BUMBLEBEE Reviews Reveal A Transformation For The Franchise As Rotten Tomatoes Score Is Revealed

Bumblebee is set to be released in theaters later this month but the review embargo has already lifted and we even have the movie's initial Rotten Tomatoes score. Is it a hit or miss? Find out right here!

By JoshWilding - Dec 10, 2018 02:12 AM EST

Filed Under: Bumblebee

The Transformers franchise has fallen in popularity a great deal since the first movie was released way back in 2007 and after The Last Knight proved to be a commercial disappointment as well as a critical one, plans for a seventh movie have been scrapped.

The question is, can Bumblebee set things right? Well, based on seventeen reviews, the movie currently has a score of 100%. That's bound to change as more critics weigh in but with outlets like The Hollywood Reporter and Empire Magazine delivering overwhelmingly positive verdicts, common sense says that it won't drop by much.

Below, you'll find a round-up of reviews from a number of sources (including some YouTubers) and you'll be glad to know that there aren't any spoilers here.

So, to take a look at these, all you guys have to do is click on the "View List" button below.

The period setting is important in terms of maintaining the continuity of the “Transformers” universe, but it does also mean a reminder of this: if you were a young woman growing up in this era, you had nothing resembling the kind of female heroes we now see regularly today in genre films. In the ’80s, only guys were starship captains and ladies never got to use lightsabers. Fans of the classic “Transformers” will be thrilled by many of the touches here. But there is also now an entire generation of kids who are going to get to watch a girl drive, with a smile on her face. [B+]

SOURCE: IndieWire

The selection of Oscar-nominated animated feature film director Travis Knight (Kubo and the Two Strings) to helm the prequel turns out to be spot-on, as he exhibits an instinctual sense for the film’s requisite action quotient while attentively crafting the central characters’ emotional arcs. With Paramount’s planned Transformers 7 project shelved for now, Bumblebee could represent the studio’s next best chance to extend the franchise, if audiences throw their support behind the latest reimagining of the iconic entertainment property.

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter

Still, while it’s easy to pick on Bay, “Bumblebee” benefits enormously from creative decisions that have come before: the robot designs, the basic sound effects, the warm, vaguely gold-burnished look of DP Enrique Chediak’s live-action footage — all of these things trace back to the template Bay set in the previous five films. And, of course, Bay risked his reputation making a movie based on a popular ’80s toy franchise, where the pitch to audiences at the time was basically the notion that if any director could make those ridiculous robots look cool in live action, it was the man whose every movie looks like a super-polished car commercial. “Bumblebee” shows that there’s room for a bit more nuance within the formula, but if you break it down, this relatively enjoyable film is made entirely from recycled parts.

SOURCE: Variety

Ending on an uplifting, exciting note for true Transformers fans this prequel will serve as a melancholic coming-of-age journey into the backstory of Bee and a great ‘restart’ to the direction of the film series as a whole. [3.5/5]

SOURCE: Discussing Film

Overall, Bumblebee was quite a wonderful experience even for this non-Transformers fan. I can only imagine that true fans should be thrilled that a movie finally captures what they love about those robots, but also offers suitable human emotions to appeal to everyone else. [7.5/10]

SOURCE: The Weekend Warrior

“Bumblebee” is, again and easily, the best “Transformers” movie. Heck, it’s probably the only genuinely good “Transformers” movie, with nary a caveat to be found. But it’s also a lively and earnest 1980s nostalgia trip, made with affection for the era and its characters and its soundtracks and its storytelling styles and, yes, even its toys. If this is where the new “Transformers” franchise is headed, then let the transformation continue.

SOURCE: The Wrap

The fact that we barelyneed mention the fact that Bumblebee himself is an utterly convincing effect who looks like he occupies real space and is actually transforming into a car and back, is symptomatic of how far this franchise has come. For arguably the first time in a Transformers film, there are moments when you forget you’re looking at a CG model, and see only the character. It’s taken a decade’s worth of work to get here, and I can’t wait to see what they do next. [4/5]

SOURCE: Nerdist

Whether these new glimmers of sentience in the franchise will reverse its recent downwards-bound box office – let alone launch the Hasbro cinematic universe being touted a couple of years back – remains to be seen. But this retooling is snappy and wholesome enough to suggest we might still be watching in our self-driving cars. [3/5]

SOURCE: Guardian

Much like with Kubo, Knight trusts that his audience, young and old, can accept the darker aspects of life and death, up to and including how it is perfectly fine to not feel fine. Then again, even without that context, being handed a book titled ‘Smile For A Change’ will never not be patronising, as happens to Charlie early on. For the first time in over 10 years, we have a Transformers movie worth watching; a fun, well-acted, exciting and even emotional piece of popcorn action.

