History YMMV / Bumblebee

* CreatorWorship: Greatly contrasting the [[ScapegoatCreator fandom reaction]] to Michael Bay, the fanbase ''adores'' director Travis Knight due to having directed the beloved ''WesternAnimation/KuboAndTheTwoStrings'' and his AscendedFanboy TruerToTheText approach being what many feel made the film so strong, and pretty much everyone wants to see him return to shepherd future movies. Creator/HaileeSteinfeld also gets this due to her performance as Charlie, leading to her being considered one of the ''best'' human characters in the franchise's history.

* {{Misblamed}}: The G1 Seeker seen in the trailers being revealed to be Blitzwing instead of Starscream got disappointed people criticizing Travis Knight for pointless character namedrop. While it can be also be stated that showcasing his character design was mostly for marketing, [[spoiler:it was understandably impossible for Knight to reveal the reasoning for different character name without outright spoiling his death]].

* ScapegoatCreator: Fans dumped much of their frustrations onto producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura during the period [[FlipFlopOfGod of uncertainty]] about if ''Bumblebee'' was a reboot or not, simply because his statements seemed to suggest that it wasn't (which was how the movie was originally shot) while other sources said otherwise. In the end, a lot of it ended up being the result of misleading headlines.

** Optimus Prime has roughly four collective minutes of screen-time, but whether he's thrashing Decepticons, performing iconic poses, or [[spoiler:showing up with a Freightliner alternate mode and telling Bumblebee he's saved the Autobot cause]], he makes those four minutes count.

* SignatureScene: The prologue scene on Cybertron, for being a love letter to G1; the streamlined and colorful designs that harken to G1, the classic voices of Soundwave and Shockwave, the Seeker trio led by Starscream that transform into tetrajets, and cameos from the likes of Brawn, Arcee, and Wheeljack. A common refrain among fans is that the prologue alone is better than the five prior films, and it's what everyone remembers from ''Bumblebee''.

** “THERE’S A DOOR IN MY WAY!”

*** Blitzwing ''not'' being a triple-changer, while the BigBad and TheDragon ''are'', has been met with some disappointment from fans.

** Dropkick in general. His dislike of Earth, but primarily humans, is pretty much played for laughs, even when he's killing a random civilian (admittedly a jackass one), and his dialogue drips with ComedicSociopathy.

** As the film was confirmed as "new storytelling universe", it has become quite likely that after ''The Last Knight'' becoming financial failure, the film got reworked from the original draft which was more heavily tied to Bay films (suggested by how the film’s original opening was Bumblebee escaping a human army on Earth and the movie's offical prequel comic establishing his long history on the planet and rivalry with Blitzwing, who was a tank-jet Triple Changer instead of a Seeker) to make it work as either a prequel, though with discontinuities, or it's own fresh start for a movie series depending on it’s box office performance.

** To a considerably lesser extent, Tina [[TheBully the bullying]] AlphaBitch who delights in tormenting Charlie. [[OneSceneWonder She only appears for about eight minutes in total]], but her scenes greatly help to make the audience feel bad for [[TheWoobie Charlie]], and their [[PayEvilUntoEvil comeuppance]] is one of the most entertaining moments in the movie and a major SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}} between Charlie, Bee, and Memo, something the film couldn't have had without her.

** To some extent, Memo is often teased by the fandom, often due to being "[=rejected/friendzoned=]" by Charlie. The fact that Jorge Lendeborg Jr.'s character in ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'' is also rejected by a woman in his one scene seems to be brought up a lot. Generally his character is well-liked, at least.

** [[spoiler:Sector 7 makes a plan to help the Decepticons track down B-127, and then destroy all of them afterwards. However, after they have caught the Autobot, they let the two Cons interrogate him, while only having Dr. Powell to accompany them, with absolutely no surveillance or armed forces anywhere near to watch over the alien robots they’ve deemed greatly dangerous. As result, Shatter and Dropkick find out about Optimus’ plan to bring Autobots to Earth, prompting them to call an armada to wipe the planet out, Powell getting killed soon after, and the Cons almost going through with their plan to contact Cybertron and dooming Earth.]]

