During the '90s, a new faction of Transformers - the Maximals - join the Autobots as allies in the battle for Earth. Steven Caple Jr. (Creed II) steps in to direct this seventh installment in the Transformers franchise which is a direct sequel to 2018’s Bumblebee and a prequel to the original 2007 Transformers film. In the opening scene of this movie, we are treated to a fresh new group of Transformers called the Maximals led by Optimus Primal voiced by Ron Perlman and this faction’s conflict with Scourge, leader of the Terrorcons, voiced by Peter Dinklage. This Transformers-centered opening scene showed much promise for what the film can be if it keeps a majority of the focus on the Transformers and their struggles. The biggest strength of Rise of the Beasts is that the scenes with the Autobots and Transformers are so entertaining and fun to watch, as Optimus Prime and his gang are given a clear and compelling motivation for doing the things they do. It’s amazing to hear the legendary Peter Cullen’s voice as Optimus Prime once again, and when Prime is throwing down with the Terrorcons, it’s tremendously badass. There are a few absolutely SAVAGE fatalities performed by Prime on the Terrorcons that will undoubtedly have Transformers fans grinning ear to ear. Bumblebee also gets some very exciting and crowd pleasing moments in the mix as well.
Unfortunately, once the film’s title card appears on screen, we are treated to virtually all of the issues that plagued Michael Bay’s entries. No disrespect to Anthony Ramos who does his best to bring a down-on-his-luck likability complex to the main human character of Noah Diaz, but the screenplay by Joby Harold is so astonishingly bad that it’s difficult to actually care about this character’s problems. The movie spends so much time trying to get the viewer to empathize with him and his little brother that it forgets what people come to a Transformers movie for. This goes for all the other human characters, who take up far too much screen time and the dialogue being espoused from their mouths is so egregiously awful that every single scene not involving a Transformer is almost unbearable to sit through. Also, enough with every major Hollywood movie having a character that bad mouths America and how oppressed they are under capitalism. When will the writers and producers learn their lesson that we don’t go to these movies to watch human characters wallow in their pathetic boring human issues?
Another thing is that this movie sadly retains some of the eye rolling juvenile humor that hurt Bay’s films and even worse is that one of the main Transformers partakes in that nonsense. Noah Diaz teams up with Pete Davidson’s Mirage Transformer character and there are only a few moments where their chemistry works. It’s not believable whatsoever that Mirage speaks like a 2023 millennial and this particular Transformer was so profoundly annoying just about every time he uttered a word or made an unfunny sexual joke. The third act has some really fun action with the Autobots and Maximals teaming up to fight the Terrorcons, but whenever it cuts back to the human characters, the excitement feels short-lived. The story involving the Transformers is interesting and simple enough for the main focus to remain on them that there are bound to be 30 minute YouTube videos titled “all Transformers scenes from ROTB.” There are also some fairly odd music choices incorporated into the final action sequence that make it feel like a music video instead of an epic battle. Speaking of odd choices in the third act, there’s an utterly absurd moment in which Diaz does something in the vain of Iron Man that completely destroyed any believability at all.
The one thing which sparks intrigue for this franchise’s future is a crazy reveal at the very end that shows potential for a Hasbro shared universe. Besides some awesome scenes with Optimus Primal, Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and their fights with the Terrorcons, there isn’t much to write home about Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. Overall, while it's definitely a step in the right direction in regards to the characterizations of the Autobots/Transformers, this seventh installment in the Transformers franchise still falls victim to the laughably bad dialogue, annoying human characters, and eye rolling juvenile humor that plagued Michael Bay's entries.
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