Cinema for Brunch TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS Review

“Rise of the Beasts” breathes fresh air into an overdone series by focusing on its leads’ solid chemistry and the sorely missed fun of huge robots tearing themselves apart.

Synopsis

Optimus Prime and the Autobots take on their biggest challenge yet. When a new threat capable of destroying the entire planet emerges, they must team up with a powerful faction of Transformers known as the Maximals to save Earth.

Review
Walking into a film that could either surprisingly entertain or unsurprisingly disappoint, I always tend to walk into reboots with an open mind…but not too open where disappointment feels like a surprise. Luckily enough, director Steven Caple Jr’s “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” delightfully surprised me and made the “open mind” route worth it. From the infectious charm of leading man Shia LaBeouf to a misguided detour of Marky Mark headlining the cast to Hailee Stanfield stepping up to helm a heartwarming prequel, it seems like the “Transformers” series is finally back on the right track to being what it should always be – a fun, action-packed, somewhat heartwarming series of robots that turn into cars and the slightly-idiotic humans they are destined by fate (and plot) to protect. Set in the 1990s, the film begins with down-on-his-luck, ex-military electronics expert Noah (Anthony Ramos) finding himself with nothing to lose, resorting to petty theft to get by and financially support his mother (Luna Lauren Vélez) and ailing young brother Kris (Dean Scott Vazquez). On a job gone wrong, Noah crosses paths with the wise-cracking transformer Mirage (voiced by Pete Davidson) and before he knows it, he meets the heroic trio of Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Arcee. The objective: Per the heeding word of the Maximals, lead by Optimus Primal, Earth is in danger of being taken over by the planet-eating Unicron. Unicron has sent his henchmen, led by Scourge, to obtain the Transwarp Key hidden on Earth. Along the way, Noah also bumps into artifact researcher Elena (Dominique Fishback) who assists the Transformers in obtaining the key and defeating Unicron and his henchmen.

Ridiculous, continental-crossing plots aside, the Transformers films excel when they lean in on their fun action sequences, pack in a bit of a silly humor and don’t try to overexplain an already stupid plot. “Rise of the Beasts” is self-aware of how silly its McGuffin-filled plot is but it doesn’t linger on explaining the ridiculousness. Instead, director Caple Jr. (coming off the heels of “Creed 2”) leans into what makes the Transformers series so effectively entertaining – the relationship between the bots and the humans. Anthony Ramos is a great, charismatic replacement for the sorely missed days of LaBeouf being on the top of the call sheet. Noah is relatable, funny, and you want him to be able to take care of his brother and overworked mother. Fishback’s Elena is charming, brave and you want to see her overcome the obstacles of her museum internship and take credit for her hard work. These characters, while they don’t break the mold of Transformers pathos, make the ride worthwhile as we’re finally seeing our favorite bots fight alongside humans we care about. In addition to the solid chemistry with our “human” leads, there is also the addition of great action sequences. Seven films into this franchise, there’s only so many confusing noisy shots we can see of Prime cutting through a Robotic enemy, over and over, to the point where we can’t even distinguish who has been bested and who is victorious. Caple Jr. takes his time to show the blunt of impact between the bots as well as the twisty fun ways these bots blend in with traffic and their skills of how they best their enemies. A great sequence to note is during Noah’s first interaction with Mirage and how the robot lives up to his name, delivering an actual visual trick while fleeing from the cops. With the addition of a terrific hip-hop 90s soundtrack, Caple Jr. adds fresh life into the once-reviled robot action sequences.

In a CGI-filled film such as this, voice talent is as much imperative to its success as its action sequences. Peter Cullen is as heroic and noble as ever as the leader Optimus Prime, delivering the typical hero speeches with gravitas. Pete Davidson is a surprising delight as Mirage, seamlessly blending in as the comedic effect of the film. Ron Pearlman and Peter Dinklage both deliver solid work as Optimus Primal and villainous Scourge. Michelle Yeoh is a great addition as the high-flying Airazor and the ever-colorful John DiMaggio is great as Stratosphere, a boxcar cargo plane. Other notable mentions in the supporting cast include Hip-Hop artist Tobe Nwigwe as Reek, a friend of Noah that lends some hilarious moments and Dean Scott Vazquez as Noah’s ailing young brother Kris, a young man that brings way more emotional power to a climax-leading speech than this film deserves. Overall, “Rise of the Beasts” focuses on the entertainment equation Transformers has always done right great action + great chemistry divided by a somewhat irrelevant plot = solid entertainment.

Closing Thoughts
“Rise of the Beasts” keeps it simple and focuses on the entertainment value of the Transformers series rather than delving into the weeds of a ridiculous plot. This reboot provides a lot of intrigue of what future sequels could bring to the table of robots slicing and dicing in real time. An ending twist also leaves room for the possibilities of crossover success, including the opportunity to breathe life into another failure of a series. I personally hope Caple Jr. (or another director of equal or more talent) keeps this series going and focuses more on the formula of more action, more fun and less explaining of what doesn’t need to be explained. “Rise of the Beasts” doesn’t elevate the Transformers series to a position of revelatory cinema but for the sake of great entertainment, it’ll more than do.

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Trailer