Awesome / Bumblebee

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The original and the best.

Against all odds^note (most pressingly the infamy garnered by the Bayverse films), Bumblebee did the impossible and provides a cinematic Transformers experience filled with a plethora of CMOAs, in-universe and out!

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Previews

• The reveal of Blitzwing, who looks just like G1 Starscream. Many YouTube reactions on the trailer had the audiences literally screaming when he showed up!
  • There was a bit of initial backlash once it was revealed that "Starscream" wasn't really Starscream at all, though it's mostly been mitigated by Blitzwing being a genuinely threatening antagonist and by the real Starscream appearing in the Cybertron scene as a separate character.
• The Cybertron sequences with Optimus Prime, Soundwave, and Shockwave in the next trailer got similar reactions.

Film

Opening Sequence

• For the first few seconds of the film, there is first a black screen with the intense music slowly building up, and soon after the screen changes. We see an aerial shot of a mechanical landscape filled with highly detailed streets and buildings with yellow lighting. The whole view is filled with intense laser fire and explosions, with Decepticon Seeker jets flying around. Soon after, an info text appears: ”Cybertron”.
  • In the first five minutes, we see Ratchet, Arcee, Wheeljack and more, all in combat and sporting updated but very G1-inspired designs. It's good to be back.
  • Optimus Prime's opening move is to take out some Seekers who were pinning his soldiers down before confronting some more and even throwing one of them to the floor. To put it simply? He was literally wiping the floor with those Seekers.
    • Later, he escapes the exploding building by leaping off the roof and latching onto a Seeker in vehicle mode to safety.
    • The last we saw of Optimus Prime was that he was surrounded by Soundwave, Starscream, Shockwave and what looked like dozens upon dozens of Decepticons. The fact that he was alive and well at the epilogue of the movie undoubtedly speaks of an Offscreen Moment of Awesome.
    • Among the Decepticons surrounding him are Shatter and Dropkick, heck no wonder why they are afraid of Optimus.
    • To add contrast, Shatter and Dropkick were present in above mentioned battle swarming the Aubobot leader, and are later interrogating Cliffjumper saying that Prime had escaped. Much later in the film, when finding Prime’s message to B-127 announcing to be on his way to Earth, Dropkick sounds outright scared of the idea of Prime arriving to defend the planet personally, giving quite an indication that the two Cons have witnessed his might.
  • Bee's introduction on Cybertron, in which he utilizes Car Fu on two unsuspecting Decepticon seekers before smashing into a third one and using him as an improvised landing pad (killing him in the process), and then kicking his head towards another Seeker which was creeping up on Optimus Prime.
    Bumblebee: Sorry I'm late, hit a little traffic...
  • During Soundwave’s introduction to the battle, the camera shifts and ultimately zooms out to reveal none other than Starscream and Shockwave in glorious panorama shot. The presence of all three Decepticons (and the army behind them) is what makes Optimus Prime himself put on an almost panicked expression and immediately order his remaining troops to fall back as the enemy communications officer borrows Megatron's Catchphrase.
    Soundwave: Decepticons, Attack!
  • As Optimus faces the Decepticons to give the Autobots time to retreat, he puts up a one-sided smackdown on all that face him, until he hears...
    Soundwave: Ravage, Eject.
    • At which point, Soundwave ejects a cassette that transforms into Ravage with the classic Generation One transforming noise, and begins a vicious counterattack against Optimus that actually troubles the Autobot leader.
• The fact that despite the Autobots still managing to put up a great initial resistance against the Decepticons, the Cons' have enough might and numbers to eventually break through, terrifying even Optimus.
  Optimus: Autobots, fall back!

Bumblebee's Moments

• In what may well be a Call-Back to Starscream's demise in Dark of the Moon, Bumblebee killing Blitzwing by embedding one of the Seeker's arm missiles into his chest and firing a shot at the exact same spot; blasting the Decepticon to burning scrap metal with his own explosives.
• Bumblebee actually gets to show off some real martial arts skills in this time around. In his fight against Dropkick, both characters tend to use Judo moves against each other.
• For a lot of the movie, the impression is that the military might hold their own against Cybertronians, particularly with their heavy ordnance and harpoon guns. Then Burns throws down Charlie, leading to Bumblebee doing something he hadn't against humans in the entire film, fight back. He effortlessly halts the jeeps dragging him back, stands up (and pulling them forward) and just annihilates them. The harpoons embedded in him? Handled in a single knife slice. Their weapons fire? Barely an irritant. His own fire power, hugely superior. Drives home the fact that not only is Bee awesome, but he's also physically the weakest of the Earthbound Cybertronians. He wins fights through skill and quick thinking, not raw power. Puts Shatter and Dropkick's first meeting with Sector Seven in a new light.
• Bee shows that despite his smaller size he is very ingenious when it comes to fighting larger opponents. During his fight with Dropkick he grabs an I-beam and attacks Kick's joints before smashing it into his face. Showing that he also knows to attack weak spots first.
• Bumblebee fighting Dropkick, concluding with Bee wrapping a chain around the Decepticon's rotors in his vehicle mode, which disables him when he transforms with a literal example of Spanner in the Works and then tearing him to bits with one swift pull.
  Dropkick: You think these little chains can hold--? (Bee yanks the chain and Dropkick is ripped apart)
  • Not to mention the fight itself, which includes some brilliant choreography (at one point, Bee uses a judo throw against Dropkick), plus the single-shot scene of Charlie running to the radio tower while attempting to stay out of their way.
  • In a Mythology Gag to the G1 cartoon opening, Dropkick throws Bumblebee, who recovers by transforming into car mode, popping a quick U-turn, and coming back to transform to robot mode and punch Dropkick in the face (Skywarp and Jazz were the Autobot and Decepticon performing this move in the cartoon). What makes it more awesome here is that Bee is clearly building up speed and momentum in vehicle mode to land a flying Superman punch on Dropkick, hitting him with a lot more force than the larger 'Con was prepared to handle.
• Bumblebee fighting Shatter after that, which ends with Bee firing a shot to break a harbour wall behind Shatter, and when she tries to escape her doom he simply grabs her and restrains her in place which causes Shatter to be crushed between a container ship and the aforementioned wall.
• Really, Bee in general is just a badass, going toe to toe with much bigger Decepticons and fighting on even ground. He may be small, but he's speedy and can take a lot of punishment. No wonder Optimus trusted him so much!

