Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Review

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Transformers: Rise of the Beasts begins a new journey for our alien friends. The reboot is totally new, with the only connection to past content being Bumblebee. I have loved Transformers since I was a little kid, but the later movies just didn’t quite do it for me. Having recently seen Bumblebee, I was really excited for what the newest rendition could hold.

Without a doubt, this is the best Transformers movie to date. I loved the stylist choices that were made in Bumblebee, and seeing them carry through in a large scale was awesome. From the way all of our alien characters looked, to the way they acted, and everything in-between, the movie was really well done.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is worth watching and worth watching soon. The epic action sequences and the larger than life Transformers make this a treat to see on a big screen. The sound range is pretty dynamic as well, although not a main reason to see this in theatres. The focus on a real plot and characters makes this a breath of fresh air and hopefully the start of a promising franchise.

Who is in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts?

The stars of Transformers: Rise of The Beasts are Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback. Ramos plays Noah Diaz, the male lead in this movie. His character has experienced a lot of hardship, and this has created a tough shell around our main character. He cares deeply for those in his life and is willing to do anything to protect them. I really enjoyed Ramos’ performance and could see him as the lead for the entire franchise. The character is great, the actor is great, and I loved the way it turned out on screen

Dominique Fishback plays Elena Wallace, the female lead of the movie. She is an intern at the museum and has a massive amount of knowledge surrounding archeology. While little is known about her backstory, she proves to be more than willing to risk her life for the sake of the Autobots’ mission. Fishback puts on a really solid performance, and it was great to see our female lead flesh out as the movie goes along, unlike a few previous Transformers movies…

Mirage and Scourge were my favourite transformers, for wildly different reasons. Pete Davidson was great as Mirage. The sports car, cocky vibe mixed with his voice and style of humour Davidson brings was awesome. Mirage is a lot of fun, and while he isn’t the most improvise transformer, he is still a great character.

Scourge on the other hand was really, really cool and ominous. He’s a great mid level villain who was still insanely powerful. Peter Dinklage was perfect for the role, and voiced Scourge well. I thought the visual design for Scourge was really, really cool as well, and it brought our main villain to life.

I don’t think I can move onto the plot without talking about the maximals. They are sick. So, so cool. The idea of a transformer who looks like an animal is awesome, and the way they have their own civilization was cool to see. They design of the characters was really interesting, and I thought it brought a new spin to the transformers world.

What Happens in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts?

The main storyline of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is that Unicron, a massive, world eating being, is attempting to recover the time-warp key. This key allows the holder to travel to any galaxy quite quickly, using a portal. The Maximals, which are a new race to the cinematic transformers universe, stole this key and hid it on earth. Desperate to consume new worlds, Unicron sends Scourge to find it.

The Autobots also want this key, as it would allow them to return to Cybertron. Until it was accidentally found and activated, neither group knew where the key was or that it was on Earth. After Elena uncovers it, the hunt is on.

Both our protagonists stumble into the plot haphazardly, but I liked the way it was done. Both introductions played to the main characteristics of each character. The plot is smooth, moving quickly and with purpose, without becoming a jumbled mess. The sci-fi elements are placed perfectly, leaving room for both plot and character development while still having a ton of cool action scenes.

That was my least favourite part about Bumblebee, the lack of true, large scale battles or just awesome action scenes. Rise of the Beasts leans back into the roots of the franchise while keeping the best parts of Bumblebee, strong characters and a solid plot.

I also really enjoyed the way the movie handled a very large event in such a way that remained closed enough that this could survive as just a one off movie, or be spun into a full-on franchise. The plot itself is very contained, and doesn’t leak out too far at the end of the movie. There are definitely parts of the plot that could be explored further in other projects, but there’s no big cliff hanger or anything like that.

I only have one real complaint about Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. I felt it did a poor job of explaining some of the intricacies of Transformers, and it might be a bit tricky to understand for someone brand new to the franchise. I can’t say for certain, as this wasn’t my experience, but I was expecting a little bit more world building in this first movie.

Regardless, I really enjoyed watching this movie. Not only the plot and the characters, but actually watching the movie. The different locations we explore throughout Rise of the Beasts are beautiful, each one amazing in a different way. We explore parts the globe and the cinematography really brought each location to life. I though the CGI was really well done for the Transformers, as well as the scene on Cybertron, and it was great to see a new-age technology version of Optimus Prime.

The movie was awesome, and I cannot wait for whatever is next for this universe. Outside of an absolute bomb at the box-office, I see us getting at least one if not multiple entries into the franchise in the coming years. The Transformers are back.