‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’- Film Review: One of the Better Sequels?

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is poised to be one of this summer’s standout movies. But was there any hype from this guy? If you were to ask me about my relationship with the Transformers franchise, it’s never been easy. Ever since the live-action series began in the summer of 2007, it wasn’t bad per se, but even as someone who didn’t grow up watching the classic cartoon or playing with the Hasbro action figures, it was a disappointment. And every succeeding sequel has been a letdown, with 2017’s The Last Knight leaving me thinking, “I’ve had enough of these movies making me furious.” Not everyone will agree, but both Age of Extinction and The Last Knight are two of the worst blockbusters in recent memory. Some fans like these, but I don’t know why. But the Travis Knight-directed prequel/spin-off Bumblebee, released in late 2018, caught me off guard by how good it was. Even after rewatching it recently, it was a more grounded sci-fi that had a heart and made me genuinely care about its characters for once.

Now that we’ve finally arrived with the overall seventh installment/ prequel Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, this is one I was hoping to lean on the good side. Not only were the trailers somewhat decent, but this wasn’t in the hands of Michael Bay. Instead, we got Steve Caple Jr. of Creed II fame behind the camera. Going in, all I hoped was for this to have an engaging story and not an overlong runtime, unlike the first five. And I think this will get the job done for fans, but it could’ve been much better than settling on okay.

What’s the Story: Set in 1994 Brooklyn, Noah Diaz (Anthony Ramos) is an ex-military veteran who’s good at fixing electronics but struggles to find a job to support his mother (Luna Lauren Velez) and young brother (Dean Scott Vasquez) dealing with sickle-cell anemia. Since his interview doesn’t go as planned, his pal offers him to steal a sweet silver Porsche to make some quick cash. Little does he know the car can suddenly drive itself and turn into an Autobot spy named Mirage (voiced by Pete Davidson). Soon, leader Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) and the rest of the crew- Bumblebee and Arcee (voiced by Liza Koshy)- discover they have a chance to return to their home planet after aspiring archaeologist Elena Wallace (Dominique Fishback) finds half of a Transwarp Key, which came open portals through space and time, from a strange statue. So, Noah, Elena, and the Autobots must join forces with the Maximals, a race of animal-type robots, to stop Terrorcon leader Scourge (voiced by Peter Dinklage) and his army from bringing the planet-eating Unicron (voiced by Colman Domingo) from attacking Earth.

Compared to the bad installments we’ve seen in the past, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts can differentiate enough from its lesser favorable predecessors, and it didn’t leave me angry. Disappointed but not angry. This is more favorable for those who grew up watching Beast Wars on TV, which this takes inspiration from and has a link to older viewers. I’ve never watched a single episode of Beast Wars and never has too familiar with the show until about a year ago. Yet with Caple Jr., he’s definitely more competent in directing and knows how to pull the audience in with the action that, while not mind-blowing, wasn’t the headache-inducing while keeping the scope not bombastic.

Still, what ultimately gets in the way of embracing what this sequel has to offer is the story. Nobody goes into a Transformers movie expecting any groundbreaking plot since we’re here to be in awe of robots fighting each other. Nothing came off as complex; it’s all very predictable now. But even with five credits writers this time, this continues to hinge on the same mistakes of the others with a less than engaging story to get behind. Everything in this felt rather repetitious, and once our heroes have to embark on a perilous quest to get the MacGuffin to keep the world safe and go through the cheesy and exposition-heavy dialogue, you’ll probably forget about it. Additionally, as it is a prequel, I didn’t sense any emotional connection or stakes.

Thankfully, this is the second-shortest sequel, even when the second act drags occasionally. The humor, too, didn’t have me rolling my eyes every ten minutes, and though there were some weak attempts at getting the audience laughing, there were a few here and there that got a quick chuckle out of me. And with a movie subtitled Rise of the Beasts, the Maximals come off as unmemorable since you only remember the gorilla Optimus Primal and the falcon Airazor, and you forget they’re characters involved here. I guess I wanted more from them.

When the action switches from New York to Peru, the action lacks style, but the best part is that we can actually see what’s going on when the battles and overall visual designs of the robots are happening and aren’t as noisy as expected. When it knows it needs to get the energy back up, the third act (with an overdone sky portal cliche) alone goes for the coolest climaxes in any of these movies or on par with the opening sequence in Bumblebee, where it felt like watching a Saturday morning cartoon, but positively as it takes advantage of having that giant robot on giant robot action that was enjoyable to sit through.

One of my biggest complaints with the series is focusing on the human characters rather than the Transformers themselves. The addition of Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback, as Noah and Elena, are caught in the middle of this global situation, making the balance sort of work. Maybe it’s because this is focusing on just two humans and not a dozen, including an annoying best friend for comic relief, to not care about. Ramos does a solid job where he’s able to make Noah one of the more relatable human characters in the series with a purpose, right up there with probably Charlie Watson from Bumblebee. By that, Ramos and Fishback provide good chemistry with each and become serviceable enough for leads. Fishback doesn’t have much development for her character aside from being a wiz with artifacts, but she’s too enjoyable.

Out of the voice cast, Pete Davidson voicing Mirage was a great choice, and it’s odd to say this is one of his best film performances, adding to a nice bonding relationship with Noah. This also brought the likes of Peter Dinklage, Ron Perlman, and Michelle Yeoh just because they needed big names associated with it. You know what to expect from Peter Cullen at this point, but I’m now noticing how dry Optimus Prime can be when he never cracks a joke and takes life too seriously since he doesn’t trust any humans. And after taking center stage in his own spin-off, Bumblebee is wasted after the first half.

This also has a decent score from Jongnic Bontemps, who takes over from series regular Steve Jablonsky, and the soundtrack provides some classic hip-hop tracks from Black Sheep to Notorious B.I.G. to capture the time despite noticing a couple of songs released only a few years later. So, coming from someone who has never been a fan of these movies aside from one, there was some promise to be had here. Instead, watching this is enough to why I don’t have a strong connection with these. But where this ends off, all I can say is that it’s a surprise that almost frustrates me since it took them this long to pursue this intriguing idea. If that’s the intention, this franchise might be heading in the right direction, depending on its success at the box office.

Overall, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts made for one of the more serviceable albeit forgettable entries in the franchise, yet this sequel still ends up as a mixed bag for placing it as the second best. There’s better action, visuals, and balance between the Autobots and human characters, but the story brings nothing too new to engage upon. You’re not looking at a crowning achievement for a summer blockbuster, but at least this dared to be fun unless the Bay films. Not the best, though nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be.

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