Without being hampered by the anchors of taking place in the present and having to include the full, sprawling cast of every “Transformers” movie that we have seen on-screen so far, Travis Knight‘s ‘Bumblebee’ gets to be a bit more relaxed with the characters that it chooses to use, and have a bit more fun picking out what they will transform into, especially since they do not have to worry about trying to pick the latest and greatest, and instead are picking from cool and retro cars from the 1980’s.
Such is the case with two of the Decepticons (film has 3 total), whose look was first revealed to EW recently, the first one, Dropkick (voice by Justin Theroux), transforming into a blue AMC Javelin, and the second, Shatter (voice by Angela Bassett), transforming into a cherry-red Plymouth Satellite (see above). The third villain and their voice-actor has not been revealed yet, but we may get more information this week at San Diego Comic-Con, where they are sure to have some big announcements about the film.
Knight spoke on the new villains during a recent interview with EW, stating:
“The two main villains are Decepticon muscle cars. When the cast is too big, and you have a finite amount of time, there’s only so much you can do to create an investment in them. This is a more personal, intimate, and character-driven story, so it felt right to keep the villain plot relatively simple and contained. If you keep things lean, you can add a lot of other stuff on top of it that makes it more enjoyable.”
I do think that Knight has a point here, and especially with the two actors announced so far for the villains, there’s a good chance these characters will have real personalities, and be memorable characters, instead of just seething CGI robots smashing everything around them like in every other ‘Transformers’ movie. I really like the direction Knight is taking this film, I honestly hope the final product lives up to the hype and is a turning point for the franchise, proving that it was Michael Bay’s influence that forced them to keep the movies overly loud and violent and lacking a lot of quality.
What is your take? Do you think ‘Bumblebee’ will rise above the rest of the ‘Transformers’ movies? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments below!