SOURCE: Film Ink

In the end, it’s not from Bay but rather the movie’s other big-name producer that Knight has drawn inspiration. Steven Spielberg’s DNA feels baked into Bumblebee, resulting in an ’80s movie not just in setting and aesthetic but also sensibility — a high-octane concept Transformed into an Amblin love letter. Knight has served up a gleeful romp with wit, warmth and a whole lot of heart. It’s taken six movies to get here, but we finally have a Transformers film that’s more than meets the eye. [4/5]

SOURCE: Empire Online

Bumblebee is the best live-action Transformers movie since the 2007 film, even though it doesn’t quite recapture the wow factor of seeing the robots in disguise come to life that very first time. But it does wisely bring the series back to basics in its character-driven storytelling and simplified approaches to both Transformer designs and visual effects, and by jettisoning the excess and nonsensical storytelling that had come to define the franchise. It was nice to enjoy a Transformers movie again. [7/10]

SOURCE: IGN

Feels less like another Transformers film as we've come to know them than a live-action spin on the classic Ted Hughes-inspired animation The Iron Giant, slathered in John Hughes-esque coming-of-age trimmings. [4/5]

SOURCE: Daily Telegraph

Some of the film’s story beats are stilted — and the awkward shifts into life-or-death action set pieces can be jarring — but Bumblebee has such obvious fondness for its characters that those shortcomings can mostly be brushed aside. Who knew underneath the hood of this franchise there could be a little heart?

SOURCE: Screen Daily

So here we are, in 2018, and there’s a new Transformers movie that is coherent and has a lot of heart – and a Transformers movie in which I found myself thinking over and over, “I can’t believe I like this.” The people who (like me) have been waiting to see the original Transformer designs in a movie, we’ll you’re going to be thrilled. The people (like me) who just want a Transformers movie to make somewhat sense, you are also in luck. It’s worth repeating one more time: Bumblebee is a total delight.

SOURCE: Uproxx

Although some of the zingers could use a little sharpening, Hodson’s dashes of wit do bring levity to a series that didn’t previously ‘do’ humour in ways recognisable to human ears. Steinfeld’s equally grounded character adds heart and a can-do streak: where other writers might have ‘fixed’ her sorrows with manly assistance, Charlie takes charge of the fixing here. Whether she’s checking her armpits for BO or gently rebuffing Memo’s awkward advances, Charlie plays like a bid to call time on the hot-pants fetishism of Bay’s era. In that savvy fix and elsewhere, Knight and Hodson have salvaged something agreeable from an otherwise badly dented series. [4/5]

SOURCE: Total Film

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107 Comments

1 2 3

CaptainElrond - 12/10/2018, 2:56 AM

It's almost like removing micheal bay makes good movies.

BlindAl9 - 12/10/2018, 4:41 AM

@CrazyCipher - like the DCEU if you know what I mean

Pantherpool - 12/10/2018, 3:06 AM

I have a good feeling about the future of Travis Knight's career...

KingJoffrey - 12/10/2018, 3:07 AM

"BUMBLEBEE Reviews Reveal A Transformation For The Franchise"

I see what you did there! PUNS LOLZ!!1!

dracula - 12/10/2018, 3:15 AM

See what you get when you dont have a director obsessed with explosions.
Also if they bring back any actors from the previous films, they should bring back Isabela Moaner, she was the only good thing about The Last Knight, but she was completely pointless. I could picture her as Katara in Avatar The Last Airbender, but for Transformers I think she would be perfect for a live action take on

MaximusTheMad - 12/10/2018, 3:34 AM

I didn't think this would happen in my life time.

JizzerTron - 12/10/2018, 3:34 AM

It pays lots of homage to the original series so maybe a soft reboot.

kRAVENklaw - 12/10/2018, 3:50 AM

Hopefully it keeps above a 70-75.
I think it deserves around an 95.
Great movie.
Only think I had real issue is was that it was kinda predictable and the Cybertron scenes were too short.
Overall I’d give it 9 Energon Cubes out of 10.

kRAVENklaw - 12/10/2018, 3:51 AM

@kRAVENklaw -
*85

GoldGuy - 12/10/2018, 6:41 AM

@kRAVENklaw - Yeah, the Cybertron scenes were so good that it left me wanting more of them.

kRAVENklaw - 12/10/2018, 9:09 AM

@GoldGuy -
I’m hoping that Optimus movie is an origin on Cybertron.
I just wished the scene lasted longer.
Couldn’t get a good look at some of the characters.
I’m just happy Wheeljack looked great and had a line hes my favorite bot.
Brawn was a nice surprise.
RIP Cliffjumper though. First movie he’s in and he’s dies. Hopefully Prowl won’t get that treatment.
Who do you think are the Bots in the pods during the credits scene?
Me, I’m going for Ironhide, Ratchet, Arcee, Wheeljack, Brawn, Sideswipe, and Prowl/Mirage.

GoldGuy - 12/10/2018, 10:07 AM

@kRAVENklaw - One of them should be Hot Rod. He can replace Brawn.

kRAVENklaw - 12/10/2018, 10:37 AM

@GoldGuy -
As long as he’s not French this time.

GoldGuy - 12/10/2018, 10:39 AM

@kRAVENklaw - Lol, dont remind me. There have been tons of horrible changes in the Bay films, but that is among the oddest.

kRAVENklaw - 12/10/2018, 12:34 PM

@GoldGuy -
Eh, I’d say Albert Einstein Wheeljack being named Que takes the cake for me.
Thank god it’s all in the past now.

Kevwebsz - 12/10/2018, 3:53 AM

I've been looking forward to this.

Ryguy88 - 12/10/2018, 3:54 AM

No female heroes in the 80's? Have you not seen The Terminator or Alien movies?

aflynn - 12/10/2018, 4:14 AM

@Ryguy88 - Should have been very little but the ones audiences connected with were memorable.

Chewtoy - 12/10/2018, 4:30 AM

@Ryguy88 - Yeah, I immediately thought of that too. I guess those were both rated “R”, so maybe she had strict parents that wouldn’t let her watch them.

1 2 3

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