EVERY ADVENTURE HAS A BEGINNING.

In 1987, teenager Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld) finds a yellow Volkswagen Beetle in a scrapyard and doesn’t realize that it’s an Autobot on the run…

A well-needed change of pace for the Transformers movies as this spin-off moves away from Michael Bay’s frantic style and embraces a nostalgic 1980s touch (especially on the soundtrack) and a young female lead who’s mourning her father but finds a new friend.

A sweet fantasy in the vein of E.T. and The Iron Giant with a sense of humor; the writer makes sure the movie has much more relatable characters and action than in the cluttered predecessors.

2018-U.S. 114 min. Color. Directed by Travis Knight. Screenplay: Christina Hodson. Cast: Hailee Steinfeld (Charlie Watson), John Cena (Jack Burns), Jorge Lendeborg, Jr. (Guillermo ”Memo” Gutierrez), John Ortiz, Jason Drucker, Pamela Adlon, Len Cariou. Voices of Dylan O’Brien, Angela Bassett, Justin Theroux. 

Trivia: Co-produced by Bay; co-executive produced by Steven Spielberg. Followed by Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023).