It’s officially been five years since the best Transformers movie came out, as Bumblebee still stands the test of time and above the rest of the franchise. Paramount’s live-action Transformers franchise finally moved in a new direction away from Michael Bay in 2018 with the release of a Bumblebee prequel movie. Directed by Travis Knight, Bumblebee followed the fan-favorite Autobot as he first came to Earth as part of a new origin and franchise reboot. This led to an encounter with Hailee Steinfeld’s Charlie, an awkward teenage girl who happens to find and fix Bumblebee, leading to them facing off with Decepticons.
Although Bumblebee was the sixth movie in the Transformers franchise overall, the series has since grown to include Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. When it comes to ranking the Transformers movies from worst to best, there are certainly arguments to be made for Michael Bay’s original 2007 film being at the top of the list. However, Bumblebee has carved out its place as the best the franchise has to offer. This became a possibility when the film debuted in theaters on December 21, 2018, but the appreciation for Bumblebee has only grown over the years leading up to its five-year anniversary.
7 Transformers Who Deserve Solo Spinoff Films 5 Years After Bumblebee
Bumblebee isn’t the only Transformer who would be able to carry a solo movie, with many other Autobots having potential for more focused spinoffs.
Bumblebee Is The Transformers Franchise’s Best-Reviewed Movie
Purely from a critical standpoint, the argument about which Transformers movie is best belongs to Bumblebee. The 2018 film is easily the best-reviewed entry in the franchise. Bumblebee achieved a 91% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, and that is a franchise high by a considerable margin. Michael Bay’s original Transformers is the next closest, but its 57% score pales in comparison to Bumblebee’s prequel adventure. Bumblebee also has a franchise record Metacritic score of 66 out of 100, which narrowly edged out the 2007 movie’s 61 score.
While Bumblebee finished its theatrical run five years ago as the lowest-grossing Transformers movie, audiences actually enjoyed the movie more than the majority of other entries. The film’s audience score on Rotten Tomatoes sits at 74%, which is the third-highest score for the franchise at the moment. 2007’s Transformers held the franchise record at 85% up until Transformers: Rise of the Beasts beat it with a 91% score. Despite this, Bumblebee became the first and remains the only Transformers movie to have a Fresh audience and critic scores on Rotten Tomatoes.
Movie | RT Critics Rating | RT Audience Rating |
|---|---|---|
Transformers | 57% | 85% |
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | 20% | 57% |
Transformers: Dark of the Moon | 35% | 55% |
Transformers: Age of Extinction | 18% | 50% |
Transformers: The Last Knight | 16% | 43% |
Bumblebee | 91% | 74% |
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts | 52% | 91% |
Bumblebee Has The Transformers Movie’s Strongest Human & Autobot Relationship
One of the main reasons that Bumblebee deserves to be called the best Transformers movie is thanks to the human and Autobot relationship at the center. This has been a key aspect of the franchise in all iterations, but the dynamic that is formed between Charlie and Bumblebee is the best. Following Shia LaBeouf’s Sam Witwicky and Mark Wahlberg’s Cade Yeager in the previous five films as they developed bonds with Bumblebee proved to be missing any real emotional connection that resonated with audiences. Bumblebee made sure that would not happen again by fully focusing on Charlie and Bee’s connection.
Director Travis Knight and screenwriter Christina Hodson switched up the typical Transformers movie formula with Bumblebee, moving away from the Bayisms to turn in a smaller coming-of-age story for both Charlie and Bee. They enter each other’s lives at the perfect time, and the relationship that develops has a profound impact on both. Bee helps Charlie overcome her fears and deal with the trauma of her dad’s death. Meanwhile, Charlie gives Bee someone to care for and protect, allowing him to emerge as the heroic Autobot fans know him to be. The sweet and funny friendship is the heart of Bumblebee and a high point for the franchise overall.
Bumblebee Captures The G1 Nostalgia Michael Bay’s Transformers Movies Lacked
Bumblebee is also a noticeable break from the Transformers franchise when it comes to utilizing the nostalgic G1 designs. Michael Bay’s first five films in the franchise were made with the idea to transform the Hasbro toys into modern, intricately designed machines that looked “cool.” The approach certainly worked to some degree based on the success of those movies, and the initial transforming sequence in the 2007 film remains a highlight for the entire series. However, Bumblebee‘s ability to fully embrace the G1 nostalgia is something audiences had been waiting for decades to see in live-action.
The movie’s desire to capture the look and feel of the 1980s toy line was immediately present. Bumblebee’s opening sequence on Cybertron, showing the full scale of the Autobots and Decepticons at war, was everything longtime fans could have hoped for. Seeing Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and others in their traditional G1 designs was a special moment. It clearly signaled to viewers that Bumblebee would embrace the G1 nostalgia in a way Michael Bay’s movies never even attempted. The G1 designs realized in live-action were so good that Paramount kept them for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and helped give confidence in going fully down the Beast Wars route next.
Transformers Needs More Movies Like Bumblebee, Not Less
A movie as well-received as Bumblebee had all the makings to be what Paramount should attempt to replicate for future endeavors in the franchise. However, the studio was spooked by Bumblebee‘s box office enough so that development on a sequel did not make much progress. The more concerning development was Transformers: Rise of the Beasts attempting to cherry-pick the best parts of Bumblebee and mesh them with the bigger style Michael Bay’s movies brought to the series. The result was a fun albeit messy installment in the Transformers franchise, with producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura noting the film was trying to listen to criticisms a contingent of fans had about Bumblebee.
Transformers Learned The Wrong Lesson From Bumblebee & It’s Worrying For The Future
Bumblebee fared better with audiences than Transformers: Rise of the Beasts because the franchise didn’t learn the right lessons from its success.
The main issue here is that Transformers needs more movies like Bumblebee instead of making less of them or attempting to change what made the movie work so well. Bonaventura cited in an interview with Slash Film that Bumblebee‘s intimate setting and smaller scale was something fans wanted to see more of, noting a specific desire for more explosions and “stuff.” Although the 2018 spinoff certainly was smaller and more intimate than anything that came before it, that is exactly why Bumblebee is the best Transformers movie. It has a strong emotional core and characters at its focus with the action still delivering when it comes.
It is odd, then, that Paramount and the Transformers franchise producers are not eager to try and replicate the success of Bumblebee. To be fair, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts did make some strides in the human character department, but that certainly took a back seat to the action in the grand-scale finale featuring Unicron. The Transformers brand is rich with characters and stories that could attempt to be the next Bumblebee. More spinoffs, or even Bumblebee 2 if it happens, still might not reach the heights of the 2018 movie, but mirroring the approach to the film’s story and characters is what the franchise needs.
Sources: Metacritic, Rotten Tomatoes, Slash Film
