User Reviews

A Tender Coming-of-Age Awakening Rooted in Mutual Healing and Heartfelt Farewell.190201 (3.5)Hailee Steinfeld delivers an overwhelming performance of contemporary youth. Why did something as simple as naming him Bumblebee bring tears to my eyes right from that moment? A traumatized young girl essentially raising an intensely curious, four-year-old child in the form of an alien machine. These two kindred spirits awaken through their mutual love and selfless sacrifice for one another. While their parting at the very end was an indispensable scene for their respective journeys, it was so deeply heartbreaking and difficult to accept. I just wished they could stay together a little longer. Directed by Travis Knight, the 2018 sci-fi action film "Bumblebee" serves as a character-driven prequel in the Transformers franchise, grounding its spectacle in genuine emotional intimacy, nostalgic 1980s charm, and a touching bond between a grieving teenager finding her footing and an amnesiac Autobot finding his voice.

Plot: 6/10 Story: 8/10 Characters: 8/10 Acting: 8/10 Pacing: 8/10 Enjoyable: 8/10 Effects: 7/10 Music: 3/10 Cinematography: 9/10 Ending: 8/10 OVERALL: 73/100= 7,3/10 (BumbleBee is really good. It‘s definitely better than all of the Bayverse films!

This, in short, is a fantastic movie and what Transformers sorely needed, something injecting actual story and continuity taking you back to how Bumblebee lost his voice. I'd go as far as to say out of the Transformers films there have been so far you need only watch 3; Transformers, Bumblebee, and Rise of the Beasts. The other films lack any kind of coherent story, let alone character building.

It's silly but heartwarming, and that's a good thing here. If you allow yourself to believe in its uncomplicated adventure, there's a lot to like: Hailee Steinfeld's performance works just right, and Bumblebee is depicted with a smart balance of emotional warmth and battlefield coolness. Unlike Bay's Transformers films, CGI-overload is swapped for visually-clearer fight scenes and a story that nurtures the characters rather than the bigger picture-- this is super refreshing. If your inner-child enjoys Transformers, you'll enjoy this on more than one level.

We all love Bumbleebee, and the little yellow Autobot gives us more reasons to root for him with his own movie here. Whether it's his choreographed CGI fight scenes, his awkward and quirky interactions with the main cast, or his goofy funny moment, 'Bee' is a real spotlight of entertainment. His human companion and primary protagonist Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld), was really good throughout the movie too. She sells the right emotions and actions throughout her scenes. The rest of the 'human' cast however, are all very rigid, dull or extremely irrelevant. The somewhat forced romance partner of 'Memo' has no purpose in the movie, no scenes change with or without him in it and his only "I can do it" moment is brushed over in less than 3 seconds. Aside from an extremely ignorant and poor military presence (including a stupid family chase scene), the story is fairly strong, the cgi is great and the fight scenes are outstanding. The Transformers franchise adds a very good family movie and a great prequel to its anthology - or soft reboot depending on who you ask...

I thought the Transformers films were dead. I was proven wrong with Bumblebee. This film shines with gorgeous visual effects, grounded action, and an incredible performance by Hailee Steinfeld. Bumblebee revs up the engine of Transformers back to life.

I think Iron Giant did this kind of story better? This film set before the others makes no sense continuity wise? In isolation it's fine, but nothing special. The little kids seem to like it.

Yes, I'm a few years behind. But I can understand why people G1 transformers series . And who knew we could get a good transformers movie without Michael Bay involved? Is it the best movie out there? No is it Goofy? And yes but that's the point . Most people isn't asking to watch who from these movies. We just want a good story. Good character development and some Kick-Ass action scenes. One thing this can get 10 out of 10 if If we see some starscream abuse by Megatron

The second best Transformers film which is also better than the newest film.

