Saw it last night in the UK........ Transformers might just be saved.

There might be some mild spoilers in here, so if you don't want anything ruined, don't read!

I liked the first Transformers by Bay, I hated Revenge of the Fallen, I tolerated Dark of the Moon, Age of Extinction was just meh, and The Last Knight felt soulless.

And so many people seem to forget they actually liked the first Transformers movie, but a lot of people agreed that they really wanted to see the G1 (Generation 1) Transformers of The Movie and TV series come to life.

So after The Last Knight failed to hit the heights of previous Transformers movies, it was time for a different direction.

Firstly let me point out that Bumblebee is NOT and CANNOT be a prequel movie to Bays Transformers series, certain events and scenes that occur within the movie mean that Bumblebee is a REBOOT to start Transformers again, and its made implicitly clear that 1987 is Bumblebees first arrival on Earth.

Some people have bemoaned the fact that a girl is now playing the lead in a movie that typically was male, but in the context of the story, it simply couldn't have worked any other way. I'm the first to hate on this SJW bandwagon, but in Bumblebee, it helps the story.

There is a relationship between Charlie (the girl) and Bumblebee that helps lift this movie in such a way, that a guy of the same age just wouldn't be able to capture. In ET, the relationship between Eliot and the alien worked because of Eliots young age, had he been 18 years old, it wouldn't have worked the same, because 18 year old guys act in a totally different way to when they were younger and in comparison to an 18 year old girl.

So, you wanted G1 characters in a Transformers movie? Well the opening 15 minutes has plenty of G1 action, lots of easily recognisable characters are there, I won't spoil who is there on the battle of Cybertron, but you'll spot them easily and know instantly who they are.... not something that was so easy with Bays Transformers who needed exposition to tell you!

Theres humour in there, but not to the extent of Bays movies, and it just works well in this movie without detracting.

Much as I love seeing Megan Fox bending over a car engine looking hot, theres nothing like that in Bumblebee.

The soundtrack is easily the best of all the Transformers movies, taking a bit of a leaf out of Guardians of the Galaxys book on music choices.

The VFX for the transformations in the movie seem less fussy than Bays Transformers. They are every bit as good as Bays movies, but they seemed to have reduced the amount of transforming needed to turn from vehicle to robot and back again, which seems to work better and make the transformations more fluid.

The VFX throughout are upto the high standards of the Bay movies with ILM still doing the work, but on a much smaller budget.

The story is pretty much ET and The Iron Giant, but theres plenty enough in there that you'll be too engrossed in the movie to really care or notice.

If this is the future for the Transformers movies, then I think we have a good future for the franchise.

I just hope, that given what happens in Bumblebee, any sequel avoids the need to have to go massively bigger, because that isn't what made this movie work.

Bumblebee was a quieter movie, slower paced, was more character driven, had more heart, the relationship with Charlie, and a whole lot less other characters (humans and Transformers) which meant the story could unfold at its own pace.

Oh, and one other thing that EVERYONE complained about Bays movies....... Seems Travis Knight knows how a camera Tripod and Steadicam work, because you get to see and focus on EVERY action scene between battling Transformers properly, with no attempts by the director to shake the camera to pieces to capture a shot!!!

Maybe ILM's work will finally be appreciated now that people can actually see it properly.

Bumblebee doesn't ignore Bays movies entirely, but it pays the briefest of homages to them before swiftly moving on.

Bumblebees face toward the end of the movie looks very similar to Bumblebee in Bays movies, a final transformation at the end is a direct callback to Bays first Transformers movie, and Bumblebee losing his voice and using the stereo is done in a slightly better way here, but I appreciated Bays version was nearly as good in that regard.

A good movie, its certainly better than all of Bays movies, and its better than his first one which I still like.