Bumblebee

I am not a big fan of the Transformers franchise because I think they are mostly big CGI messes (I haven't even seen the last few).  However, I was very intrigued by the prequel Bumblebee and decided to see it next in my winter break marathon.  The rebellion started by Optimus Prime on Cybertron is not going well so he sends B-127 to Earth to set up a base of operations.  A Decepticon, Blitzwing, follows him and, even though he is seriously injured, B-127 kills him and then scans a 1967 Volkswagen Beetle.  He is discovered in a junkyard by a teenage girl named Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld) who has withdrawn from the world from grief over her father's death.  She gets him running and nicknames him Bumblebee but this activates a signal which is detected by two more Decepticons, Shatter and Dropkick, who come to Earth looking for him.  Shatter and Dropkick join with Sector 7 led by Colonel Jack Burns (John Cena) to track down Bumblebee and this leads to an epic confrontation.  To my surprise, I really enjoyed this movie because it is so heartwarming and entertaining.  Bumblebee is an actual character, rather than a CGI caricature, with a distinct personality and the relationship between Bumblebee and Charlie is very real.  He helps her learn to trust again and she helps him figure out his purpose on Earth.  I loved it when Bumblebee, who can only communicate to Charlie through song lyrics on the radio, plays "Girlfriend in a Coma" by The Smiths to tell her that he doesn't want anything to happen to her during a battle.  Speaking of music, this is filled with great stuff from the 80s.  I just about lost my mind when I heard the beginning of "Save a Prayer" by Duran Duran!  This movie is a lot of fun, exactly the reboot this franchise needed, and I recommend it if you haven't seen it.