Bumblebee stands as a monumental achievement in the Transformers franchise, redefining the series with its deeply grounded storytelling, meticulous design, and sharp humor, setting it apart from Michael Bay's explosive spectacles. Hailee Steinfeld delivers an exceptional performance as Charlie Watson, capturing the raw essence of grief and self-discovery with profound authenticity. Her poignant bond with Bumblebee becomes a powerful metaphor for healing and redemption, illustrating how genuine companionship can mend even the deepest wounds. John Cena’s role as Agent Burns adds unexpected depth, blending a commanding presence with moments of introspection that enrich the film’s exploration of personal and moral growth. Unlike Bay’s over-the-top extravaganzas, Bumblebee opts for a more nuanced, emotionally resonant approach, with its meticulously crafted 1980s setting and dynamic CGI enhancing both its nostalgic charm and emotional impact. The film’s humor, skillfully interwoven with its narrative, offers a refreshing balance to its poignant moments, enhancing the overall experience. By grounding its story in heartfelt human experiences and delivering a visually stunning feast with a thoughtful, character-driven approach, *Bumblebee* revitalizes the franchise, offering a cinematic journey that is as profoundly moving as it is visually captivating.

An entertaining mix of brainless robot action and a coming-of-age subplot. Also some fish-out-of-water moments that play like a 1990s Disney fantasy movie. Reminds us why the Transformers franchise became so popular in the first place.

this movie rise transformers out of the dark and this is the best transformers movie of all time

Bumblebee was for me a movie that goes from good, to ok, to just super cheesy, the first 30 minutes was good, the next 30 minutes was ok, and the rest hour was meh, to have a real drama story in a Transformers movie or at least in a movie set in Transformers world is what many people wanted to, but when it's too much drama and especially it fills with uninteresting characters like Memo that his chemistry and relationship with Charlie i didn't buy at all, cheesy dialogue and scene that they didn't have in the first hour, and unused character like John Cena where i felt they supposed to make him more villainous and menacing as the two Decepticons, that's basically my whole problem with the movie, also too few action, but when it was on it was great, i like it, Hailee character was likeable enough, Bumblebee was cute, the two Decepticons was menacing, i like the first hour, i was entertained mostly, and the most importantly i was not bored at all and that was a major pros, overall i didn't hate Bumblebee but it still a very flawed film, it's basically for me a too few action and too much drama movie, the two didn't balanced perfectly, but it's still nice to feel a new atmosphere with the new director and the reboot of the franchise, hopefully it's getting better.

substantial potential The cast, animation, and premise of this film were all good, yet it appeared as though every actor was a rookie.

Bumblebee can best be summarized as two steps forward, two steps back. It’s story is much more polished and highbrow compared to the Michael Bay Transformers films, cutting out unnecessary crass humor and poor arc development, but still falls victim to extremely insufferable and often pointless human characters as well as relying on bad decisions to forward the plot. CGI is a bit more cartoony compared to previous films and may be deliberately so, which could be good or bad depending on the viewer’s point of view, but still looks fantastic. Soundtrack and sound design is serviceable, but nothing as iconic as Steve Jablonsky’s first Transformers soundtrack or as good as Bay’s sound editing either. Overall, it falls on the better end of the Transformers film spectrum, but that’s a pretty low bar to clear.

