Transformers; Rise of the Beasts – Gloriously Unrealistic

“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” is a surprising film. For one it looked like this movie wasn’t going to happen at all. The previous entry, “The Last Knight” was unspeakably bad. The “Transformers” films aren’t exactly known for being quality cinema, but “The Last Knight” really was a new low for the movies. It was originally decided that after the box office failure, number six wasn’t happening. Then the “Bumblebee” spin-off happened. “Bumblebee” had the lowest budget of the movies, but it managed to score a big win with fans and critics alike. It made Universal Studios think that maybe “Transformers” was worth saving.

‘Rise of the Beasts” is a very different movie than the previous entries. No Decepticons, or Megatron. Good, I was starting to get tired of seeing Megatron come back from the dead over and over. There’s a malevolent alien called “Unicron” that is obsessed with consuming planets. His endless consumption is halted by a race of robots called ‘Terracons” who hide away an interstellar portal somewhere on planet earth. This all occurs during the first ten minutes before the movie shifts to the mid-nineties.

Despite Universals attempt to distance themselves from the Michael Bay films, “Rise of the Beasts” doesn’t differ from the playbook. While the production looks really good, it’s still ‘more of the same’. Lots and lots of explosions, shallow characterization and cheap dialogue. That’s not to say this isn’t entertaining, I never felt bored. I certainly wouldn’t call this quality cinema however.

Chronology is where “Rise of the Beasts” faces its biggest issues. This can’t really be classified as a prequel, given that “Bumblebee” already handled that. “Rise of the Beasts” doesn’t fit with the Michael Bay movies which actually may have been the intention. If you’re trying to follow this movie as part of the ‘official’ series, don’t bother. As a stand-alone film, “Rise of the Beasts” works fairly well, but trying to insert it into the Michael Bay films feels a bit forced.

While the “Transformers” movies that Michael Bay directed went a little overboard at times, the advantage was he at least tried his best to flesh out the whole concept of Autobots and Decepticons. “Rise of the Beasts” doesn’t bother. Terracons are thrown in without any explanation whatsoever. There’s a giant Terracon that looks exactly like a steampunk version of King Kong named Optimus Primal. Sure. Why not? Somehow Terracons have been on planet Earth for millennia and yet never realized that their counterparts were there the entire time. This is one of the more annoying aspects of the film is that at times it plays with interesting concepts, yet it never gives any detail or backstory, especially when it needed it. While it is great fun to watch at times, “Rise of the Beasts” doesn’t even bother trying to flesh itself out. Watching movies like “Rise of the Beasts” causes me to contemplate the many ways to define the term, ‘quality cinema’.

In some ways “Rise of the Beasts” felt like it was trying to re-capture everything that made “Bumblebee” such a great movie. “Bumblebee” featured a great eighties pop soundtrack, “Rise of the Beasts” features every top hip-hop song from the nineties. The main character, Noah felt almost like watching a grown up version of Charlie (played to perfection by Hailee Steinfeld) from “Bumblebee”, though not quite as likable.

Dialogue is also the enemy here. I realize that the “Transformers” movies aren’t known for having any semblance of deep conversation, but “Rise of the Beasts” features some seriously banal dialogue. I could probably trim the runtime down by about a half hour if you cut the unnecessary dialogue out.

This isn’t say that “Rise of the Beasts” is a bad film, because it isn’t. It doesn’t have any emotional or psychological depth, the plot is predictable, but this is still great fun to watch. The action scenes do look really good, a little over the top, but that’s to be expected. There’s some excellent stunt driving done in a Porsche 911. Peter Cullen returns as the voice of Optimus Prime, and he brings his usual gravity to the character.

On a final note, I would like to mention one reason “Rise of the Beasts” is significant. While its unclear whether Universal will continue making “Transformers” movies, there was a plug at the end for another G.I. Joe movie. It appears that Universal is going to attempt fusing the two franchises together. Makes sense, given that they’re both owned by Hasbro. It gave me the impression that “Rise of the Beasts” was intended as a reset for the series, meaning that potential future films will be taking a different direction. Whether this is a good idea or not remains to be seen.

Overall I’d say that shallow as this is, “Rise of the Beasts”is still great fun to watch. Don’t expect to do a whole lot of thinking. Just come for the explosions and car stunts. This is a vast improvement from “The Last Knight” which is a good thing. This is a step in the right direction for the series.