Nostalgic setting that lacks classic carnage
‘Rise of the Beasts’ starts off in New York, so it had me giddy at the thought of the destruction to come. But alas we end up in Peru in the middle of a generic field for the final battle to ensue. I really missed Bay’s cinematic flare; this take just feels so… Safe.
Bring back Bay.
Transformers never went away. My kid loves the latest animated series ‘Transformers: Earthspark” which has a second season and videogame adaption on the way. You can play as Optimus Prime in ‘Fortnite’ and as Bumblebee in ‘Rocket League”. Don’t forget the never-ending stream of toy releases, but it’s been a while since we’ve seen the robots in disguise on the big screen. Enter ‘Rise of the Beasts.’
We’re into a new era of the cinematic Transformers. Michael Bay has loosened his grip on the series, starting with 2018’s Bumblebee. Of the seven live-action movies this is only the second instalment he didn’t direct. Take that how you will, you either love or hate what Bay did with his movies and that might make you more inclined to see this one.
Set in the early nineties, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts follows Noah Diaz (Anthony Ramos) as he struggles to find a job to make enough money to get his kid brother the medical attention he desperately needs. When the job search fails, Noah tries to make some quick cash by stealing a Porsche 911 to sell, only to find out that the car is actually an alien robot Transformer: Mirage.
(Paramount Pictures)
Mirage takes Noah to meet a bunch of other alien robots including fan favourite Autobots Optimus Prime and Bumblebee and soon find out that some baddie robots are coming to earth in search of the Transwarp Key, a MacGuffin that if they take back to their leader Unicron, a planet-eating dark god robot, he will be able to open a portal that will allow him to eat more planets. Turns out there are other robots living on Earth, an advanced type that can transform into beasts and they’ve hidden the key on Earth which is why the baddies are here. Now they all have to work together to stop them.
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I was never really big on Transformers growing up, but I was briefly into Beast Wars when that was on TV. So, that had me keen for a movie based around these characters, but I have to say they may as well have not even been in the movie. They feel really crowbarred in and the Autobots take over. I feel like with a name like “Rise of the Beasts” you almost didn’t even need to have Optimus Prime and his crew in there, the film could have been solely set around the beast bots.
Instead, they try to tread the same ground that we’ve already covered with Shia LaBeouf’s Sam Witwicky and Bumblebee, a boy and his car, by teaming our protagonist Noah up with Mirage. But unlike Sam and Bee, I don’t feel any connection between these two and just don’t care. I like Pete Davidson generally, but his voice work with Mirage is just annoying and comes across a little try hard.
(Paramount Pictures)
Noah’s plight had me drawn in to begin with, you can’t help but like a dude who is just trying to provide for his family. But once he gets caught up in the alien robot wars, he really loses my attention. The movie really could have used a bit more star power with their leads, Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback, who plays Noah’s unlikely friend Elena, are fine, but to stand out next to giant robots you really gotta bring something special, and these guys feel a bit cardboard when it comes to those scenes.
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You could argue all the star power is in the voices of the Transformers, with the likes of Peter Dinklage, Michelle Yeoh and Ron Perlman as well as THE voice of Optimus Prime, Peter Cullin, but they are just hidden behind these CGI creations.
In saying that, this probably should have just been a movie about the robots, it didn’t even really need to be set on earth. The humans have next to no impact on anything, (including that cool scene at the end, if you know you know) with all this happening you’d think the army would get involved, but nah.
(Paramount Pictures)
The one thing I’ve always loved about the Transformers flicks is the gratuitous demolition carnage. Full city blocks being destroyed and explosions a plenty. Say what you will about Michael Bay, but the man knows how to blow something up, and makes it look cool while doing it. ‘Rise of the Beasts’ starts off in New York, so it had me giddy at the thought of the destruction to come. But alas we end up in Peru in the middle of a generic field for the final battle to ensue. I really missed Bay’s cinematic flare; this take just feels so… Safe.
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Negativity aside, seeing giant robots duke it out on the big screen with all the crunching sound design is still an absolute delight, and anytime I hear that transforming sound effect and just makes me feel like a little kid again. I also got a real nostalgic kick out of the 90’s setting. Watching Noah repair a bootleg cable box while hip hop from the era blares was really cool.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is probably my least favourite entry into the series (yes, including The Last Knight), but the teaser scene at the end has me excited for things to come.
