Bumblebee

I was pleasantly surprised. I think you might enjoy it too...

The film's centrepiece, an Autobot called Chris, makes you feel for every pummelling he takes from the Decepticons chasing him across planets.

Travis Knight saves the Transformers series from the scrapyard with a heartfelt new adventure, starring Hailee Steinfeld.

'Bumblebee' is certainly the best example of what this franchise is meant to be, and should it continue this path, the Transformers can become exciting and enjoyable all over again.

Though the narrative blast lasts around 113 mins, it feels too lengthy and other than in its climactic moments, there's hardly any adrenaline rush to be had here. The formula happens to have lost its edge and the screenplay by Christina Hodson can do little to improve the nature of emotional distention here. Hailee Steinfeld does lend some empathy to her role but it's all too capricious to amount to anything heart-tugging!

Bay may have anthropomorphised hunks of metal in five smash-bash Transformer films. But it's Knight who has injected heart and soul into that robot body.