A new era in the Transformers series is dawning with the release of Bumblebee this week. Currently sitting at 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, the film has become the best-reviewed entry in the franchise. To underscore this point, Paramount has released a new trailer for the movie that emphasizes its glowing critical reception. You can check it out for yourself below.
Clocking in at less than a minute, it may be more appropriate to call this an extended TV spot. Regardless, it still manages to include new footage from the upcoming spinoff. Notable scenes include Bumblebee’s departure from Cybertron as well as some Mischief Night shenanigans with Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld) and Memo (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.). We also get new shots of Shatter and Dropkick, the Decepticons who arrive on Earth to dispatch the titular Autobot.
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Although the movie boasts a (mostly) brand new cast and crew, Bumblebee is still set in the same universe as the previous Transformers films. The most recent entry, Transformers: The Last Knight, became the lowest-grossing installment in the franchise when it hit theaters in 2017. This appeared to suggest that audiences may have finally had enough with Michael Bay’s bombastic take on the Hasbro toy line. Since the series began in 2007, Bay’s efforts were lambasted for their shoddy action sequences, bad jokes, and bloated run-times. Additionally, the films were frequently torn apart for their objectification of female characters.
The new Bumblebee preview seems to be attempting some form of damage control by featuring pull-quotes from the latest reviews. Among other observations, critics have been praising the film for infusing heart and humor amid all the high-octane action scenes. This is most likely indebted to director Travis Knight, whose previous work on family films like Kubo and the Two Strings made him a good fit to take over the robots in disguise.
Bumblebee will have preview screenings on Thursday night before its wide release on Friday, December 21. You can share your thoughts on the new trailer in the comment section below!