Right out of the gate, “Bumblebee” sets the stage for an exciting action-driven experience by visiting the Transformers’ home planet and displaying their civil war first-hand. Throughout the run time of the film, the strife between the two factions is ingrained into narrative, which is both a relief and a departure from the human-centric focus of the prior films. Though the plot stumbled at points and could have streamlined its focus by pruning unnecessary scenes in favor of developing some of its side characters, the film overall is a cohesive thrillride from start to finish. Concerning the plot, the story focuses on the titular character of “Bumblebee” as he struggles to adjust to a life on Earth amidst carrying out a directive he himself has forgotten; all the while avoiding conflict with the looming threat of the military and the Decepticon forces. Joining him in this endeavor is Charlie, a budding mechanic with her own demons to conquer stemming from the loss of her father. For the most part, both of these characters play off of each other well, though not every scene in which they were together was necessary. For example, a filler scene in which they were conversing in a forest could have been trimmed and reincorporated into another scene and nothing would have been missed. Issues of that nature aside, the film does a good job at slowly building the conflict with the aforementioned antagonists through a natural progression of events. The tension between Charlie and her family is likewise fulfilled with a logical arch, eventually resolving itself with a surprising conclusion that felt unexpectedly wholesome. In terms of the characters, “Bumblebee” is depicted as a clunky alien who must adapt to his surroundings in order to survive. This led to a number of scenes that were equal parts humorous and awkward, though built into the journey of him rediscovering his voice and his role in a conflict larger than himself. Charlie, on the other hand, adopted a more brooding and stiff persona that made it difficult to enjoy her role; though not to the detriment of being unable to sympathize with her conflicts. There was a genuine growth between her and her family in the latter portion of the film that created a good balance with what preceded it, all of which culminates in a satisfying conclusion for her role. The two primary Decepticon’s that hunt Bumblebee were also quite compelling and dynamic with the only oversight in their development being that the movie strangely never identifies them by name. The greatest crime in characterization, however, comes from the acquaintance of Charlie that constantly followed her around and has an unexplained crush on her. This was frustratingly never fleshed out, as was the character himself, leaving his purpose in the story to be questionable at best. Even a simple line connecting him with the diving events of her past would have remedied this. As far as the aesthetics were concerned, the transformation sequences were immersive and found a logical footing within the choreography of the fight sequences. That is to say, that the shift between humanoid and vehicle forms in combat felt deliberate with each combatant utilizing them to gain a distinct advantage whenever they occurred. The tone throughout the film retained a serious edge despite the goofy antics Bumblebee displayed early on, which was a notable improvement over the crass-heavy overtones of the film trilogy preceding it. Additionally, the suspension of disbelief never felt off the charts aside from Charlie’s plot-armor against explosions; something that should have been polished to be more believable. In conclusion, what made this film a good watch was its deliberate shift in focus on the series’ namesake over the trivial happenings of random humans. While these side stories still existed, they never overthrew the primary narrative of the conflict between the Autobot’s and Decepticon’s; serving more as background elements than ramblings for the sake of ramblings. Though more fine-tuning could have been applied here and there, the overall execution was solid.

Que filme divertido! Vivi pra dizer que um filme dos Transformers com o John Cena é melhor que os dois filmes dos Transformers com o Mark Wahlberg. Aventura contida e simples, o famoso 'Menos É Mais'. Dá vontade né, Michael Bay?

This robot has the personality of a child and for that fact the movie is great and all the bad moments that the robot goes through are anguish.

Not trash, not great, just aight. It's whatever. Typical AAA filler movie whiteout any soul to farm some money. Wouldn't have written a review if I hadn't seen it in a theater.

Halie Steinfeld was the best actress and singer ever made in the star of Bumblebee!

I am very pleasantly surprised. Especially after my disgust with the fifth episode. Bumblebee was something new. Less action and I liked that a lot because I thought the fifth episode was overdone. This one suited me. It reminded me of the first Transformers. Again, there was some autobot to human introductions and it was very well done in my opinion. To top it all off, I really liked the setting in the 80's, which opened up the space for some proper music, which I also found to be over the top in the previous installments. Here, however, that is no longer the case and they played some hits here and there, so I was satisfied, although I think they didn't have to worry about that and could have squeezed a bit more classical music out of that era. Bottom line. I was satisfied. After all the disappointments since the fourth episode, I was pleased. For me, a good movie that I wouldn't be afraid to recommend to fans of the franchise.

Bumblebee. A completely new take on Transformers. A sweet and kind family film in which there is practically no such drive as in the entire previous series of films. Special praise for the amazing soundtrack. As well as beautiful views of California.

The best live-action Transformers movie, as if that's saying much at all. Hailee Steinfeld adds some much needed humanity and dignity to this franchise, but other than that, this is just another soulless studio blockbuster.

