Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
PARAMOUNTMichael Bay’s Transformers films are some of the most visually exciting, yet inherently frustrating big-budget blockbusters ever conceived by a major motion picture studio. With every staggering action setpiece (the NEST Skydive scene from Transformers: Dark of the Moon is one of the greatest Wingsuit sequences ever filmed), the films contain thinly-written human characters, problematic stereotypes perpetuated by some of its robot characters, and bloated runtimes where most of the film sees two indecipherable CGI blobs fighting – the good robots versus the bad robots – as they yell out RAAHHHablAuughhgehhgahhh while everything blows up in the background. Yet, amidst all of their flaws, it still remains one of the purest artistic expressions in blockbuster cinema: Bay always has fun with the tools at his disposal – the use of 3D/IMAX 3D in his latter Transformers films are some of the best-ever use of the format – and larger-than-life robots he puts in action sequences that could only be devised by the mind of a kid at heart who still imagines himself fighting with two action figures.
The latest movie, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, is more of the same, though without one key element that made previous films of the flagship installments somewhat strangely watchable. Directed by Steven Caple Jr., the film stars Anthony Ramos as Noah Diaz, who gets thwarted in a war between the Autobots, Maximals, and Terrorcons, with the latter group of robots planning to use a thingamajig dubbed the Transwarp Key to…open a portal in the sky and prepare the arrival of Unicron (Colman Domingo) who plans to destroy Earth and make it his own planet. Gosh, where have audiences seen this before? Every single blockbuster made in the early to mid-2010s, perhaps! Was the script locked in a vault somewhere, with Paramount seemingly discovering it now when portals in the sky were banned from every contemporary blockbuster? It sure sounds like it…
Most of Michael Bay’s Transformers films devote their time to the humans, which shouldn’t be the case. Audiences go see the Transformers movies for the Transformers, not the humans. But if a filmmaker wants to craft a human drama, it needs to be somewhat interesting. Unfortunately, none of them have been compelling in any way, Bumblebee included. However, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts contains the most fleshed-out and investing human storyline yet. Caple Jr. handles Noah Diaz’s (Ramos) story with care, and his relationship with his mother (Luna Lauren Vélez) and brother (Dean Scott Vazquez) is terrifically written and acted. Ramos plays the franchise’s best lead yet, adding lots of emotional depth to the character in the first act, to then fuel that depth to be the engine that drives him to help out the Autobots and Maximals on their quest to defeat Unicron and Scourge (Peter Dinklage).
Ramos shares great chemistry with Dominique Fishback, who plays the best female lead of the franchise as Elena Wallace, an artifact researcher who stumbles upon the Transwarp Key at the museum she interned in. Fishback just came from Prime Video’s incredible Swarm, showcasing her incredible versatility as an actor. It’s another distinct role, but she plays her character brilliantly. Funnily enough, as the human relationships in the other films were drawn out, audiences may want more out of them in Rise of the Beasts because they’re the film's best part. Hell, if this entire movie was about Noah’s quest to do right by his brother, with the Transformers in the background, it would be a far better movie than when the film transforms into a lame “portal in the sky” adventure.
Noah and Elena are now used as pawns from the Transformers to retrieve the thingamajig, and a series of lame chase sequences in New York and Peru ensue. And this is where the missing key element sticks out like a sore thumb: there’s no Bayhem. As problematic as most of the Bayformers movies were, they had an authorial touch, they felt like a human with a strong visual imprint and style crafted them, and only that specific person could’ve ever come up with these inane and mind-melting setpieces far before the masses accepted maximalism. Viewers are warming up to Bay with films like Ambulance and 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, but it took a long time before Bay revisionism occurred.
None of the action scenes in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts have the verve of a Michael Bay film, nor a unique stylistic approach from Caple Jr. and cinematographer Enrique Chediak (who previously worked on Bumblebee). What’s more: the 3D is fairly nonexistent. Since Bay shot Dark of the Moon, Age of Extinction and The Last Knight in native 3D, the Transformers films have always been must-see 3D experiences on screen, but the IMAX 3D presentation of Rise of the Beasts lacks excitement. Caple Jr. does have fun adding unique needle-drops to some action flourishes, but it’s not enough to save its drab-looking action of two CGI blobs fighting on a green screen-laden environment. It feels particularly unimpressive during one of the final moments of the climax, which is supposed to excite viewers, but only gives them a giant eyeroll.
There’s an even bigger eyeroll during its cliffhanger ending, which sets things up for a “Transformers Cinematic Universe” (something Paramount and Hasbro have been trying to develop since The Last Knight, to no avail), but to talk about it would mean spoiling the one reveal that has not been leaked. It may be completely insane for one brief second, but it makes perfect sense for the franchise. However, it sets up a grim future for the Transformers franchise that feels even more egregious than what Bay had set up.
The human relationships are well-defined, but the rest of the film is aggressively mediocre and poorly written. It wastes the vocal talents of Peter Cullen (in his worst performance as Optimus Prime), Ron Perlman, Michelle Yeoh, Pete Davidson, Peter Dinklage, and Colman Domingo. When a studio is lucky to have this much star power to voice the Autobots, Terrorcons, and Maximals, it should use its talents to terrific effect. Bay made the Transformers larger than life, but Caple Jr. reduces them to their worst instincts, yelling out RAAHHHablAuughhgehhgahhh during action scenes and fighting inside a cluttered, lifeless space with no artistic imprint. At its best, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is a thoughtful human drama with two excellent lead performances from Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback. At its worst, the film is a mindless bore filled with corporate-engineered action and an ending plucked straight out of the worst aspects of franchise filmmaking and “cinematic universes.” Bring back Michael Bay, or end this franchise now.