TAGGED AS: transformers
Sixth time is the charm for the Transformers franchise, as Bumblebee looks to be the first Fresh installment in the series. Starting with the 2007 original, the Michael Bay-helmed series has only managed Rotten Tomatometer scores, with an average of 29%. Now, with a change in director and nostalgic setting, the new prequel is a wholly enjoyable throwback, according to the first wave of reviews – as of Monday morning, it was at 95% on the Tomatometer with 21 reviews logged. Not everyone agrees this is the best Transformers movie ever, since the first one has its fans, but there aren’t really any complaints here. Writer Christina Hodson, director Travis Knight, and Hailee Steinfeld seem to have delivered the Transformer goods.
Here’s what the critics are saying about Bumblebee:
Bumblebee redeems and reinvigorates the Transformers live-action film franchise with some heartfelt fun…the best live-action Transformers movie since the 2007 film.
– Jim Vejvoda, IGN
[Christina] Hodson layers in a sense of wonder and discovery that effectively recaptures the innovation and energy of the 2007 original.
– Justin Lowe, The Hollywood ReporterKnight and Hodson have salvaged something agreeable from an otherwise badly dented series.
– Kevin Harley, Total Film
The best Transformers movie so far, going all the way back to the 1986 animated film.
– William Bibbiani, The Wrap
The most human Transformers movie yet.
– Robbie Collin, The TelegraphThe film’s noticeably more humorous tone is also an improvement upon its predecessors, which typically tend to be overly self-serious.
– Justin Lowe, The Hollywood Reporter
(Photo by © Paramount Pictures)
Bumblebee is basically the movie that fans of the 1980s animated series wanted all along.
– Peter Debruge, Variety
Bumblebee is the live-action Transformers movie we all wanted in the ’80s.
– Fred Topel, We Live Entertainment
If you hated the backyard scene in Transformers, there’s a lot more of that in Bumblebee.
– Fred Topel, We Live Entertainment
It’s an effective reimagining that also bears a knowing resemblance to classic youth-oriented films from Bumblebee executive producer Steven Spielberg.
– Justin Lowe, The Hollywood Reporter
An ’80s pairing of child and creature that (deliberately) conjures Elliott and E.T…. Steven Spielberg’s DNA feels baked into Bumblebee.
– James Dyer, Empire
Following the superior models of E.T. and The Iron Giant, becomes a sweetly amusing, semi-Spielbergian tale of intergalactic friendship.
– Justin Chang, Los Angeles TimesScreenwriter Christina Hodson clearly imagined Bumblebee as a throwback to classic Amblin-style boy-and-his-dog movies, directly channeling elements of such films as E.T.
– Peter Debruge, VarietyBumblebee is an ’80s movie through and through, not just in terms of its period setting but also in its execution, establishing a tone and pace reminiscent of your typical Amblin production of that era and of teen-driven genre flicks like WarGames and Short Circuit.
– Jim Vejvoda, IGNThe 1987 soundtrack goes a long way towards making Bumblebee feel like a film from the summer of Adventures in Babysitting and Harry and the Hendersons.
– Fred Topel, We Live EntertainmentKnight’s plot lifts – E.T., The Iron Giant — are transparent, but at least he lifts from the best and makes warm work of the job.
– Kevin Harley, Total Film
(Photo by © Paramount Pictures)
Steinfeld sparkles…both an empathic force as well as a damn action hero — she’s Fay Wray with agency.
– Liz Shannon Miller, IndieWire
Steinfeld grounds Bumblebee beautifully, with a rich and specific performance that never once treats the bizarre sci-fi events with ironic detachment or cynicism.
– William Bibbiani, The WrapWhere Bay’s movies often objectified its female characters, Bumblebee gives us a young woman who’s smart, vulnerable and nuanced.
– Tim Grierson, Screen InternationalCharlie spends more time under cars than draped over them…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.
– Kevin Harley, Total Film
The movie’s most memorable human character is played by John Cena…he also brings a welcome sense of humor to the mix.
– Peter Debruge, Variety
It’s John Cena, as walking side of beef Agent Burns, who proves the most flat-out enjoyable.
– James Dyer, EmpireThe only disappointment is John Cena’s military character.
– Mike Ryan, UproxxHis performance as a military man is about as subtle as a Hulk Hogan leg drop to the face…the transforming robots are more believable.
– Luke Y. Thompson, Nerdist
Angela Bassett brings a distinctly menacing gravitas to her vocal performance as Shatter.
– Jim Vejvoda, IGN
Bassett, in particular, seems to be having the time of her life in the role of villain, manipulating the humans to do her bidding with an ease that makes sense, because it’s Angela Bassett, after all.
– Liz Shannon Miller, IndieWire
Travis Knight knows how to direct a coherent action sequence.
– Liz Shannon Miller, IndieWire
He exhibits an instinctual sense for the film’s requisite action quotient while attentively crafting the central characters’ emotional arcs.
– Justin Lowe, The Hollywood ReporterIn a better, truer cinematic universe, Travis Knight would have been in charge of the Transformers franchise all along.
– Phil Hoad, The Guardian
(Photo by © Paramount Pictures)
You can actually appreciate the transformations here without them devolving into digital blurs of a million moving parts.
– Jim Vejvoda, IGNThere are many scenes where giant robots fight each other, and in those scenes, you can actually see what’s happening.
– Liz Shannon Miller, IndieWireFor 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.
– Luke Y. Thompson, Nerdist
Even the most ardent ’80s nostalgists may wonder at a certain point how many Breakfast Club shoutouts and Smiths T-shirts are enough.
– Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times
I get it! It’s 1987! If Bumblebee was an ’80s reference drinking game you’d be dead from alcohol poisoning by the midpoint.
– Jim Vejvoda, IGN
If this is where the new Transformers franchise is headed, then let the transformation continue.
– William Bibbiani, The WrapThis retooling is snappy and wholesome enough to suggest we might still be watching [the franchise] in our self-driving cars.
– Phil Hoad, The Guardian
Bumblebee opens everywhere on December 21.
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