Transformers: Rise of the Beasts – Time for a Recall

Not very much here that meets the eye.

The Transformers franchise has been hit or miss for its entire existence. It’s had the highs of Dark of the Moon’s nearly perfect action sequences and lows of The Last Knight’s story. While watching Rise of the Beasts it would seem that, at times, this new direction in the series is in competition with the past entries to see who can make the most boring and soulless cash grab imaginable.

Rise of the Beasts is a sequel to Bumblebee, which was a prequel to the original films until the producers decided to rebrand the movie into a reboot of the series. This time around we find the Autobots in 1994, trying to find the TRANSWARP KEY, a device which if it falls into the wrong hands could bring forth dire consequences for all of Earth. There are also some human characters.

I will not name the human characters because they are terrible. The film wants to be remembered as a voice for minorities, it does this by having our main characters be oppressed by white people. That’s not a setup for a joke or anything, that is real. The male lead is oppressed because he has a bad reputation for following orders from his time in the military, and it’s sort of alluded he went AWAL. He applies for a security position and the guy in charge doesn’t want to hire “Someone like him.” The movie tries to make this part a race issue but he’s applying for a job where you need to follow orders and be reliable, and his track record doesn’t support that.

Just when you think he fits the definition of an uninteresting and irritating lead, the female lead runs in front of him in order to steal that title. The female lead is useless in every sense of the word. She does contribute to the story, and helps the plot move forward, but is very unlikable. She wants to help because she’s oppressed because she’s an assistant but thinks she could be doing more, and something about her dead dad. Again, they are trying to make her problems some sort of statement on race, in a movie where robots turn into cars and animals.

While the human characters in the previous films have always been a topic for debate, what seems to be missing here is the topic of good action scenes. The action here is absolutely the worst in the franchise, boring, and feels flat. The finale is a great example of this, as it desperately wants to be on an Avengers: Endgame level, yet the stakes don’t feel warranted.

It is important to note that for the most part, the special effects do look fantastic. You can see every bolt and screw on each Transformer. There are a few wide shots, or CGI usage on humans that doesn’t quite reach the Transformers themselves. These moments didn’t take me out of the movie (it was all the other bad stuff.)

On the list of great leaders in entertainment we find Captain America, Master Chief and of course, Optimus Prime. His addition here at times feels more like a sponsorship than an actual character. It feels like I’m writing the same thing here I did for Indiana Jones in my Dial of Destiny review because the film takes multiple times to disrespect him. Yes, Optimus does have the best lines Rise of the Beasts, but they are far below the epic and thoughtful moments in previous films.

There is a new faction of Transformers introduced in this film and they don’t add much. It’s never explained why they’re animals either because they come from another planet and on that planet, they were Earth animals before they came to Earth. I’m going to assume it cost less.

The central theme found in the script is that we all need to be one to defeat our enemies. The best way to be one as Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, asks its audiences to be, is if all of us join hands and never watch this movie. Maybe if it had tried being a fun action movie, instead of a failed attempt to join in “on the cause,” it would have been able to rise to the occasion.