Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Rises Above Usual Bay Fare

There’s a lot I want to say about Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, the seventh live-action Bayverse movie (Michael Bay has a producer credit) about Optimus Prime and his heroic autobots fighting the forces of evil, with this latest one taking place in the mid-1990s. I don’t want to give away the main plot and details for this spoiler-free review, but the fight is much more cosmic in scope compared to the 2018 Bumblebee movie.

But before I begin, I do want to give you, the reader, some context. I’ve watched all the Transformers animated series, from G1 to Earthspark, and even the Japanese versions. I’ve watched the first five Michael Bay movies and although the action and graphics were great, the plots were awful. If they cut out all the human scenes from those movies, they would be much better films. I’ll watch anything with Transformers on the title, but I’m very critical and opinionated. The Beast Wars animated series could use a graphics overhaul, but the main story still holds up. Beast Machines is still a garbage series. You get my point.

I get annoyed with the inclusion of humans in Transformers media, because most times they are useless to fight against giant robots and you can feel the writers shoehorned them in so that audiences can find a relatable character, as if giant robots weren’t enough. Silly Hasbro. The 2018 Bumblebee movie was a step in the right direction. Besides having the greatest Cybertron fighting scenes I have seen since the 1987 Transformers animated movie, it also introduced Hailee Steinfeld’s Charlie, probably the first human character to make the most sense in any of the Transformers movies. It didn’t feel forced and her inclusion in the main story made sense.

And the writing gets even better. In Transformers: Rise of the Beasts they introduce two new human characters, Noah Diaz played by Anthony Ramos, and Elena Wallace played by Dominique Fishback, and both characters are fantastic. Their placement in the story felt real, and they were necessary to the main plot. I enjoyed watching their character growth and hope to see them in future Transformers movies.

The one example of character growth I did not expect to see was Optimus Prime, voiced by the great Peter Cullen. I don’t think any movie really explored the weight of leadership on Optimus’ shoulders and seeing him grow was a pleasant surprise.

The voice actor who stole the show, however, was Pete Davidson playing the autobot Mirage. Davidson’s Mirage was funny and a great foil to Optimus’ cynicism. Ron Perlman as Optimus Primal and Michelle Yeoh as Airazor were superb. Peter Dinklage also did a fantastic job voicing Scourge, the main antagonist of the film, and made his character believable as a main threat. Overall, no one stood out to me as being a terrible voice actor. The redesign to Wheeljack is questionable, but Cristo Fernandez’s voice acting helped make the character work in the film.

One thing I want to add is that I am impressed at how inclusive and diverse the cast is, as well as how non-American cultures are represented.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts isn’t a perfect story and now as I’m writing this review I recall some plot holes, but anyone who expects a Nolanesque experience from a movie made to sell toys is a Gobot. It was fun. There were moments I gasped in surprise and other scenes I cheered, even if I saw it coming a mile away. The fight scenes were kickass. Graphics were amazing. 

Most popcorn action flicks tend to bore me with their tropes and unoriginality, but Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is an exciting, fun time for old and new Transformers fans. If hardcore Transformers fans are okay with changes to the Transformers lore and continuity, they will have a great time. One more note: There is a mid-credit scene but no end credits scene.

I give Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (Paramount Pictures; PG-13; 2 hrs 7 mins) an 8 out of 10. (My 8-year-old son gave it a 10 out of 10.)