Since 2007, Paramount’s seen great success with Transformers. The movie series, based off the Hasbro toy line of the same name, has generated over $4.3 billion at the box office. To say nothing of its toy sales. Bumblebee is the first spin-off to the franchise. Michael Bay is not in charge as director, with the role now by Travis Knight. In turn, Bumblebee is a radical departure from the previous iterations.

A more small-scale adventure, the film focuses on only one Transformer. That being the inexperienced Bumblebee. Bumblebee finds himself in an Iron Giant-esque story, where he befriends a teenage tomboy named Charlie Watson, played by Hailee Steinfeld. While the Cyberton war found in the other films is present, it’s not the main focus.

The main focus is the friendship between Charlie and Bee. And it’s a believable friendship. Knight and screenwriter Christina Hodson give Charlie a solid backstory and a likable character. Steinfeld also gives a lot of emotion and life to her character. Her interactions with the yellow Transformer are also delightful. They have great chemistry, and it’s clear the two bond and learn from one another. There’s also a lot of great comedy between the two characters.

Part of that is due to the visual effects on Bumblebee himself. Being silent and amnesiac for the majority of the movie, he’s more or less a little kid in a robot’s body. Therefore, the VFX team give him prominent body language and movements. This delivers a lot of laughs, but this language, as well as his simple design, also makes him empathetic. In particular, he gives off puppy dog eyes from time to time, and it’s adorable. Knight’s background is animation, so it’s clear he helped with Bee’s animations and character.

The film also delivers in the action. Many are aware of Michael Bay’s work being fast, kinetic and overwhelming. His Transformers films are no exception. It certainly has its fans, but it does get tiresome to watch. Here, Knight is more restrained. It’s still frantic, but the camera’s more pulled back and the punches and kicks are more clear. Of course, it helps that the designs are simpler and more like the 1980s cartoon than the Bay flicks. Admittedly, the climax does get a bit tiring, but I’m sure bigger fans of the property will like what they see.

The only real detriment is its pacing. It’s about a half-hour shorter than the Bay films, but it’s arguably due to the film feeling rushed, with backstories and characters delivered at breakneck speed. This leads to a lack of character development, as the characters fail to just breathe. In turn, the audience can’t connect with them as well as they can. Charlie’s backstory and her family relationship is there and has emotion. But the film doesn’t spend enough time to make these emotional moments leave an impact. The film’s brisk pace leads to more things being desired. It’s made even worse as the film forces in as many 80s references as possible.

There are flaws to be sure, but there’s good things to like in Bumblebee. Perhaps a longer runtime and a slower speed would have made this something special, but it works as a family adventure film. It’ll please kids, adults, and even Transformers fans. Hopefully Travis Knight’s work will lead to new and exciting Transformers films like this in the future.