* Narm:

** Sally is either a [[ParentsAsPeople well-meaning mother]] who loves Charlie, or a [[ParentalNeglect neglectful jerk]] who is inconsiderate to her daughter's problems.

** Sally is either a [[ParentsAsPeople well-meaning mother]] who loves Charlie, or a [[ParentalNeglect neglectful jerk]] who is continuously thoughtless to her daughter's problems.

* RonTheDeathEater: Sally. While not exactly mother of the year, some people make her out to be an AbusiveParent who ''despises'' Charlie, in spite of the fact that she is clearly a hard-working woman who just doesn't ''understand'' her daughter's problems. Some also tend to ignore that she tried to find Charlie after going missing, making it clear she ''does'' love Charlie.

** Sally is either a [[ParentsAsPeople well-meaning mother]] who loves Charlie, or a [[ParentalNeglect neglectful jerk]] who is continuously thoughtless to her problems.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Otis. Some dislike him for being a rather annoying BrattyHalfPint to Charlie, but others don't mind him for [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold trying to be helpful to Charlie]] at the end when she goes to find Bumblebee.

* TakeThatScrappy: When Charlie [[CallingTheOldManOut chews out Sally for her insensitivity]].
-->'''Charlie:''' You know, mom, just because you've moved on and you're happy with your new life doesn't mean I have! You found a replacement for my dad and I haven't, okay! I never will! So I'm sorry if that make things harder. But in ten months from now, you won't even have to deal with me!

* TheScrappy: Charlie's mom Sally seems to have become this, with the attempts at ParentsAsPeople making her come off as too insensitive towards Charlie to see her as well-meaning.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Sally is supposed to be seen as a [[ParentsAsPeople well-meaning parent]] who is simply having a difficult time relating to her daughter, but her hypocrisy in reprimanding Charlie over having Bumbleebee by taking the car herself without Charlie's consent, constant berating of Charlie for her obvious grief, and [[NoSympathy total apathy when Charlie gets in trouble by the government through no fault of her own]] make her come off as an [[ParentalNeglect uncaring jerk]].

* PanderingToTheBase: With the more G1-esque designs and general 80's feel, the film seems determined to cater to the geewunners who complained about the previous films [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks diverging from G1]] (which is [[OlderThanTheyThink relatively common in the franchise]]). This is generally seen as a [[NotAllTropesAreBad ''good'']] example of pandering, as even many non-G1 ''Transformers'' fans had felt that the previous movies lacked several iconic aspects people expected from the characters and their particular reinvention of the franchise had fallen out of favor with the general public, so this new approach breathed some much needed life into the series.

** Blitzwing's final moments reeks of this trope. After a brief skirmish with bumblebee, he successfully incapacitates him and moves in to execute the Autobot. Rather than simply execute him from a distance, he lifts him up in order to deliver a short death sentence speech, giving Bumblebee enough time to recover and fight back, killing Blitzwing.

** '''[[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment Many]]''' consider Creator/MichaelBay's lack of involvement[[note]]He's only executive producer here.[[/note]] with the film to be this, coupled with the fact that he's been replaced by Travis Knight as director. On a happier note, many expressed they felt this was a better role for Bay as his position put him in a space to offer advice and critique without having the pressure of directing also on top of him. And given Knight's glowing praise of Bay being able to shield him from outside meddling, seems to have worked out.

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: The Transformers film series has been a critical whipping boy since the beginning, with no entry ever achieving a "Fresh" rating. {{Sequelitis}} only exacerbated the problem, culminating in the the abysmally received ''The Last Knight''. You might think the franchise was finally circling the drain at this point, but then ''Bumblebee'' comes out and receives nearly universal approval. Who would have expected that? In short, on Website/RottenTomatoes, it went from 16% (The Last Knight) to '''92%'''.

* TakeThatScrappy: When Charlie [[CallingTheOldWomanOut chews out Sally for her insensitivity]].

