Bumblebee
Stream
Rent & Buy
On the run in the year 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie, on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken. When Charlie revives him, she quickly learns this is no ordinary yellow VW bug.
What critics thought
The best-reviewed entry in the Transformers franchise by a wide margin, Bumblebee earns its goodwill largely through Hailee Steinfeld's grounded performance and action sequences you can actually follow — a low bar, perhaps, but one the series had never cleared before. Critics generally welcomed the smaller, character-driven approach and 1980s nostalgia, though some felt the film's reliance on familiar Spielbergian tropes kept it from being genuinely good rather than merely the least bad Transformers movie.
“there are many scenes where giant robots fight each other, and in those scenes, you can actually see what's happening. The Autobots and Decepticons toss each other around with slick judo-like moves and blast each other with abandon, and the cinematography and editing hold still long enough to let you enjoy each moment”
Liz Shannon Miller·IndieWire
“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.”
James Berardinelli·ReelViews
“springy yet coherent, not, like previous films in the series, a digital-image blender set on high”
Glenn Kenny·The New York Times
“disappointing in the end, because it's still a careless stretch of blockbusting”
Jesse Hassenger·The A.V. Club
“There's not only nothing new here, there's nothing convincing either”
Simon Abrams·RogerEbert.com
Genres
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Cast & Crew
Travis KnightDirector
Dylan O'BrienB-127 / Bumblebee (voice)
Hailee SteinfeldCharlie Watson
John CenaJack Burns
Jorge Lendeborg Jr.Memo Gutierrez
John OrtizDr. Powell
Stephen SchneiderRon
Jason Ian DruckerOtis Watson
Pamela AdlonSally Watson
Len CariouHank
Glynn TurmanGeneral Whalen
Peter CullenOptimus Prime (voice)
Angela BassettShatter (voice)
Dario MarianelliComposer
Christina HodsonWriter
Enrique ChediakCinematographyBumblebee
On the run in the year 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie, on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken. When Charlie revives him, she quickly learns this is no ordinary yellow VW bug.
What critics thought
The best-reviewed entry in the Transformers franchise by a wide margin, Bumblebee earns its goodwill largely through Hailee Steinfeld's grounded performance and action sequences you can actually follow — a low bar, perhaps, but one the series had never cleared before. Critics generally welcomed the smaller, character-driven approach and 1980s nostalgia, though some felt the film's reliance on familiar Spielbergian tropes kept it from being genuinely good rather than merely the least bad Transformers movie.
“there are many scenes where giant robots fight each other, and in those scenes, you can actually see what's happening. The Autobots and Decepticons toss each other around with slick judo-like moves and blast each other with abandon, and the cinematography and editing hold still long enough to let you enjoy each moment”
Liz Shannon Miller·IndieWire
“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.”
James Berardinelli·ReelViews
“springy yet coherent, not, like previous films in the series, a digital-image blender set on high”
Glenn Kenny·The New York Times
“disappointing in the end, because it's still a careless stretch of blockbusting”
Jesse Hassenger·The A.V. Club
“There's not only nothing new here, there's nothing convincing either”
Simon Abrams·RogerEbert.com
Genres
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Cast & Crew
Travis KnightDirectorDylan O'BrienB-127 / Bumblebee (voice)Hailee SteinfeldCharlie WatsonJohn CenaJack BurnsJorge Lendeborg Jr.Memo GutierrezJohn OrtizDr. PowellStephen SchneiderRonJason Ian DruckerOtis WatsonPamela AdlonSally WatsonLen CariouHankGlynn TurmanGeneral WhalenPeter CullenOptimus Prime (voice)Angela BassettShatter (voice)Dario MarianelliComposerChristina HodsonWriterEnrique ChediakCinematographyStream
Rent & Buy