstory leading into how the Autobots needed a safe place to live and B-157 being sent by Optimus Prime gave the audience enough knowledge to not question the validity or likelihood that something like this could potentially happen.
Of course, no story would be complete without good winning over evil and the defeat of the Decepticons on Earth by Bumblebee and Charlie's teamwork helps give the closure needed to the viewers.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and watching it with my family (aside from my 8 year old daughter thinking that she needed to talk throughout the movie). If you have a Transformer fan in your life, this is a must-see for them.