* PanderingToTheBase: With the more G1-esque designs and general 80's feel, the film seems determined to cater to the geewunners who complained about the previous films [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks diverging from G1]] (which is [[OlderThanTheyThink relatively common in the franchise]]). This is generally seen as a ''good'' example of pandering, as even many non-G1 ''Transformers'' fans had felt that the previous movies lacked several iconic aspects people expected from the characters and their particular reinvention of the franchise had fallen out of favor with the general public, so this new approach breathed some much needed life into the series.

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: As noted at the top of the page, prior to the movie, Bumblebee was beginning to be seen as a CreatorsPet by Transformers fans due to the heavy presence he's given in prior movies and Transformers media that's drawing inspiration from such. However, as the film avoided ''too'' much merchandise, and focused on Bumblebee's genuinely endearing qualities and his role as the human protector, not to mention portrayed him as TheWoobie as he goes through an extremely vulnerable point in his life, its safe to say Bumblebee regained fan adoration.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Otis. Many dislike him for being a rather annoying BrattyHalfPint to Charlie, but others don't mind him for [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold trying to be helpful to Charlie]] at the end when she goes to find Bumblebee.

** Some fans even consider ''Bumblebee'' [[EvenBetterSequel an even-better reboot]] of ''Series/SuperhumanSamuraiSyberSquad'' for non-anime fans who aren't interested in [[Anime/SSSSGridman the anime adaptation]], due to similar themes and the latter's ''Transformers'' references.

* TheWoobie: Charlie had no friends before meeting Bumblebee, and was mercilessly bullied by an AlphaBitch and her posse. Her family (especially [[ParentsAsPeople her mother]]) also has a hard time connecting with her while she is currently grieving the loss of her father whom she used to build cars with.

* TheWoobie:
** Charlie had no friends before meeting Bumblebee, and was mercilessly bullied by an AlphaBitch and her posse. Her family (especially [[ParentsAsPeople her mother]]) also has a hard time connecting with her while she is currently grieving the loss of her father whom she used to build cars with.
** Cliffjumper was [[ColdBloodedTorture brutally tortured by both Shatter and Dropkick]] at the beginning of the film.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Otis. While not as disliked as Sally, he's rather divisive for being a rather annoying BrattyHalfPint to Charlie. Otherwise, fans don't mind him for [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold trying to be helpful to Charlie]] at the end when she goes to find Bumblebee.

* MoralEventHorizon: Shatter and Dropkick have crossed the line early in the film [[ColdBloodedTorture with their vicious murder of Cliffjumper]].

* ScapegoatCreator: Producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, who was already disliked for having been something of a silent partner in the previous movies regarding their controversial elements, is widely disliked by fans for his general reluctance to give up the Bayformers links, up to and including trying to come up with theories on how the film ''could'' still work as a prequel despite the many ContinuitySnarl aspects. Combined with his answers in interviews making it seem like he has no idea what's actually going on, and his claims that the sequel would have 'more Bayhem' and that ''The Last Knight'' would be continued on lead to many decrying the potential future. Fortunately, he quickly clarified that they ''are'' in fact rebooting the franchise and both ''Bumblebee'' and its sequel will be part of that, but his frequent FlipFlopOfGod has generally just earned him ire for his apparent ineptitude with the franchise.
* TheScrappy: Charlie's mom Sally seems to have become this, though to a ''much'' lesser extent compared to Sam's parents from the previous movies. Some viewers really don't like how insensitive Charlie's family is to her grief and depression, but Sally in particular gets far more hate for how she scolds Charlie for bringing a car home without telling her, takes said car out [[{{Hypocrite}} herself without telling Charlie]], then later berates her for 'moping around' all the time, and takes Agent Burns' side over her own daughter's.

** Charlie had no friends (aside from [[NiceGuy Memo]]) before meeting Bumblebee, and was generally bullied by an AlphaBitch and her posse. Her family (especially [[ParentsAsPeople her mother]]) also has a hard time connecting with her while she is currently grieving the loss of her father whom she used to build cars with.