Humans' Moments

• Sector 7 gets one when they intercepted Shatter and Dropkick with a huge army after managing to track them both down.
  • And we also get a glimpse of both Decepticons' triple-changing abilities at this scene as well.
• Charlie, Memo and Bee get revenge on a very nasty girl who mocked Charlie for having a dead father. What was originally just going to be the standard toilet roll and egg prank escalates into Bee gleefully pancaking the girl's car. Her reaction when she finds it completely makes the scene;
  Tina: (stares in horror at the remains of her trashed car for several seconds, then runs back inside screaming) MOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
• In response to her mother's cruel reprimand about how she's still "mopey" over her dad's death and it's "bringing everyone down", Charlie snaps and calls Sally out on treating her grief like an annoyance instead of acknowledging that her daughter still misses her father and always will.
  Charlie: You know, Mom, just because you've moved on and you're happy with your new life doesn't mean I have! You found a replacement for my dad and I haven't, okay, and I never will! So I'm sorry if that, "makes things harder," but in ten months from now, you won't even have to deal with me!
• A small one for Dr. Powell; when he realized that Shatter and Dropkick have revealed their true colours, he discreetly activated his radio to tell Agent Burns that the Decepticons have deceived (no pun intended) and betrayed Sector Seven. While Burns didn't initially get the intended message, at least Powell made the effort.
• When it seems like Bee has been killed, Charlie grabs an EMP rifle and manages to defibrillate him back to life. After losing her dad, Charlie's clearly not letting another loved one get away.
  • She doesn't grab one. She grabs several, going through multiple rifles just to boot Bee back up. She only gives up after going through about five.
• Charlie deactivates the Decepticon signal with only seconds to spare, all the while Shatter is trying to gun her down.
• Agent Burns distracting Shatter by shooting at her with his helicopter's machine gun to buy Charlie more time to deactivate the Decepticon signal.
• Charlie overcomes her reluctance to swim by diving into a rushing stream, all because she had to make sure Bumblebee wasn't destroyed.
• Ron driving like a maniac to stop the pursuit of Bumblebee, while looking like he's lost control of his vehicle.

Other Moments

• Blitzwing deserves praise for delivering one of the most brutal lines ever spoken to a defiant interrogatee, right before nonchalantly ripping out Bumblebee's voice box and then hurling him off a tall cliff.
  Bumblebee: I'll never talk.
  Blitzwing: Is that right? Then let's make it official.
• Cliffjumper's attempt at a Heroic Sacrifice. He's down an arm and very clearly is doomed; yet he continuously repeats the same phrase with increasing levels of defiance. It's only ruined by Charlie accidentally activating Bee's signal, but that doesn't diminish the awesomeness of the moment itself. It takes guts to go out of your way to piss off two Decepticons who will kill you if you don't do what they ask, just to protect your commander.
  • Also something of a Survival Mantra.
  Cliffjumper: My name is Cliffjumper, lieutenant of the Autobot resistance.
• Bumblebee held his own against Blitzwing and his skill allowed him to beat Dropkick. Shatter puts up a much bigger fight, being stronger and able to match him move for move. It's an awesome fight where she drops him with a full on kick counter.
• You have to give Shatter and Dropkick credit for realizing they can simply pretend to be the good robots in the conflict to get the help of the human authorities while also seriously putting the screws to Bumblebee. It's a tactic rarely if ever seen in the franchise, and adds a great fresh new element to the film.
  You can’t spell "Decepticon" without deception.
  • It's also one for Agent Burns and General Whalen, since they don't (entirely) fall for it; neither trust Shatter and Dropkick any further than they can throw them and are fully prepared to betray the Decepticons themselves the instant they've gotten everything they can out of them.
• Just the mere fact that the film focuses on three main Decepticons, each with a good amount of screen time, memorable dialogue and distinctive personalities. Blitzwing is cruel and sadistic with a twisted sense of humor, Shatter is calm, manipulative and clever, and Dropkick is a trigger-happy sociopath with Deadpan Snarker tendencies. Compare and contrast with the Cons in the previous Transformers movies, which tended to have at least a dozen per movie, with no personality or dialogue to speak of and essentially being a mass of Mooks that are quickly killed off.
• The way that the Transformers use their ability to, well, transform adds a level of tactics to the fighting that previous films (and indeed many animated series) failed to capitalize on. In the aforementioned battle between Bumblebee and Dropkick they both use their vehicle modes to land from throws that would otherwise have tumbled them, Bumblebee using his to launch an attack and Dropkick using both of his to launch himself into the air and then attack from range.

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