‘Bumblebee’ Is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes

The latest entry in the Transformers franchise just earned a pretty high honor.

Bumblebee, which debuts in theaters this weekend, has officially been “certified fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes, with a score of 93%. For the unfamiliar, “certified fresh” means that a film earns a score of 75% or more on the Tomatometer, after at least 40 reviews have been compiled.

Bumblebee is the first Transformers film to earn such this accolade, with all five previous films being dubbed “rotten” on the review service. The original 2007 Transformers film earned 57% when it debuted, and the sequels have all averaged out in the high teens, aside from Transformers: Dark of the Moon earning a 35%.

For those who have been keeping a close eye on Bumblebee, this probably isn’t too much of a surprise, as the film was quickly deemed the best entry in the Transformers franchise by critics. While the film feels like a bit of a departure from the previous films, those working behind-the-scenes made that choice for several different reasons.

“It wasn’t in any way addressing any feedback from the fans,” director Travis Knight said in a recent interview. “It was just a story I wanted to tell. That last one [Transformers: The Last Knight] is one of the biggest movies I’ve ever seen — and I couldn’t go bigger than that. So let’s go the other way, let’s focus in on a small corner of this canvas and really get to know one of these characters. Let’s balance the emotions with the explosions … The core relationship mattered to me more than anything else. And if that didn’t work, none of the other stuff matters. It’s just bombast. It’s just eye candy.”

Bumblebee follows the titular Autobot (voiced by Dylan O’Brien) as he crash-lands in the 1980s and befriends Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld), a teenager trying to get over a loss. The film’s cast also includes John Cena, Angela Bassett, Justin Theroux, Pamela Adlon, Peter Cullen, John Ortiz, and Jorge Lendeborg Jr.

What do you think of Bumblebee getting such a positive response on Rotten Tomatoes? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Bumblebee arrives in theaters on December 21st.