What a pity. This movie could be such a great movie: Finally we have well written characters, especially the sadness of Charlie was touching several times, also the friendship to Bumblebee. The scenes from Cybertron were nice and the story before Transformers 1 was interesting. In addition the 80s feeling was great, it worked in Guardians of Galaxy and here it is even better, because of the funny answers by Bumblebee through old music. And finally the movie was under 2 hours and not 2,5 hours. **** is so feministic...Almost every scene is with Hailee Steinfeld as Charlie and of course she is so strong, deciding everything and is even better in male dominated stuff, blabla. Memo is so weak of course.

I enjoyed this film mainly for the 1980s pop music featured (It made me a little nostalgic for (what I remember of) the 1980s - I remember wanting to get a Transformer toy, for one thing), although the CGI effects aren't too bad either and John Cena is somewhat amusing as agent Burns, a typically macho American soldier/agent. As a bit of escapist, family friendly fun, its certainly good enough to pass just under a couple of hours. I liked the landscape, panorama shots (i.e. the cinematography isn't bad). Its an entertaining enough film which is worth a watch, yes. Frankly I wasn't expecting much, hence my rating - oh and the fact that the main (non-CGI, i.e. human) character is a girl, in a sci-fi film, is pretty cool. Oh and (coincidentally) the fact that the robot is disguised as a car, which happens to be a VW Beetle, of course makes me think of the various Herbie films (The Love Bug, Herbie Rides Again etc.), which I loved as a child in the early 90s, just after this film was set in.

Don’t listen to bad reviews this movie is a 80s movie and I loved everything about it. Raised my expectations for the sequel and is a perfect example of what a live action adaptation should be and look like.

Bumblebee is the movie that the franchise needed and at the same time the one that the public deserved.

Наконец-то хороший фильм про Трансформеров, такой должна была быть сага о Майкле Бэе.

Suppose you have to make a movie on Barbie. So, what do we know about her? She's beautiful, she's the symbol of feminine, she goes on adventures. Now suppose if these characteristics were taken and Barbie was turned into a porn film series, how would it feel? Wrong, right? Toys are supposed to be the emotions of children. So they have to be given characteristics and emotions, and not just mash them together and throw in a joke after every two lines. This is exactly the problem with the Transformers franchise, and that's what this movie has fixed. One really good thing about this movie is that unlike many character-driven movies like Sonic the Hedgehog or Cars, Bumblebee has not only ben about his relationship with other people. It is a major plot point, yes, but other than that there's also Cybertron, where the Autobots are fighting a lost cause. So this gives a sense of time constraint to the movie. If it wastes too much time the Decepticons will come on Earth and attack the humans. There are occasional warnings like that guy's pickup truck being smashed. Because of this the humans have been properly intertwined with the consequences. While Bumblebee is spending time with Charlie, he also has to learn the ways in which he must behave if he needs the humans to trust him. Charlie knows about the Cybertron attack but she can't let Bumblebee run in the open otherwise the military will take him away. The military thinks that Bumblebee is a bad guy because the Decepticons told them. There is also Charlie's friend Memo who helps her in the adventure. Overall everyone has an important part to play in this movie. And this is how it should be since the humans are in the movies for the majority of the runtime so they shouldn't be cringy to watch. The only thing this movie was lacking was Michael Bay's action scenes. I'd have preferred if they allowed Bay to stay for the fight scenes, but let Travis Knight do the rest. The action scenes and their choreography were given a nod every time Cybertron was shown. In fact, the movie begins on Cybertron itself. The fight between Bumblebee and Shatter and Dropkick clearly made it seem like how Bumblebee is struggling to keep up with them as the military is also intervening their fight. The character development of not just Bumblebee, but Charlie is also seen in the movie. In all the previous five Transformers movies, there was little to no character development, which is what made us stop caring about them. We already knew Optimus Prime will always be the good guy who will fight everyone and win (remember the Martha scene from the Last Knight where Bumblebee suddenly starts speaking and Optimus suddenly becomes a good guy?) and Megatron will be the generic bad guy. Here we have Bumblebee trying to cope with his new life, Charlie trying to get over her fear, Memo trying to impress her and Agent Burns who learns to trust the aliens. We just need a few more movies like Bumblebee and the Transformers franchise will come back on track. We have seen the character development of one Autobot, now Optimus Prime should be the next one and then possibly Megatron to give his point of view. Finally we have gone over Sam Witwicky and Cade, who had the most one dimensional personalities. Now it's all about Charlie.

