‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ Review
Stars: Anthony Ramos, Dominique Fishback, Luna Lauren Velez, Dean Scott Vasquez, Peter Cullen, Pete Davidson, Liza Koshy, Ron Perlman, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Yeoh, Cristo Fernandez, John DiMaggio | Written by Joby Harold, Darnell Metayer, Josh Peters | Directed by Steven Caple Jr.
The giant shape-shifting robots are back, in the seventh instalment in the live-action Transformers film series, this time without Michael Bay on board as director. The result is a significant improvement on the previous films, thanks to a script that includes an increased focus on character, dialogue and actual emotion, while still providing plenty of robo-carnage.
Technically both a sequel to 2018’s Bumblebee (itself a soft reboot of the franchise, which also found success without Bay on board) and a prequel to 2007’s Transformers, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is set in 1994 and centres on three separate groups of shape-shifting robots. These include our old friends the Autobots, led by Optimus Prime (original robo-voice Peter Cullen), animal-shaped robots the Maximals, led by gorilla-bot Optimus Primal (Ron Perlman) and evil robots the Terrorcons, led by powerful Scourge (Peter Dinklage), who are trying to retrieve a space-time key, so that their master, the planet-eating Unicron (a perfectly cast Colman Domingo) can devour the entire universe.
Caught up in the mix are two humans: ex-military electronics expert Noah (Anthony Ramos), who bonds with friendly Autobot Mirage (Pete Davidson) after trying to steal him in his car form; and museum intern Elena (Dominque Fishback), who accidentally triggers the space-time key, bringing the Terrorcons to New York. After being rescued by the Autobots, Elena and Noah accompany them to Peru, in search of the second half of the space-time key, where they join forces with the Maximals to defend the Earth from Unicron.
Under director Michael Bay, the previous Transformers movies were big on spectacle – specifically, the spectacle of giant robots smashing bells out of each other – but were beset with a multitude of problems that included embarrassingly crass humour, racism, sexism, poor characterisation, excessive volume, general stupidity and bloated running times, so that they often felt like being shouted at by idiots for two and a half hours. Happily, under incoming director Steven Caple Jr. (who made Creed 2), the latest Transformers movie has done some impressive course correction, fixing many of the issues of the previous movies.
A key example of that lies in stripping down the number of human characters, because let’s face it, nobody goes to a Transformers movie to see the humans. Consequently, there’s room for much more in the way of character development and emotional investment, with both Fishback and Ramos creating likeable, down-to-Earth protagonists. As an added bonus, the film also scores points for diversity, since both leads are non-white.
In addition, the humour has received a significant upgrade – some of the jokes are even quite good, with one particular line from Mirage eliciting what is perhaps the biggest laugh of the franchise so far. On top of that, the film is significantly shorter than the other films in the franchise, clocking in at a mere two hours and seven minutes, which suggests that some of the more superfluous characters (John DiMaggio’s Scottish-accented plane bot springs to mind) have had their screentime judiciously trimmed.
As for the action, the set pieces in Michael Bay’s movies were so throw-everything-at-the-screen bombastic that they earned the signature nickname “Bayhem”, with the result that it was often difficult to tell which robot was battering which. This time around, the action is decidedly clearer, aided by the inclusion of the more distinctive-looking Maximals, but also by slightly wider angles and less frenetic camerawork in the fight scenes.
That said, it is quite difficult to avoid robo-fatigue when your action sequences are just robots bashing each other and a degree of that ultimately sets in here, despite the film’s best efforts. Similarly, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts isn’t entirely without problems, particularly in the climax – all the pieces are in place for a high-tension finale with enormous stakes, and yet the film can’t quite pull that off, to the point where you’re left wondering, ‘Hang on, what just happened?’
Those quibbles aside, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is easily the best film in the Transformers franchise so far, delivering big trashy robot fun without beating you over the head in the process. Oh, and stick around for a fun mid-credits sting, if you like that sort of thing. One thing though – why did they call the gorilla-bot Optimus Primal, when Optimus Primate was right there?
*** 3/5
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is in cinemas now.
