It absolutely is not a coincidence that the only live-action Transformers movie so far that wasn’t directed by Michael Bay turned out to be the best entry in the franchise by a huge distance.
To hammer that point home even further, the 90% Rotten Tomatoes rating accrued by Travis Knight’s Bumblebee is higher than the combined scores of Bay’s Revenge of the Fallen, Dark of the Moon, Age of Extinction, and The Last Knight, with those sequels only cobbling together a cumulative 82%.
Unfortunately, the 1980s-set adventure is also the lowest-grossing outing for the Autobots and the Decepticons, meaning the direct sequel that was placed into active development in January 2020 didn’t happen. However, one positive is that next year’s Rise of the Beasts will take place in the same continuity, albeit a decade later, so it’s not as if Bumblebee is being erased from canon.
Director Travis Knight brings a sense of whimsy, wonder, and old school Amblin sensibilities to the sci-fi sandbox, foregoing the orgy of CGI destruction and nonsensical plotting that defined the Bay era to deliver a straightforward story about a girl and her car trying to find their respective places in the world, with the obvious caveat that one of them is a giant alien robot.
Bumblebee holds a special place in the hearts of Transformers fans everywhere, and especially ones with Netflix accounts, it would appear. As per FlixPatrol, the acclaimed action blockbuster can currently be found as the 15th most-watched film on the platform’s most-watched list, where it reigns as a Top 10 hit in a dozen countries split over two continents.
Published: Mar 6, 2022 05:58 am