Without Michael Bay as director, it makes a huge difference. The plot has the luxury of combining action with comedy and nostalgia for the 80s in a fluid way without overdoing it. As weekend entertainment, it works and very well.

While incredibly flawed, but it's just refreshing that we finally got a live action Transformers movie that wasn't directed by Michael Bay. It at least opens new doors for other film markers to come in and make something decent, hopefully. And man, Hailee Steinfeld really gave it her all in this.

Best Prequel Ever! Based on michael bay´s Transformers! one of the best movies from 2018 along with avengers infinity war!

nobody asked for this. I stopped watching the transformers series for obvious reasons, and I was hoping this soft reboot would reignite my love for the franchise... it did not

This movie is the best transformer movie. It's faithful to the G1 cartoons. I like the old 80s setting. The explains Bumblebee's backstop perfectly. This movie deserves a 10/10.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

This movie is so fun to watch it's way better than the Michael bay movies. All of the characters are likeable. The fights scenes are really cool

Finally an exciting, joyful and most of all human live-action transformers movie. Obviously made by people who actually understand the source material. Took me back to my 80’s childhood me. Loved it and I hope more to come.

Definitely better than Michael Bay Transformers. This is a good step forward for the next Transformers movies. Very nostalgic seeing the robots based on the G1 design. Thank you so much for making this movie.

With the help of a transformers spin-off that finally obliterates sexually objectified damsels and instead showcases a leading heroine with a sweet and lovable connection with the titular character that makes this the only actually decent film to appear out of this horrendously bloated blockbuster franchise. Bumblebee does its fan-base a favor and gives something to appreciate out of its familiar yet still friendly and fun vibe forming a brighter and more lighthearted experience that elevates it by a colossal landslide above its atrocious predecessors.

*Insert generic witty comment about this film being more than meets the eye*

️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️my baby John cena I love you so much

A breath of fresh air away from the awful Bayverse. This film feels like a real Transformers film with excellent action(that you can see), lovable human character and recognizable characters in the beginning of the film. I pray this is the first step to making a good Transformers series closer to the originals with G1 style characters.

The best Transformer movie since the first one, the 80s throwback is a warm welcome. Everything is relatively as you'd expect, the story is nothing special but on a whole its a really enjoyable family friendly movie. The only downer was the generic Decepticons, they should've used more well known characters as the antagonists.

Fantastic Bumblebee is emotional, fun, down to earth, and very well written.

This is one of the worst movies I've ever watched. Well, half warched as it was so bad I couldn't finish even though I was just trying to kill time on a flight. I have to assume any reviewer with half a brain didn't see the movie and the rest were paid shills. There's on way an honest reviewer wouldn't be reeling at the giant plot holes and other problems with the first half of the movie (assume the 2nd half is more of the same). Just awful. I get it's a transformers movie but come on! no excuse for it to be this bad

utter trash! The movie promises a lot in the first 10 minutes. It shows why bumblebee became bumblebee. but then the following 50 minutes its about this stupid girl and her dad and her family that i dont give a crap about. it should be all about bumblebee but this movie portrays the girl more often than bumblebee. It feels like bumblebee is a extra in the movie and not the main charachter. im giving it a 1 just because of only the beginning of the movie. So sad, again a great concept turned to trash. Great job director!

It's a fresh Transformers movie. It's not about action and explosions, it's all about the connection between humans and robots, and between robots and their origins. But, the acting choices could've been better.

Great family movie. The relationship between bumblebee and the main actress is very well established throughout the movie.

Heart, Fun, less mayham....Refreshing It's a fun way to show off my favorite character Bee.

Muy buena película una apuesta diferente y mucho mejor que transformers, con una historia que contar y bumblebee es adorable