Transformers – So I saw ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ this week, and what can I say about it? I enjoyed it. However I’m gonna say something that might be slightly controversial, I miss Michael Bay and I miss that Bayhem.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is a sequel to the Bumblebee soft reboot that came out in 2018, starring Hailee Steinfeld. Stephen Caple Jr, takes the helm for this one, he recently directed, Creed two and the film stars, Anthony Ramos as Noah, Peter Cullen returns as the voice of Optimus prime, Pete Davidson, as Mirage and Ron Perlman voices, Optimus primal.
I feel like if you were a child of the 80s or 90s (myself a child of the 90s) you would really love this film and I feel like if this film came out around that time around the early 2000s and this was the first exposure to Transformers, you would think this film is best thing since sliced bread ( insert Simpsons reference ) Beast Wars was the first time I was ever exposed to Transformers as a kid so I was super excited to see this film, for a long time Optimus Primal was my Optimus Prime. It has a lot going for it in terms of the character development. The designs of the transformers themselves and the overall cast is brilliant. There’s a lot of chemistry there between Anthony Ramos’s Noah and Pete Davidson’s Mirage, which I think is really creates a connection with the audience as if you know these characters already. It’s something that we wanted from Shia Le Beouf and Bumblebee in the original transformers films. Instead of being a protector instead of being a watchful Guardian, Noah and Mirage are like friends, more like Bros imagine a buddy cop comedy vibe.
The film itself is filled with stunning visuals. One thing I will say going for this film is that you can tell who is fighting who in the fight scenes, which I think is really key and it’s something was missing from the Michael Bay films. The voice acting is incredible. Like I said Pete Davidson as Mirage is inspired casting and I feel like that he is absolutely perfect for the Transformers franchise, Cullen is excellent as always as Optimus prime the day that man dies, will have to have a national holiday due to the fact that his voice is just so so iconic
The film itself suffers ever so slightly by the story, visuals are really good, chemistry between the cast are amazing, but the story its self is very generic. Once again we have a McGuffin if I’m being honest with you, I couldn’t tell you exactly what that McGuffin was called, as like in the past installments, we’ve had the all spark with had the matrix of leadership and all these majestic sounding objects to protect, but in this one we have another version of that but this time its going to open a portal, for a world ending villain to show up, this really does feel like paramount and hasbro making a Hasbro version of the MCU, setting up big bad’s and threats that are on the horizon, but I mean if you’re going into this expecting Martin Scorsese‘s Goodfellas than what what are you doing? What it lacks for in story it once again makes up for an action, it has a lot of heart, and also the score is brilliant. The new score for a new Transformers is really good, but obviously fans of the original Transformers, the Michael Bay films will be surprised to see a subtle hint to a fan favourite.
I had a good time with this film. I’m a big fan of the Transformers franchise, but as I said earlier I feel like it does miss something from Michael Bay and it is that Michael Bay pizzazz and by this I mean how everyone is sweaty, or how every everything is exploding around them. I feel like some of that is missing within this film, it is what we have come to expect from this franchise and I think sometimes the lack of this slows down some of the more dramatic moments ( please don’t come at me in the comments).
You need to see this on the big screen if possible to take in all that is being done. The film’s end fight scene is incredible and a really good treat for the eyes. There’s lots of humour but most of all I feel like it captures a good essence of what the Transformers should be, and I am excited for the future of this franchise.
Overall I’d give this film, a solid, 3.5 out of 5. It’s a treat for the eyes and a treat for the ears, but I wouldn’t expect Oscar-winning writing in the form of its story.
