The Transformers movie lore is very convoluted at this point, but one of the reason’s why Transformers: Rise of the Beasts works is because it takes us back in time, while also keeping the overall story coherent.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is a surprisingly fun entry in the Transformers movie saga. It manages to work as a soft reboot/standalone film which marries the bombastic action of the Michael Bay movies with the heart of Travis Knight’s Bumblebee.
The new film takes audiences on a ‘90s globetrotting adventure with the Autobots and introduces a whole new faction of Transformers – the Maximals – to join them as allies in an existing battle for Earth.
The film picks up years after when Bumblebee was set, and functions as a reboot-sequel which allows audiences to come into the film and enjoy it for what it is. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts impressively manages to work for people who have no knowledge or medium knowledge of what the Transformers films are about.
For Transformer aficionados, they will walk away vexed by the creative liberties taken to distil the vast and rich lore of the Transformers properties to streamline it into a digestible film for the average movie-goer.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts stars Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback as the human lead characters in the film, directed by Steven Caple jr, and follows them on this globe-trotting story.
The new film works surprisingly well as it keeps the story from getting too messy, but also has comedy and good characterisation.
One of the reasons it is such a fun watch is the pairing of Noah Diaz (Anthony Ramos) and Mirage, which is voiced by Pete Davidson. The two form an uneasy alliance which develops into a solid and funny friendship.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts does a really good job of having the characters feel more real as they fumble and mess up more than some of the other films, however their determination to keep fighting - which can easily feel corny - works well and that is due to the endearing bond of Mirage and Diaz.
Dominique Fishback, who portrays archaeological intern Elena, doesn’t have a lot to do but also makes the best of what she is given in the film.
Fishback has previously made waves this year for her role in the new TV show Swarm, and this is an okay move into the blockbuster sphere. Hopefully she will soon be able to lead such a film, and have a role which utilises her potential fully.
The rest of the voice cast for the new film features Michelle Yeoh, Peter Dinklage, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez and Ron Perlman as new character Optimus Primal, who takes on the appearance of a gorilla.
They may not add to the other story in identifiable ways, but it is still fun figuring out which voices belong to which characters.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts does suffer like all the other Transformers film in the third act, with the action on screen not always being coherent. That said, it is not the worst offender when compared with some of other entries in the saga.
It unfortunately also has moments where the CGI looks a bit undercooked, but those thankfully don’t ruin the enjoyment of the film. If you know what type of movie a Transformers film is, then this probably won’t bother you.
The Transformers films are popcorn blockbusters where you can have a fun date-night out, or just want a fun film to watch with others or by yourself.
These films know what they are and much like its predecessors Transformers: Rise of the Beasts delivers on that - it’s fun bombastic action and enjoyable comedic humour.
The film also seems to set up a whole new iteration of another well-known Hasbro brand with one particular scene. Whether that happens remains to be seen, but at the least it is a fun hat-tip.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts manages to work as a soft-reboot and sequel in the world of Transformers as they clearly intend to make a whole new trilogy.
The new film certainly will entice viewers to think about what could be next, but only because Transformers: Rise of the Beasts delivers an endearing story.
Rating: 6/10
‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ is now showing at cinemas