TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS: Better Built But Still Rusty

The best and worst thing about Rise of the Beasts is that it doesn’t feel like Michael Bay’s Transformers movies. Those fearing the usual clunkiness of Bay’s nauseating camera work and the uncomfortable attempts at comedy that trip all over themselves into the realms of racism and sexism. There’s no military propaganda with the lack of soldiers and no awkward stereotypes placed on the talking giant robots. Nearly all that garbage is gone in a film trimmed to a firm two hours.

But what’s left after all that? Mostly an average action/sci-fi blockbuster that progresses passively through its action and visual effects showcases. It’s a functional film compared to the Bay-formers of yore, but it spends so much time repairing the damage of those films that it struggles to maintain its own identity. In trying to maneuver down a new path, this big-budget vehicle ultimately stalls more than it starts.

Humans Worth Protecting

The most noticeable change to this Transformers movie is that the central human characters are not exhaustive caricatures. Noah (Anthony Ramos) is likable for being a former soldier disillusioned with the systemically racist system that holds back his electronics insight from finding a decent job. He pushes on nobly to give his sick brother some hope that the next day might be the one they pay their mounting medical bills.

Elena (Dominique Fishback) is an intern at a museum who is equally never recognized for her true talents in archeology. Her insight into the history of Cybertronian tech makes her as ideal for the adventure of trying to save the world. Despite her occasional panic attack and practical attempts to calm herself, she manages to hold her own amid an adventure of giant robots smashing into each other.

Another Assembly-Line Adventure

The adventure is standard in the realms of both Transformers and summer blockbusters. The premise revolves around the planet-sized robot Unicron who delights in eating planets. The only thing preventing Unicron from eating Earth is the Transwarp Key that can be used for fast travel. Thus, we get another globetrotting adventure to find yet another Cybertronian relic that could end the world (again).

Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) doesn’t change much in this story, despite being set in 1994, which is more or less an excuse to keep his Autobot brethren further incognito. He still wants to get home and fight for his allies’ survival. It was refreshing, however, to have Optimus be more openly violent instead of giving noble speeches about honor right before he shoots an enemy in the face or guts them. Optimus addresses the villainous Unicron henchmen Scourge (Peter Dinklage) right from the start by angrily stating he will rip off Scourge’s head. He makes good on that threat.

Some Personality

Some of that human charisma rubs off the mechanical bots present to smash and bash each other. Well, in one bot specifically. Mirage (Pete Davidson) acts as a solid comedic balance for his serious Autobot companion and a chipper pal for Noah. The two of them have a decent dynamic that recaptured a portion of that comradery from Bumblebee.

Sadly, the personality doesn’t extend anywhere else, especially since Bumblebee is back to his less fascinating role as the pop-culture soundbite machine. Autobot additions like Arcee and Wheeljack have great designs but hollow depths, where they feel even more like tokens for being the first Autobot female and a stereotype-free Latino. The Terracons of Unicron are mostly mute henchmen, doing little more than cackle or growl during combat.

The biggest offense is how boring the Maximals are staged as little more than the animal version of the Autobots. My introduction to them was through the 1990s cartoon Beast Wars, where it felt like every character was given motivation and charm. Here, the leader of Optimus Primal (Ron Perlman) is little more than a stern guardian of the film’s MacGuffin. Very little of his grieving for his dead planet comes through with his leadership and only brings about expositional exchanges with Airrazor. As for the other Maximal additions of Cheetor and Rhinox, they do so little that they might as well not even be in this film.

Competency Over Clutter

If the past Transformers films were a winding road of uncomfortable moments, this film plays more like a rigid track. It maintains a sufficient balance of decent characters and action scenes that are easy to read. There was never a moment where I felt like I wanted to squirm out of my seat or search for some noise-canceling headphones.

But this track still leads to the same place where all the Michael Bay films end up; a grand showdown amid a planet-destroying event. Despite the smoother camera and visually competent moments, this climax comes off like a stabilization of a standard blockbuster finale. There needs to be more here than just a firmer grip on the CGI to be more engaging past the bog-standard showdown with Unicron.

There’s one moment of genuine surprise in the film, but it’s very telling that this cameo comes in at the end of the film. So many films just slog through the motions and then tease what’s coming next, as though the teaser is more exciting than the movie itself. This is very much the case here and the ho-hum direction makes me question just how exciting that next Transformers movie will really be with this standard of quality set.

Conclusion: Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

Despite being a better Transformers movie than previous entries, Rise of the Beasts still has some rust that holds it back from being anything more than an average summer blockbuster. For some Transformers fans, that might be enough. But speaking as a fan of Beast Wars, I needed a bit more to care about whether the Autobots will succeed in defeating evil robots for the seventh time in the saga.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is currently playing in theaters everywhere.

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