Paramount Pictures teased Optimus Prime and Cybertron in a quick teaser video the other day to get us hyped for the upcoming trailer. They’ve delivered on that tease by giving us a brand new Bumblebee trailer which showcases Optimus Prime, Cybertron, and our first real good indication of what John Cena’s role in the film will be.
Take a look:
The first half of the trailer feels like a rehash from the first trailer. It showcases the bond between Bumblebee and Haile Steinfeld’s character Charlie. We see her pick up Bumblebee from a used car lot and begin to try and make repairs to the vehicle. Lo and behold she discovers it’s not just an ordinary Volkswagen she’s picked up. There’s a bunch of happy shots of them enjoying life.
About halfway through the trailer really picks up. We get an idea of the overall plot and what we can expect. The U.S. Armed Forces led by John Cena look like they will actually be working with the Decepticons in an attempt to hunt down and capture Bumblebee. The Decepticons appear to have deceived the U.S. Military threatening that the Cybertronian war will come to Earth if they don’t cooperate.
And the Cybertronian war looks absolutely brutal. It’s our first real look at it, and we get some short, but amazing clips of just how war torn Cybertron is.
It appears the Decepticon’s deception is eventually seen through as there are shots of Cena and Steinfeld back to back as they appear to take on the world together.
There’s some great shots of Blitzwing, the red and white plane that many believed to be Starscream in the first trailer, taking on Bumblebee. There are also clips of Bumblebee taking on two Decepticons in Shatter, the cherry-red Plymouth Satellite, voiced by Angela Bassett, and Dropkick, the blue AMC Javelin, voiced by Justin Theroux.
Director Travis Knight discussed the Decepticons’ role in Bumblebee:
“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.”
Bumblebee comes to theaters this Christmas. It will be available on December 21, 2018.