Bumblebee
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: December 21, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 39 Critic Reviews
Positive:
27
Mixed:
11
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattDec 17, 2018
John Cena is top billed, and though his brick-jawed military man doesn’t actually get many scenes, he does get a disproportionate share of the script’s best lines. He gives good muscle, but Bumblebee brings something even more important — and actually transforming — to the series: a sense of humor, and a heart. Read full review
83
IndieWireLiz Shannon MillerDec 9, 2018
What Bumblebee does best is remember that this is a franchise for the young, and embrace that fact without any shame while also still delivering on the action. There’s no self-importance, no grafting of ultra-patriotism and too-dense mythology onto what should be a simple narrative. Read full review
81
TheWrapWilliam BibbianiDec 9, 2018
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. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Simran HansJan 1, 2019
Though the references are familiar, it’s a fresh direction for the macho franchise. Read full review
80
Paste MagazineOktay Ege Kozak Dec 20, 2018
It’s hard enough to have a fully CG character as your co-star, and it’s even tougher when an actor is tasked with creating a deep emotional bond with something she can’t even see during production. Steinfeld is up to the challenge, making us believe in Bumblebee’s existence almost as much as the animators who worked on bringing him to life. Read full review
80
The VergeBryan BishopDec 20, 2018
It isn’t a flawless movie, and it nearly descends into self-parody at times, but after a decade of Bay’s rock-’em sock-’em battles, Bumblebee nevertheless comes across like a mini-revelation: Transformers movies don’t need to be terrible. Read full review
80
The New York TimesGlenn KennyDec 18, 2018
There’s a lot to like here, particularly Steinfeld’s performance. Read full review
80
Total FilmKevin HarleyDec 9, 2018
Despite the odd awkward tonal gear shift, Knight’s origin story makes refreshingly light work of its uphill climb, fuelled by wit and warmth. And – crucially – with better songs on the retro-tape deck. Read full review
80
UproxxMike RyanDec 9, 2018
Bumblebee is a total delight. Read full review
80
EmpireJames DyerDec 9, 2018
An impassioned ode to both the toys and their era, this, at last, is the Transformers movie we’ve been waiting for. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinDec 9, 2018
As a toy-advert movie full of artistry and heart, it’s as slyly progressive as it is shamelessly nostalgic. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliDec 24, 2018
The movie works in large part because of the depth of Steinfeld’s performance. We haven’t seen such a well-realized character in any of the other Transformers movies. Read full review
75
The Associated PressMark KennedyDec 20, 2018
Hopefully it will attract an audience either tired or turned off by the franchise’s past rigidity and addiction to spectacle. This is what we needed: Smaller, quieter, more human and sweeter. Read full review
75
ConsequenceClint WorthingtonDec 19, 2018
It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but Bumblebee feels revolutionary within the confines of a long-running franchise like Transformers. Read full review
75
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiDec 19, 2018
The franchise’s greatest transformation yet: He’s made a pretty good movie. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisDec 19, 2018
The script stays on safe, formulaic ground, but it’s effective — and somehow breathes new life into a franchise that had become a junk heap. Read full review
75
Washington PostKristen Page-KirbyDec 19, 2018
In the end, Bumblebee is less a movie about giant robot aliens punching each other than it is a story about friendship. Read full review
75
The PlaylistCory WoodroofDec 12, 2018
A crowd-pleaser for sure, Bumblebee can feel a little corny and on-the-nose when it comes to ingratiating itself to the decade and formula it idolizes, but overall, it’s a strong adaptation of what many wanted in the first place: a live-action version of the cherished 1980s animated cartoon. Read full review
70
VoxAlissa WilkinsonDec 19, 2018
So in not sacrificing that human element, Bumblebee is a nostalgic delight that taps into not just the 1980s but youth in general. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghDec 19, 2018
To put it in terms Charlie would dig, “Bumblebee” is like an 80s mixtape that’s all hits, no deep cuts. Nothing here surprises save the perspective. But that’s enough to save it. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter DebrugeDec 9, 2018
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. Read full review
70
Screen DailyTim GriersonDec 9, 2018
Director Travis Knight does his best to balance clattering spectacle with a modest girl-and-her-robot tale. He’s assisted mightily by Hailee Steinfeld, who infuses this uneven action film with significant soul. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJustin LoweDec 9, 2018
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. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangDec 9, 2018
The ending packs a lovely surprise, not because you don’t see it coming, but because for once you’re not simply grateful that it’s arrived. Read full review
70
IGNJim VejvodaDec 9, 2018
The Transformers franchise gets a much needed tuneup in Bumblebee. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovDec 19, 2018
Knight, coming from a born animator’s background, retrofits the intergalactic Sturm und Drang for a more humanistic tone that manages to be both more entertaining overall and moderately Spielbergian (he continues to executive produce the franchise) in this tale of a girl and her big, lovable, lemon-colored E.T. It’s a kinder, gentler Transformers movie for the holidays. Go figure. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneKatie WalshDec 20, 2018
This prequel offers Bumblebee a chance to shine, and you'll come away with a newfound sense of affection for the most lovable alien vehicle in the universe. Read full review
60
ScreenCrushMatt SingerDec 19, 2018
The whole production just works. Steinfeld, Lendeborg, and Cena are extremely likable leads, and there’s a soul and an innocence to Bumblebee that was never present in any of the previous Transformers. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriDec 19, 2018
The Transformers franchise has made bloated, histrionic pandemonium such a thing that the modest Bumblebee, for all its derivativeness, feels like a breath of fresh air. Read full review
60
Rolling StoneDavid FearDec 17, 2018
It’s a blockbuster that, with a few whirring movements and a half dozen clicks and beeps, transforms itself into something meant to be watched by actual thinking, feeling human beings. For once, there really is more than meets the eye. Read full review
60
The GuardianPhil HoadDec 9, 2018
While Knight and team duck origin-story slavishness that has dogged so much recent franchise work, they succeed in reviving the playful Saturday-morning-serial spirit of the original 80s Transformers. Read full review
58
The Film StageVikram MurthiDec 17, 2018
Bumblebee may sport a thoughtful character arc and a throwback vibe, but it’s not meaningfully different than the other five entries in the Transformers series. There’s still plenty of laughably stupid junk to wade through in order to find the good bits. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerDec 14, 2018
Thematic muddles would matter less if Bumblebee delivered more as an action movie, but despite some neat car-chase complications, this series remains stubbornly averse to shaping its action barrages into satisfying set pieces. Read full review
55
Vanity FairK. Austin CollinsJan 10, 2019
Say what you want about Michael Bay, but at least his movies have their own identity. They occupy their own territory—albeit one I don’t necessarily want to visit often. But Bumblebee could have been made by anyone, as long as they were working from the right style guide. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzDec 20, 2018
Stripped of its parts, Bumblebee (as annoying to type as it is to say!) is just another needless franchise extension that should’ve been junked years ago. Read full review
50
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenDec 19, 2018
For his live-action debut, Knight slips into Bay boomboom mode. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreDec 18, 2018
What screenwriter Christina Hodson delivers is an appealing heroine, an adorably vulnerable robot, all alone among the Mean Old Earthlings, and something this insanely successful but ever-so-empty-headed franchise has never had — charm. Read full review
50
Slant MagazinePat BrownDec 18, 2018
Bumblebee exudes some of the tediousness of a reformed sinner who decries hedonism, trying hard to convince us that it now believes in something. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsDec 21, 2018
There's not only nothing new here, there's nothing convincing either. And if I'm supposed to judge Bumblebee based on how well it succeeds at what it tries to do (rather than what came before it), it's still not very good. Read full review
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